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Sticky: Video card buying advice


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EDIT (9/3/2011): It's been pointed out to me that this information is quite out of date, seeing as how I wrote it in 2008, so I'll be posting a new reply to update. This will show up on page 6.

 

Buying a video card for your PC can be frustrating and expensive (and the subject of a heck of a lot of threads here). Here's some hopefully helpful info.

 

 

First off, two things that apply to all applications:

 

-For professional use a video card from the Intel GMA line or anything that uses "Shared Memory", "HyperMemory" or "TurboCache" is not appropriate. Even though Turbo and Hyper sound fast, here they are used as euphemisms for "slow".

 

-Choice of video card does not in any way affect the speed of rendering in any of the software popular among architecture CG people. This includes mental ray, Vray, Maxwell, Fry, Cinema4D, "scanline", Lightscape, Kray, Fprime, Kerkythea and others - if you want to render faster, what you don't want is a new video card. The video card runs the on-screen display and for our purposes, that's all.

 

 

Now the more detailed info:

 

-The choice of video card depends a lot on what you want it for. Since you're here, let's assume it's to run a CAD or pro 3D app, but you still need to know which one and what display technology it uses.

 

 

-Direct3D apps, including but not limited to:

 

Recent versions of AutoCAD

Recent versions of 3DSMax and Viz

(and most games)

 

will run just fine on a consumer card meant for video game enthusiasts, such as a GeForce or Radeon. A lot of people prefer GeForce cards because of preference for nVidia's drivers. These cards will also run most OpenGL software just fine, though at a speed disadvantage, though if you want to run Revit, read the Revit section below.

 

Look here for a list of video cards available as of the end of 2007, ranked by frag rate.

 

UPDATE (MAY 2009): Here is a more up to date list of consumer level video card benchmarks.

 

 

-OpenGL apps, including but not limited to:

 

SketchUp

Maya

Cinema4D

Revit

 

will gain a large advantage from running on a "pro" video card: an nVidia QuadroFX or an ATI FireGL. Pro cards are not usually necessary, and Cinema4D in particular can perform very well on a GeForce or Radeon card, but they improve performance enough that many users will pay the additional cost.

 

This might be useful.

 

UPDATE (MAY 2009): Here is a more current list of workstation video card benchmarks.

 

 

-Apps that use special OpenGL features. The only one I can think of is Alias Studio - it has a high end hardware render feature that only works on QuadroFX and FireGL cards. This isn't going to apply to most people here, but if you're looking to use this software, you want this feature.

 

 

-Revit. Ahh, Revit. Revit is special because it's the only software where you really want to stay away from Geforce cards. As of the 2008 version, it runs OpenGL or software mode, and the OpenGL mode is very unstable with most GeForces. After much discussion, the folks on the AUGI forums have come up with this list, in order of preference, of video cards to consider for Revit:

 

FireGL v3xxx series

FireGL v5xxx series

QuadroFX

Radeon

GeForce

 

This is unfortunate, as a GeForce 8800GT is currently the clear and obvious 3DSMax price/performance winner. Perhaps this is one of the many areas where Revit users have to wait for the next version.

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See above. If you want an "approved" card you want a Quadro or FireGL (from the recent hardware list, it looks like FireGL actually tests a bit better in Autodesk apps) but if you want more value in something that is almost as good, you want a Geforce 8800GT.

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Those are all good brands. The technical differences are that some companies add a different cooling system, or overclock the GPU and memory, but they all run the same drivers and the rest is personal preference and what you can get a deal on.

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FWIW I have an XFX and it's been fine, but you're not really going to find much difference between manufacturers. With few exceptions they're using the same parts and the manufacturing standards are the same. Some companies get better ratings on customer service than others.

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Don't misinform in my thread. I've done the research on this, and seen the bugs myself. Revit users should stay far away from Geforce cards. Radeon cards have bugs of their own, which is why Max users usually shouldn't buy them, but FireGL cards are solid.

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Don't misinform in my thread. I've done the research on this, and seen the bugs myself. Revit users should stay far away from Geforce cards. Radeon cards have bugs of their own, which is why Max users usually shouldn't buy them, but FireGL cards are solid.

 

You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but in my experience, all ATI cards are wonderful...for gaming. If you want to get serious about rapid prototyping and/or design/rendering, NVIDIA is what you want.

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I do excuse your ignorance. But you can't generalize like that. I've been through this extensively, seen the bugs myself, the AUGI people making those recommendations have a lot of experience and I've ben told the same by friends who are Revit developers. In the case of Revit users, the best video card is a FireGL. It's almost undisputed among Revit experts.

 

I suspect you haven't spent much time with a FireGL card. I've been using them for 3 years. They are excellent at running Max, C4D, Sketchup, Revit, AutoCAD, Maya and Rhino. XP32 and 64. I have never experienced a bug with any FireGL card except a V3100, which was a pretty bad card.

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The Sapphire HD 3870 X2 gives you dual core processing and at a really affordable price. DirectX 10 support. I dont know about other package but works great with Max and AutoCad. Is there a better power per pound card about? And it's ATI!

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Just out of interest im looking at a 9800GTX+ which arent too expensive (much within my budget) and was wondering if there is much merit in getting two for an SLI config. Does Max have any particual support for SLI configs?

 

Either that or one 9800 GX2 for about $130 less...

 

EDIT: Upon more reading it appears that I need a new power supply to run a 9800GX2 which weighs in at about $200 :(

Edited by WAcky
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I've really noticed lately that my Nvidia Quadro FX1700 (running dual monitors) displays high geometric scenes much quicker on the primary monitor. From what I understand about this card the second monitor is always going to have slower refresh rates due to the nature of the design. I'm about to speck a new system and I really want to have equal power on both of my monitors which are both running at 1680x1050 32bit. Should I continue to move up to more expensive single cards or would a dual card setup be a better option?

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  • 2 months later...
Anyone with ATi 4850/4870?

I heard they rock in OGL/ D3D apps, is that true?

What about the drivers for tham are they stabile?

 

I'm running an ATi HD4870 1GB on a XP 64 system using max 2009 and have nothing but good things to report. I've only had one issue with drivers and that was in relation to my Spyder3 Pro monitor calibrator. The ATi stuffed the monitor profile up so to fixed the problem I had to stop the ATi from loading its control panal thingy on startup. I did read about overheating problems before buying but I've never had a problem and I live in a hot huimid climate too.

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I'm running an ATi HD4870 1GB on a XP 64 system using max 2009 and have nothing but good things to report. I've only had one issue with drivers and that was in relation to my Spyder3 Pro monitor calibrator. The ATi stuffed the monitor profile up so to fixed the problem I had to stop the ATi from loading its control panal thingy on startup. I did read about overheating problems before buying but I've never had a problem and I live in a hot huimid climate too.

 

Thanx on feedback!

...

Q: What was your former Graphic card and could you compare it with 4870, please?

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