Hardware Testing Advice Needed

Engines, Libraries and Tools Tools Discussion
#1

I have a system with an AI goalseeker. Have made an optional GPGPU Co-Processor, which shifts large amounts of work on to the GPU, via JOGL. A typical goal search does about 50 billion texel (database) lookups, and I am guessing about a 0.8 trillion decision branches.

I have two outstanding, JOGL related, hardware testing needs: ATI graphics cards, & Mac OS.

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=G7JoxzAEXsQwDt7G&templete=2
The system I have assembled is on an ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard with 2 PCIe x16 slots. 1 has a Geforce 8800 GTX, where the Co-Processor was developed. Assuming adequate power supply, can a ATI HD 4000 series be plug-in slot 2 (NO DISPLAY, NO SLI). Would I need to get a PCIe x16 Gen 1.0 version, since this board is a little old?
http://products.amd.com/en-us/graphiccardresult.aspx?f1=PC&f2=ATI+Radeonª+HD+4800&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=Yes&f7=0&f8=0&f9=0&f10=&f11=&f12=&f13=&f14=&f15=&f16=0&

If so, is there a way, in code, to switch which card is used to create a GLPbuffer? How? This DOES NOT have to done in production. The reason I say this is it has been a while since I wrote this part. There are things in the on-line Java Docs, which look like they are for the next version. Should I just rip the GTX out, because either this won’t work, I am too early, or it is not worth the grief?

I need a new Mac on a current OS. I have an old Mac G5, with a pre-OpenGL 2.0 ATI, running the old Tiger version of MacOS. My GLSL compiles, and technically returns results, immediately, but just garbage. That is why my Co-Processor is optional. If I didn’t also have a very old notebook, I would just go with a cheap Mini, if I thought my Co-Processor would run on it.

Has anyone used a Macbook with 2 GPU’s? http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/graphics.html The webpage describes them as a “NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics processors”. This integrated & descrete stuff is just marketing speak for they toggle, right? Does anyone know what happens when it is running Vista/Windows 7? If I was showing my product to someone who might want to see it on Windows, I would not want the processor to be stuck just on one or the other. Any suggestions?

#2

Well, I dug up some answers. First PCIe x16 version 1 & 2 cards and motherboards will work with one another, so it is a non-issue.

Second, as far as mixing NVidia & ATI cards, I found a thread on GPGPU.ORG which seems to say it will never work on Vista and beyond http://gpgpu.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5054 Not interested in fighting gravity. Will pull the GTX out.

Cost is not a big concern, but Mac notebooks are simply not competitive. I think I was confusing the need of a new notebook with want. I’ll get a $599 mini with an NVidia 9400M, and be able to test changes on NVidia at the same time. Testing 2 things at once is only good as long as it works, so I’ll keep the GTX just in case of issues.