Hello,
My configuration:
· GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (12 GB)
· 3ds Max + V-Ray GPU (7.4 DR2)
· 2K monitor connected to the RTX 5070
When rendering with V-Ray GPU, it shows only 8.24 GB available out of 12 GB. I understand that Windows, the 3ds Max viewport, and other apps consume some VRAM.
I am planning to install a secondary GPU (e.g., GTX 1660 6GB or RTX 3050 6GB) solely for driving the monitor and the 3ds Max viewport, to offload the RTX 5070.
My questions:
1. If I connect the monitor to the secondary GPU and uncheck it in V-Ray GPU device settings (leaving only the RTX 5070 for rendering), will almost all 12 GB of the RTX 5070’s VRAM become available for rendering?
2. What are the pitfalls of this setup? Do I need to configure anything else in 3ds Max or the NVIDIA Control Panel to ensure the viewport and Windows use the secondary GPU, keeping the RTX 5070 free?
Hi Max,
Yes, it is true that the applications you mentioned consume GPU memory.
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This setup will help, as you will have more available GPU memory for rendering.
We have machines with two GPUs where the second GPU still uses around 500–700 MB of memory even when no applications are running.
However, you should still have around 1–2 GB more available.
You can use tools such as GPU-Z or MSI Afterburner to monitor the GPU memory usage more precisely.
The GPU driver manages the memory, so it is not always easy to determine exactly what is using it.
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The downside of this setup is that your viewport and other applications may use the first GPU. If you use a lower-end GPU for these tasks, you may notice a performance loss with heavy scenes in the viewport.
In the NVIDIA Control Panel, you can choose which GPU each application should use.
You can also try to optimize your scene’s memory usage by following our guide here:
https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/articles/4412959408017-Optimizing-memory-VRAM-usage-for-GPU-rendering