Render preview in Cycles freezes Blender 2.74 when using both GPU cores #44933

New Issue

TravLR · 2015-06-03T00:02:32+02:00

TravLR commented

2015-06-03 00:02:32 +02:00

System Information
Ubuntu 15.04 64-bit, PC - Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 Rev. 4 motherboard, AMD FX-9590 CPU, 16GB DDR3 1866mhz RAM, 2x Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 graphics cards

Blender Version
2.74

Short description of error
When I try to use both Nvidia 660's I have in my PC (by selecting "Geforce GTX 660 (2)" in the Compute Device of User Preferences), the program freezes during render preview (Pressing Shift+z) almost immediately, with only the checkerboard background displayed. If I select the top "Geforce GTX 660", preview and render runs fine. If I select the bottom "Geforce GTX 660", it freezes. If I select the very top option "Geforce GTX 660(2x)", it freezes. Still image and final/video rendering works great -- uses both GPU's and cuts render time in half. It is only during render preview that this happens.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

Create new blender project.
go to User Preferences > System > Computer Device, then choose "Geforce GTX 660 (2x)"
Close User Preferences
Press Shift+z or go to Viewport Shading > Rendered.
EFFECT viewport shows checkerboard background, but application freezes and becomes unresponsive, requiring it to be force closed.

**System Information** Ubuntu 15.04 64-bit, PC - Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 Rev. 4 motherboard, AMD FX-9590 CPU, 16GB DDR3 1866mhz RAM, 2x Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 graphics cards **Blender Version** 2.74 **Short description of error** When I try to use both Nvidia 660's I have in my PC (by selecting "Geforce GTX 660 (2)" in the Compute Device of User Preferences), the program freezes during render preview (Pressing Shift+z) almost immediately, with only the checkerboard background displayed. If I select the top "Geforce GTX 660", preview and render runs fine. If I select the bottom "Geforce GTX 660", it freezes. If I select the very top option "Geforce GTX 660(2x)", it freezes. Still image and final/video rendering works great -- uses both GPU's and cuts render time in half. It is only during render preview that this happens. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** 1. Create new blender project. 2. go to User Preferences > System > Computer Device, then choose "Geforce GTX 660 (2x)" 3. Close User Preferences 4. Press Shift+z or go to Viewport Shading > Rendered. 5. *EFFECT* viewport shows checkerboard background, but application freezes and becomes unresponsive, requiring it to be force closed.

TravLR commented

2015-06-03 00:02:32 +02:00

Changed status to: 'Open'

TravLR commented

2015-06-03 00:02:32 +02:00

Added subscriber: @TravLR

Sergey Sharybin was assigned by Bastien Montagne

2015-06-03 09:54:32 +02:00

Bastien Montagne commented

2015-06-03 09:54:32 +02:00

Added subscribers: @mont29, @ThomasDinges, @MartijnBerger

Sergey Sharybin commented

2015-06-03 18:07:00 +02:00

Does final render with progressive refine works fine for you? Does setting tile size to 1024x1024 makes final render to stuck?

TravLR commented

2015-06-03 18:23:54 +02:00

Sergey,

Confirmed, both final render with progressive refine checked works without issue, and setting the tile size to 1024x1024 works fine without issue. Final render doesn't seem to show any signs of problems. It's only when I use preview render in the viewport that I get the checkerboard background and Blender freezes. Mind you, this only happens when I select it to use both GPU's on my machine, or when I select the bottom GPU only. Selecting the top GPU works fine, but it cuts my rendering capability in half because I'm only using 1 of 2 GPU's in my system.

Sergey, Confirmed, both final render with progressive refine checked works without issue, and setting the tile size to 1024x1024 works fine without issue. Final render doesn't seem to show any signs of problems. It's only when I use preview render in the viewport that I get the checkerboard background and Blender freezes. Mind you, this only happens when I select it to use both GPU's on my machine, or when I select the bottom GPU only. Selecting the top GPU works fine, but it cuts my rendering capability in half because I'm only using 1 of 2 GPU's in my system.

TravLR commented

2015-06-06 02:43:11 +02:00

I also swapped the graphics cards around to see if perhaps one of them was defective. Even with them switched, I got the same result: choosing the bottom GPU froze Blender during render preview, but choosing the upper GPU worked fine. I know it's also not defective PCIe ports, because SLI works fine in games on the Windows side, and Blender renders using both GPU's without issue.

Aaron Carlisle commented

2015-06-11 16:02:19 +02:00

Added subscriber: @Blendify

Sergey Sharybin commented

2015-06-18 20:41:46 +02:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Archived'

Sergey Sharybin closed this issue

2015-06-18 20:41:46 +02:00

Sergey Sharybin commented

2015-06-18 20:41:46 +02:00

Neither of the developers or artists around here can reproduce the issue. It's likely something to do with particular hardware configuration. It might be a good idea to check if someone from blenderartist had similar problem.

Also, now when you're mentioning SLI -- you need to disable it. It might easily cause issues with Cycles.

So thanks for the report, but archiving for until someone from the developers can reproduce the issue.

Neither of the developers or artists around here can reproduce the issue. It's likely something to do with particular hardware configuration. It might be a good idea to check if someone from blenderartist had similar problem. Also, now when you're mentioning SLI -- you need to disable it. It might easily cause issues with Cycles. So thanks for the report, but archiving for until someone from the developers can reproduce the issue.

TravLR commented

2015-06-19 03:17:02 +02:00

Understood. Appreciate the open communication. I'll test once 2.75 has officially been released to see if the problem still occurs then. :)

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Render preview in Cycles freezes Blender 2.74 when using both GPU cores #44933