Professional Graphic Cards for A:M?

[genocell]

I apologize in advance for being a total noob in computer hardware but I need to ask something.

 

I'm aware that A:M doesn't take advantage of GPU rendering, but will A:M take advantage of a Professional Video Card like the Nvidia Quadro (particularly the 600) during realtime operations like tweaking hair and animating?

 

I appreciate any reply. Thanks.

[robcat2075]

Hi Genocell!

 

I apologize in advance for being a total noob in computer hardware but I need to ask something.

 

I'm aware that A:M doesn't take advantage of GPU rendering,

True in general, but I'll note that the FakeAOGPU plugin DOES use GPU computing to speed it's work up. Currently having a bit trouble in v17 but it worked great in v16.

 

 

but will A:M take advantage of a Professional Video Card like the Nvidia Quadro (particularly the 600) during realtime operations like tweaking hair and animating?

 

My unofficial sense is that people have had a bit more trouble with "quadro" cards, i don't know if that's always true.

 

Any card with good OpenGL performance ought to work.

 

The problem with recommending anything is that no one has ever done a real side-by side test of various cards on the same computer with the same version of A:M.

 

I'm using an EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 with 512MB RAM with good results. I think i got it on sale a couple years ago for ~$50?

 

Hopefully others will chime in here too.

[Fuchur]

Hi Genocell!

 

I apologize in advance for being a total noob in computer hardware but I need to ask something.

 

I'm aware that A:M doesn't take advantage of GPU rendering,

True in general, but I'll note that the FakeAOGPU plugin DOES use GPU computing to speed it's work up. Currently having a bit trouble in v17 but it worked great in v16.

 

 

but will A:M take advantage of a Professional Video Card like the Nvidia Quadro (particularly the 600) during realtime operations like tweaking hair and animating?

 

My unofficial sense is that people have had a bit more trouble with "quadro" cards, i don't know if that's always true.

 

Any card with good OpenGL performance ought to work.

 

The problem with recommending anything is that no one has ever done a real side-by side test of various cards on the same computer with the same version of A:M.

 

I'm using an EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 with 512MB RAM with good results. I think i got it on sale a couple years ago for ~$50?

 

Hopefully others will chime in here too.

 

I recently bought a new graphiccard with a nice performance. It is not a Quadro or FireGL, but a good gamingcard: PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 PCS+. It is available for about 220 Euros here. (dont know how much it is in Dollars)

 

It is performing a little better than my HD4870-card, which was a good card at the time too. Depending on the card you are using now you can have a performance-boost, but it is not like doubling the FPS or something if your card before was nice too. (of course if you are using a real low-end and than you use a high-end one it will certainly make a difference. Anyway it is often not just the graphiccard which will contribute to the realtime-performance but RAM, the software itself and stuff like that that will increase that too. Putting a great graphiccard into an old computer is not always going to give you a big boost since the CPU / computer is slowing down the graphhiccard because the gpu has to wait for the CPU.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[genocell]

Ok thanks to both of you.

 

I'm currently using the built in graphic adapter on the mother board so any other good cards are enough. It's only two years old.

 

The reason I'm looking for professional level cards is that I have other softwares that I'm using that needs it.

 

Yes I'm also looking for any good deals out there too.

 

On a side note I've read in here that A:M is working on a gpu rendering feature, it was a 2011 thread I think. Any new news or progress? Just curious. Is it safe to think that the next A:M, v18 will have such a feature?

 

Thanks.

[robcat2075]

Ok thanks to both of you.

 

I'm currently using the built in graphic adapter on the mother board

 

Ouch!

 

The reason I'm looking for professional level cards is that I have other softwares that I'm using that needs it.

 

Read their requirements carefully. I notice Adobe has some very specific expectations for its video apps.

Yes I'm also looking for any good deals out there too.

 

A:M itself can do well with reasonably inexpensive cards. I think 512MB is probably a good lower limit for video card RAM.

 

On a side note I've read in here that A:M is working on a gpu rendering feature, it was a 2011 thread I think. Any new news or progress? Just curious. Is it safe to think that the next A:M, v18 will have such a feature?

 

Steffen gave it a shot, but it didn't work well with all cards and wasn't as much of a speed up as hoped when it worked. He HAS gotten substantial speedups by optimizing the code to better use the extended SSE3 and SSE4 instructions in modern CPUs. Those are in v17.

[jirard]

I have a low end quadro and I can say i have been less than impressed with it. I would search the forum for recommended cards and go with that.

[Shelton]

I have had two quadro cards and was not impressed. The ati cards have worked better for me including the 5800 series, the 6700 and 6900 series and finally the 7900 series. All have been steady.

 

Steve