Power down unused GPUs?

[may i be worthy]

Hi All,

I have two GTX-460s in my main SR2 rig. I use SLI for gaming, but not very often. I will be using both for GPU previz in my 3D app in the future- and might be adding more GPUs if it proves useful.

I was wondering if there was an easy and reliable way to power down unused GPUs when not in use, to save power. I have googled and found that "Hybrid mode" was discontinued.

Any other ideas?

 

[TehQuick]

Short of pulling out the unused videocard, no. I have old Classy and it has ability to turn off the PCIe slots but the power is apparently still supplied to videocards - even when I unplug the power leads, they are still powered through the disabled slot. I doubt they did anything different for the SR2

 

[may i be worthy]

Oh well, worth a shot. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[vgame64]

I do believe they clock down to '2d mode' and use less power...but I am not 100% sure on that.

 

[jiminator]

previous poster is correct, cards use a lot less power for 2D. in your case it probably is not generating any video, so it will be even less.