Virtu usability??

[so2]

Ok so we've read the reviews on them, newegg is selling them, and some people are already unboxing them... the z68 motherboards are every where EXCEPT in the hands of enthusiasts..

I rock a gtx570 (CUDA users) and for one reason or another want to rock the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (which i feel is the superior mobo for z68)...

But how well does virtu work.. I mean, if I rock Adobe Photoshop is it going to try and use my the GPU rather than my discrete card when I would be better off using the discrete? Is there any sort of "lag" or "quirks" that can be noticed when the switch happens??

Or.. am I just thinking of this wrong? Is there a bucket of Graphics tasks sitting somewhere in the OS and virtu.. somehow just assigns them to either the GPU or the Discrete Card.

It seems to me the true value in these z68 depend on how "fast" and how "right" LucidLogix's Virtu software does what it advertises.. any of you have any thoughts?

That being said, throwing a 32 or 64gb SSD in front of a Samsung SpinPoint 1TB drive sounds nice.

Looking for some feedback I would love to talk to ya'll about this!

Cheers,Ok so we've read the reviews on them, newegg is selling them, and some people are already unboxing them... the z68 motherboards are every where EXCEPT in the hands of enthusiasts..

I rock a gtx570 (CUDA users) and for one reason or another want to rock the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (which i feel is the superior mobo for z68)...

But how well does virtu work.. I mean, if I rock Adobe Photoshop is it going to try and use my the GPU rather than my discrete card when I would be better off using the discrete? Is there any sort of "lag" or "quirks" that can be noticed when the switch happens??

Or.. am I just thinking of this wrong? Is there a bucket of Graphics tasks sitting somewhere in the OS and virtu.. somehow just assigns them to either the GPU or the Discrete Card.

It seems to me the true value in these z68 depend on how "fast" and how "right" LucidLogix's Virtu software does what it advertises.. any of you have any thoughts?

That being said, throwing a 32 or 64gb SSD in front of a Samsung SpinPoint 1TB drive sounds nice.

Looking for some feedback I would love to talk to ya'll about this!

Cheers,

 

[DougoMan]

I'm curious to hear what people have to say about their expericnes with Virtu as well. Are you guys running it through the IGP or stand alone card?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ok so we've read the reviews on them, newegg is selling them, and some people are already unboxing them... the z68 motherboards are every where EXCEPT in the hands of enthusiasts..

Maybe it just strikes a nerve, or maybe I'm curious. What is "an enthusiast?" And "Who sez?"

Of course, the "news" suggests that the Z68 and socket 1155 -- particularly socket 1155 -- was aimed at a "mainstream" consumer base, "as opposed to . . . . enthusiasts."

I was planning to build on the 1366 platform, myself. Changed my mind early in the Z68 frenzy. It may take some complexity out of the OC'ing experience, but I have great optimism for my Z68 project at as it slowly unfolds.

EDIT: Anybody who looks at the UEFI-BIOS on on the ASUS Z68 boards can see: First, they added the "OC Tuner" features for the "wannabes" and the "mainstreamers" -- whatever that means. Second, the BIOS is feature-rich for "tuning" as might be done by the "so-called enthusiast." And third, even the "Ron-Popeil-set-it-and-forget-it" features become desired in the "pro" bag of tricks to save time just getting to an initial base setting. So again -- "Aimed at mid-level or mid-stream or main-stream" versus "enthusiast" -- Even the reviewers who published this assessment are being naive. What about the Maximus Extreme-Z and related boards? Or the likelihood that the upcoming Ivy Bridge release will not orphan the Socket-1155 motherboards, but rather produce IB's for that socket -- as I've heard? Just had to throw in my two-cents-worth about this.

I rock a gtx570 (CUDA users) and for one reason or another want to rock the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (which i feel is the superior mobo for z68)...

As far as I can see, the ASRock has a single, significant feature going for it: It deploys a bridge which makes possible using more PCI-E or PCI slots simultaneously. Performance-wise, not "ahead of the pack." You'd have to compare other features to see where it -- or its competition -- fall short.

But how well does virtu work.. I mean, if I rock Adobe Photoshop is it going to try and use my the GPU rather than my discrete card when I would be better off using the discrete? Is there any sort of "lag" or "quirks" that can be noticed when the switch happens??

Or.. am I just thinking of this wrong? Is there a bucket of Graphics tasks sitting somewhere in the OS and virtu.. somehow just assigns them to either the GPU or the Discrete Card.

It seems to me the true value in these z68 depend on how "fast" and how "right" LucidLogix's Virtu software does what it advertises.. any of you have any thoughts?

We're going to find out. It cost me an extra Franklin for an OS upgrade that I'd deliberately intended sometime later. That is -- "the budget" excluded it from the initial go-around.

There are some features you get (using Win 7) for which you don't need Lucid. It may be a matter of preference: "Do you want to use the onboard iGPU at ALL?" "Do you want to see what the true thermal benchmarks will be by enabling it?" "Will it make SLI with its power-consumption, hardware costs and so forth . . . 'less relevant?'" "Will their be improvements in this Lucid software enhancement?" "Will they be eventually incorporated in new motherboards with newer chipsets later? Or deemed 'unnecessary?'"

We're going to find out.

 

[guskline]

so2 : see my sig 1 machine below. Have the ASRock Z68 Extreme MB with an Intel 2500k@4400 and 2 Radeon 5850s in Crossfire. Installed the Lucid Virtu software so the IGP can sysnc with the discrete one. Everything runs smoothly. Supposedly encoding is faster with Virtu than without it.

Do you want me to run diagnostics to tell you the results?

 

[sygyzy]

so2 : see my sig 1 machine below. Have the ASRock Z68 Extreme MB with an Intel 2500k@4400 and 2 Radeon 5850s in Crossfire. Installed the Lucid Virtu software so the IGP can sysnc with the discrete one. Everything runs smoothly. Supposedly encoding is faster with Virtu than without it.

Do you want me to run diagnostics to tell you the results?

Yes please.

 

[guskline]

Tell me which ones?

 

[GrumpyMan]

I'm still on the fence on this one. I've read that you may get less fps in gaming with it on? Interested to find out what this is really best for, just encoding? Any other advantages?

 

[sygyzy]

Tell me which ones?

Benchmark encoding using Virtu then again with it off.

 

[guskline]

No difference

 

[Patrese]

No difference

The Intel Quick Sync features only works if the video software supports it. As far as I know, the only freeware alternative that uses it is MediaCoder (http://www.mediacoderhq.com/), which is a real neat software really.

As for my experience, it's been flawless so far. I use Virtu on the dGPU mode, that is, my monitor is plugged to the dGPU and the iGPU is only used in decoding and so on. But I also agree with most of the reviews regarding the Z68 chipset: Virtu and SRT are nice features, but not nice enough if you already have a P67 board. If you're doing a new build, get it, but I don't see much of an upgrade coming from P67.

 

[sygyzy]

No difference

Sorry, I am confused. I thought in an earlier post you alluded to there being an advantage/difference using Virtu and now there isn't? On a related note, I've uninstalled Virtu. I really don't get it and even enabled didn't seem to be offering any sort of benefit to me.

 

[sygyzy]

The Intel Quick Sync features only works if the video software supports it. As far as I know, the only freeware alternative that uses it is MediaCoder (http://www.mediacoderhq.com/), which is a real neat software really.

As for my experience, it's been flawless so far. I use Virtu on the dGPU mode, that is, my monitor is plugged to the dGPU and the iGPU is only used in decoding and so on. But I also agree with most of the reviews regarding the Z68 chipset: Virtu and SRT are nice features, but not nice enough if you already have a P67 board. If you're doing a new build, get it, but I don't see much of an upgrade coming from P67.

Can you clarify something for me? My board has both a discrete GPU (5770) and onboard Intel graphics (with IO ports). If I enable Virtu and plug my monitor (one cable only) into the Radeon GPU, this is called discrete mode right? And if there's nothing plugged into the onboard chip, what "switching" is going on? How is the Intel chip being used? You said in encoding, but how do you know? Do you run an encoding program (say to convert a movie from DVD to file compatible for your iPad) and then run a full screen game at the same time? Then you saw if any progress was made after you exited the game? If you did this with a system that didn't have Virtu, it'd still work. What does it prove?

 

[Binky]

D mode = monitors plugged into the graphics card, which is always used and always fully powered. The onboard GPU is only used for quick sync, which is the sole purpose of this mode, but very few programs are coded for this at the moment.

I mode - monitors plugged into the onboard ports. The graphics card can be allowed to somewhat power down except when needed for games, etc. This mode can result in power savings that I have seen pegged at maybe 20 watts during normal use.

I've been running the I mode for a few weeks. The little quirks are annoying but not critical flaws (on every boot, I get a CCC warning that I have no ATI card installed, and I can't monitor GPU temps at all). Gameplay feels smooth but I haven't run any tests on frames per second or power use.

 

[Nemesis 1]

I'm still on the fence on this one. I've read that you may get less fps in gaming with it on? Interested to find out what this is really best for, just encoding? Any other advantages?

I use it all the time threw the Igp. I love it . Great 1080p blu ray playback. Its just makes for a really neat setup. It just works! I did a little Benchmarking and there is a loss but it was very small 28,+++ down to 27,+++ in 3Dmark 6 . It works great in the games I play. I using a NV560 Ti . That is really a nice gpu. works well.

The loss in gameFPS which is minor, is easily offset by the fact it just works . I tell something else the MSI Z68 G65. Is a really nice MB. But don't use auto overclock they have it set way to low 4.2ghz . But you do have 6 presets. I will never update this bios.

 

[Binky]

I recently tried to switch from I-mode to D-mode to test the fps loss and to get a look at my GPU temps with my new setup. Something odd happened and I couldn't get games to run after switching the bios over! I had full video on both monitors (connected to 4890), full control of CCC and ATI Tray tools, and no apparent problems, but WoW crashed on every try with no information about why it was crashing. I uninstalled Virtu, uninstalled and reinstalled the ATI drivers, but I still couldnt run the game.

Has anybody switched from I-mode to D-mode without issues? It should be as simple as changing the bios setting(s) and swapping the cables over...!

 

[GrumpyMan]

I use it all the time threw the Igp. I love it . Great 1080p blu ray playback. Its just makes for a really neat setup. It just works! I did a little Benchmarking and there is a loss but it was very small 28,+++ down to 27,+++ in 3Dmark 6 . It works great in the games I play. I using a NV560 Ti . That is really a nice gpu. works well.

The loss in gameFPS which is minor, is easily offset by the fact it just works . I tell something else the MSI Z68 G65. Is a really nice MB. But don't use auto overclock they have it set way to low 4.2ghz . But you do have 6 presets. I will never update this bios.

Yeah I wish my mobo had an Igpu connector on it, but it does not. I can only connect through the Dgpu. :\

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I recently tried to switch from I-mode to D-mode to test the fps loss and to get a look at my GPU temps with my new setup. Something odd happened and I couldn't get games to run after switching the bios over! I had full video on both monitors (connected to 4890), full control of CCC and ATI Tray tools, and no apparent problems, but WoW crashed on every try with no information about why it was crashing. I uninstalled Virtu, uninstalled and reinstalled the ATI drivers, but I still couldnt run the game.

Has anybody switched from I-mode to D-mode without issues? It should be as simple as changing the bios setting(s) and swapping the cables over...!

So . .. one game or more -- maybe many -- didn't anticipate this. They have some sort of static installation feature, acquiring the hardware configuration. There may be a way to change that configuration within the game and its setup screens. Now that I think of it, I wouldn't expect any game to just suddenly reconfigure itself for the hardware changes.

Does this seem a reasonable explanation? I'm speculating here . . .

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm trying -- slowly and carefully -- to move this new machine along . . . P8Z68-V-Pro and i7-2600K.

Today I started compiling some measurements on both the "offset" and "Voltage added in Turbo Mode," so I know what the auto-settings are actually providing at different OC's in equal increments. Right now, the system is only running on a "Turbo @ 3.91 Ghz" profile.

I installed Lucid Virtu. Then installed 3DMark-Vantage, and ran the benchmarks.

What is "P26660" for a score, and how good is it? I've been around the track before with 3DMark, but didn't post my results this time .. . The GPU score is 22162 and the CPU score is 68154.

 

[dreamsat]

I am wondering if you all have max performance out from with your system, Asrock must have som bugs with this mobo - try playing movies then see the results.

I have i5 2500k, asrock extreme 4, ati 5750, 8 GB DDR3 (1600 MHz)

when I play mkv/iso files 1080p in vlc, BS player, xbmc, with codecs/witout codecs, its LAGGING ?
whats wrong ? bios is updated, chipset driver is installed, also installed Intel HD3000 embedded GPU with same result ? special Lagging when you play 3D mkv/iso file.

anybody help please