CS4 – GPU, OpenGL, Radeon, dual monitor confusion

JB
Posted By
John_Blaustein
Mar 23, 2009
Views
994
Replies
11
Status
Closed
Hi,

A couple of days ago, I installed CS4 on my Windows XP system. I immediately updated all the components to the latest versions. When I tried to run CS4, I got repeated error messages about GPU problems. When I tried to open Preferences, CS4 crashed, but only on the General and Performance tabs. I called tech support and they suggested getting the latest drivers for my video card. I did that (for one of my two video cards) and now I can run CS4, but no OpenGL.

Here’s my system:

Antec P182 case
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Power Supply
ASUS P5E motherboard
Intel Q9450 2.66 Ghz CPU
Zalman 9700 CPU cooler
Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) RAM Visiontek HD3850 512M video card (primary) PCIe
Sapphire 9250 256M video card (secondary) PCI
HP LP2065 monitors (2)
Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB hard drives (3)
Samsung SH-S223F DVD burner
Windows XP Home

I was able to update the video driver for the 3850 card, but there is nothing new for the 9250 card. With the newer 3850 driver, I can now run CS4, but in Preferences > Performance, the GPU setting is now grayed out for Enable OpenGL Drawing and it says "No GPU options available with Photoshop Standard."

When I remove the 9250 card and just use the 3850 card, the Enable OpenGL option is there and CS4 runs with it enabled. I conclude from this that the 9250 card and its driver don’t support what CS4 needs, but the 3850 card and driver do.

I use two video cards because I use Colorvision Spyder3 Elite to calibrate and profile my two monitors, and it is my understanding that I need two cards to separately profile each monitor.

Questions:

1) What features in CS4 am I missing by running it with OpenGL Drawing disabled? CS4 seems to work similarly to CS3 when I edit an image, so maybe I don’t need OpenGL… just wondering what OpenGL would give me.

2) Can someone recommend a video card that will run CS4 with OpenGL … AND … that will allow dual monitors to each be profiled separately? Or, perhaps I can simply replace the 9250 PCI card with a newer card that supports OpenGL. Suggestions?

3) I do not have the latest BIOS for my motherboard. Would updating the BIOS help with the OpenGL issue, or is this just a video card/driver issue? My system runs perfectly so I hesitate to update the BIOS — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Thanks for any help and clarification here.

John
Related Tags
confusion dual monitor opengl radeon

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

ZB
Zeno_Bokor
Mar 23, 2009
The problem is definitely the 9250 because it doesn’t support OpenGL2.0 The benefits of OpenGL include being able to rotate the canvas on the fly, smooth viewing even at the wacky zoom levels(like 33.3%), faster displaying of images, stuff like that.

You only have two monitors? then you could try to hook both of them up to the 3850 but if you want different cards for different monitors, you could try something like this: < http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127 411> For only photoshop image work it would be enough
JB
John_Blaustein
Mar 23, 2009
Zeno,

Thank you for your reply.

I would like to take advantage of the benefits of OpenGL, so I will get rid of the 9250 card. The MSI card looks like a very reasonable solution (can’t beat the price).

Here’s a question: If I remove the 9250 card and connect both monitors to my existing 3850, will I still be able to use Spyder3 Elite to calibrate and profile my primary monitor? I don’t really need the secondary monitor profiled since I only use it for Photoshop and Bibble palettes.

It is my understanding that cards like the 3850 have only one LUT, so even if two monitors are attached, only one can be profiled. Right?

John
ZB
Zeno_Bokor
Mar 23, 2009
I have no idea, but there are tons of people who use dual monitor setups with only one card so i’m guessing that it should be possible
JB
John_Blaustein
Mar 24, 2009
Zeno,

I removed the 9250 and connected both monitors to the 3850. CS4 now recognizes the card and allows me to enable OpenGL.

I’ve ordered the MSI card you recommended which will allow me to separately calibrate and profile each monitor. XP and the 3850 can’t seem to keep straight which profile belongs to which monitor, but I know that with two cards that isn’t a problem.

Thanks again for your help!

John
RB
Robert_Barnett
Mar 24, 2009
If both cards are not the same make and model you will have problems. Windows will only work with two video cards that are the same because you can only have one driver loaded at a time. So if you want two cards make sure they match. I have two Radeon 1650 Pro cards and have no problems with 4 monitors. But, they use the same driver.

Robert
ZB
Zeno_Bokor
Mar 24, 2009
He uses XP, only Vista allows only one display driver. On the other hand, both the 3850 and the 4350 use the same driver so it wouldn’t be a problem even on Vista
DM
dave_milbut
Mar 24, 2009
If both cards are not the same make and model you will have problems. Windows will only work with two video cards that are the same because you can only have one driver loaded at a time

yes and no. i’ve had 2 different nvidia cards loaded. they both ran off the same driver.
ZB
Zeno_Bokor
Mar 24, 2009
It depends on what the two cards are, nVidia doesn’t support Geforce FX cards(or older) with the current driver, same for ATi with cards older than the Radeon 9500. That’s why when using those ancient cards in conjunction with newer cards you need a separate driver for both of them.
DM
dave_milbut
Mar 24, 2009
It depends on what the two cards are

right. so the final correct answer is: "It depends." 🙂
JB
John_Blaustein
Mar 24, 2009
Thanks guys…

Before installing CS4 (which started my problems), the Radeon 3850 and 9250 worked fine together. With the two cards, I was able to profile each monitor with Spyder3 Elite and Spyder3 loaded the correct profile when I booted. I used the basic drivers, not the full Catalyst application.

The 3850 and the 4350 use the same driver, so I don’t anticipate any problems using them together. I can continue to profile each monitor separately… and … take advantage of OpenGL in CS4.

I’ll post back after I’ve installed the 4350.

John
JB
John_Blaustein
Mar 27, 2009
UPDATE…

I have removed the Radeon 9250 and installed the MSI Radeon 4350 which Zeno recommended (see link above).

Everything now works perfectly — CS4 shows OpenGL is enabled and Spyder3 Elite is profiling each monitor separately and loading the correct profile for each monitor when I boot up. The OpenGL scrolling tools are handy, and the Review Mode (Ctrl+B) in Bridge is smooth as silk when the images rotate! Everything related to the display is lightning fast.

The 3850 is running my primary monitor and the 4350 is running the secondary monitor. Both cards are using the same ATI driver — 8.591.0.0. I have not loaded the ATI Catalyst application — I’m not quite sure what it does, but I don’t think I need it.

One odd thing is that Windows > Display Properties > Adapter shows the memory size for the 4350 is 1024MB, while the info on the box (and on Newegg) shows 512MB. The 3850 is correctly showing 512MB in Disp Prop. I don’t see this as a problem, just one of the many puzzling things one runs into.

So, once again, I’d like to thank you guys for your help. Like many people here, I have come to rely on your expertise when I run into PS problems or usage questions. You provide a great service!

John

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections