Hello,
so I’ve done quite some research on the internet and haven’t really found answers for all my questions. So I hope that I’ll be able to find some support here. I will will just go ahead and shoot question after question at you - I hope you don’t mind. ;)
- I've heard that K1/K2 video cards are for professional working environments, that K340/K520 are newer video cards and that the K340/K520 are rather designed for cloud gaming. My question is: What technical difference really makes the K340/K520 better for cloud gaming? Could K1/K2 video cards be used for cloud gaming? Wouldn't those be better as they provide vGPUs?
- In the specifications of the K340/K520 is mentioned that 4-24/2-16 simultaneous players are possible. I'm wondering: How can there be that many simultaneous players without the ability to virtualize the GPU? Can several virtualizations use the same GPU?
- Furthermore, how can a shortage of RAM be avoided when playing the latest video games? Some of the NVIDIA GRID video cards only support 4GB RAM. Does that mean that only 1, max. 2 GTA V players can be supported with one video card?
- Is the technology which delivers a H.264 encoded video from the video card only available in the NVIDIA GRID video cards? What about normal video cards like a NVIDIA Titan X? Do those also provide such functionality?
- Last but not least: Is there any news about new GRID video cards being in development?
I hope that’s not too much. Thanks for all your help upfront.
Hello,
thanks you very much for your support so far, I really appreciate it!
However, I have some followup questions:
- So K1/2 and K340/520 are all great for cloud gaming but come with different technical specifications. However, I am not sure what specifications are the most important for gaming. Memory type (GDDR3 vs GDDR5)? Memory clock? Number of CUDA cores per GPU? Core clock?
- I can't really find a noticable technical difference between a K2 and a K520. The only difference I found in the technical specifications was that the K2 has a core clock of 745MHz and the K520 a core clock of 800MHz and that the K2 has a vGPU and the K520 doesn't. Everything else about the memory, bios, GPU and board are exactly the same. A reference to both PDF files including the technical specs.: http://www.nvidia.de/content/grid/pdf/GRID_K2_BD-06580-001_v02.pdf, http://wfcache.advantech.com/www/certified-peripherals/documents/ags-grid-k520-prl_Datasheet.pdf
- I understand that the frame buffer is allocated on a fixed basis but is there a way to add additional RAM to the video card? Either by adding special RAM on the mainboard or to somehow share memory in any other way? I read about NVIDIA TurboCache.
- How does process of virtualising GPUs & VRAM work in detail? Is it possible to set up a dynamic allocation of resources, so that only resources that are currently needed are assigned to a user?
- In case there are several video cards installed in a server, is it possible to virtualise the entire resources of all video cards together or is it only possible to virtualise resources per video card?
- Do these video cards support DirectX 12?
Hello,
thank you once again for your support! Though, I still have some followup questions:
- Is it possible to support more than 60fps with a K520 or is the amount of fps limited by the encoder?
- Does the vGPU technology on a K2 save additional milliseconds in comparison to a K520?
Thanks for your quick response!
- What are you refering to when talking about the remoting protocol? Do you mean a protocol such as RTSP? I am just wondering whether these NVENC hardware encoders on those Kepler GPUS support more than 60fps. Because until now I always read about 720p@30fps and 1080p@60fps. I am interessted in 1080p@120fps streams.
- By saving additional milliseconds I refer to the timeframe in which the user presses a button until the fully encoded H.264 video is sent back to the user. Can the K2's vGPU technology impact that timeframe positively due to its hardware support?
- Can several NVIDIA GRID video cards function together in one server independently or is a SLI mode required? I ask because I've seen in NVIDIA GRID servers (http://www.pto.hu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/nvidia-grid-vca.jpg) numerous NVIDIA GRID video cards function together and I was wondering if and how they are connected.
Remoting protocol means how are you transmitting the session from the host to the client. e.g. VMware PCoIP, Citrix ICA/HDX, VNC, RGS etc. Those are encoding guidelines for NVENC and the number of streams are a guide for how many streams at that resolution & frame rate. 1080p @ 120fps is going to be a challenge from a protocol perspective, most are limited to 60, and the bandwidth required for 1080p @ 120 will be substantial.
It makes no difference. Network latency will have a far greater impact.
It depends on the implementation. VCA is designed to leverage all the GPU’s. Virtualisation doesn’t allow for it.
What exactly are you trying to achieve?