demo38

Sounds like fun, cool concept. I wish I could look further into it from my phone here, but I did find an example of sorts... http://www.cornucopia3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=56983&sid=753f7aaa91446b018e1f7c80f7a8fbfe it may help a bit, particularly about not using UNC paths, constructing the options and leaving the variables in place? In the docs attatched it mentions an option for establishing workpath so that it only needs added once rather than per file. I hope this helps! Looking forward to seeing your working solution. J

I wish I could see that larger on the iPhone, looks great though. Colors, composition... Nice work Travis.

OK, we finally ran those tests. Riva Tuner, from what we were able to accomplish, doesn't support soft-modding in an SLI config, at least with the 8800GTS that we tested with. We did hook up a pair of 8800GTS in SLI and compared that to an SLI config of 2 9600GTs though. Cinebench 10 / OpenGL results were: For ease of reading, I'm copying the prior results below and adding the GT: ---------------------------------------- With the original Quadro FX 1700 (for comparison): 5918 CB-GFX With the stock GeForce 8800GTS SSC / 640Mb: 5107 CB-GFX With the stock GeForce 8800GTS SSC / 640Mb - SLI Config: 6200 CB-GFX With the stock GeForce 9600GT / 1Gb: 5303 CB-GFX With the stock GeForce 9600GT / 1Gb - SLI Config: 6237 CB-GFX With the softmod GeForce 8800GTS SSC (now seen as a Quadro FX 4600): 6416 CB-GFX ---------------------------------------- As you can see, the SLI config did improve performance by about 1000 points in either card, but not enough in either case to beat the single softmodded 8800GTS. Looks like we're going with the 8800GTS. Thanks for the input on this everyone. -J

Mike, I wish I did. I was out on vacation last week. The system I've been testing on (a Dell T3400), didn't ship with an SLI bridge. We're (our IT dept) going to contact Dell today hopefully and get the story on obtaining one for that motherboard. I'll need that adapter to be able to compare the results to an SLI config of the 9600GTs as well, since the softmod doesn't work for them yet (or ever?). I will post back as soon as I have some numbers. -Jonathon

OK, we picked up a GigaByte 9600GT 1Gb card to test. According to RivaTuner's description, the card is supported. Reading deeper, it's supported for overclocking, not for softmodding yet. Oh well, it's a fast card none the less. Still need to test an SLI config on the 8800GTS (we just got the second card). -J

OK: Report back #1 Specapc for Max is a 32 bit only app, and this machine for testing is strictly a 64bit XP right now. So, I went with Cinebench to at least see some numbers on it. Machine is a Dell T3400 Intel Core 2 Extreme Q6850 @ 3.0GHz - Quadcore 4Gb RAM The original card in it was a Quadro FX 1700 Since the only difference in Cinebench to observe for the video card is OpenGL. I'm only listing OpenGL shading here. With the original Quadro FX 1700: 5918 CB-GFX With the stock GeForce 8800GTS SSC / 640Mb: 5107 CB-GFX With the softmod GeForce 8800GTS SSC (now seen as a Quadro FX 4600): 6416 CB-GFX Obviously, I'm happy with those results. Next I would like to grab a second card and run them SLI and test again... Will also check the price on a 9600GT (RivaTuner now supports it as well) for kicks... An EVGA 9600GT 1Gb card for $180... Hmmmmmmmm.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130363 Thanks for the help on this. By the way, this was the RivaTuner guide I followed: http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33898714 Hopefully more to come.

Great to hear. Well, we have the 8800GTS SSC (640Mb) sitting in the IT dept now. We'll be benchmarking it with Cinebench in a Dell 3400 - 64bit soon. I'll post results with the card it has in it now (a Quadro 1700, I believe), along with the 8800 as is, and of course, after soft-mod. Is there a better benchmarking app that I should test with other than Cinebench for testing the graphics cards / performance? Thanks, J

Understood, and good to point out. I've soldered chips onto motherboards and flashed various electronics for additional features, so I will in no way hold you responsible for anything that wouldn't work. I will, on the other hand, report back as to the findings of what worked / didn't if we pursue it. I'm more curious than anything else. According to RivaTuners site, the latest version now supports XP-64 (Vista 64 in progress) and G9 series cards, so only time will tell. Thanks for the help.

Software only? SOLD. Thanks. Last question if you don't mind. NewEgg lists an 8800GTS SSC 640mb card. The SSC line have any issues that you would be aware of? $130. Worth the shot... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130317

Thanks, I hear you. It would be an after market add on for sure. Can't even get that card in the system I would order. Thus saving the original is a must. So, soft modding 2 cards in the same box is no issue then? If I were to buy 2 8800GTS cards (320/640) / soft modded? Is this solid in 64-bit as well? Thanks, J

Thanks for the replys: found that thread here for anyone interested. http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/29160-quadro-fx1700-geforce-8800gt-4.html

Looking at some new machines,; we were considering the Quadro line as we've always used, though I'm intrigued by the thought (in reading here), about soft-modding GeForce cards to run as Quadros. If I were to buy 2 GeForce cards, (planning on soft-modding them to run as the fastest compatible Quadros), what would be the fastest GeForce cards that this would be possible? 8800GT --> Quadro 4600? Would this be stable? To be used primarily with Max in a Dell box / dual Xeons, but Revit will also be used on the machines (as I understand that FireGL would be best for). Thanks for any thoughts, J

May be old news, but I just found that Landscapeforms have SketchUp models available for (it seems) all of the their product lines. If you locate the product, then click on the “SketchUp Library” link on the left, it takes you to free downloads for them. Using SketchUp Pro, you can then export those models to use in any application. http://www.landscapeforms.com/en-us/pages/default.aspx

Thanks, downloading now... ----------------------- Download complete, very nice, thanks!

You can edit the AVI file it writes out in any video editing app. The CamStudio codec is also a free download there if you need it. Nice little app, thanks for the link.