1 quadro 4400 or 2 3300 on SLI

[digitalink]

i am buying a ne computer and i dont know weather to get one 512mb quadro 4400 or two quadro 3300 using SLI. i mostly do architectural viz (MAYA and MAX). so i have large polygon counts and render large stills (24"x36" @ 300dpi). from what i understand about SLI is that even though i have two 256mb GPU's thay run parallel so the computers acts as if i only have 256mb of vram but it can process the info ALMOST twice as fast. so that would make the redraw faster as long as i dont need more than 256mb of vram.

 

thanks in advance for the help.

[mbr]

What are your current card(s)? Personally, I think graphic cards are waaaay overrated and expensive for arch viz. I've used everything from a Geforce2 to a Geforce 5800 to a FireGL to a Quadro 1400 (current system) and I really don't notice much, if any, difference with Max. Is this what you'll be using?

 

Max's way the it refreshes large scenes is just horrible. It freezes and sticks when you move objects with every card I've used (granted, some are a little better, but when scenes quickly go from 50k polys to a million - adding trees, it just kills it instantaneously).

 

Ask around, but I think the money would be better spent elsewhere, say really fast drives (assuming you are already getting the fastest processors).

 

If you do get one, let us know if it's any better. I just think those cards are way over priced for this business.

[ihabkal]

What are your current card(s)? Personally, I think graphic cards are waaaay overrated and expensive for arch viz. I've used everything from a Geforce2 to a Geforce 5800 to a FireGL to a Quadro 1400 (current system) and I really don't notice much, if any, difference with Max. Is this what you'll be using?

 

Max's way the it refreshes large scenes is just horrible. It freezes and sticks when you move objects with every card I've used (granted, some are a little better, but when scenes quickly go from 50k polys to a million - adding trees, it just kills it instantaneously).

 

Ask around, but I think the money would be better spent elsewhere, say really fast drives (assuming you are already getting the fastest processors).

 

If you do get one, let us know if it's any better. I just think those cards are way over priced for this business.

 

 

 

EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS THAT IS................................................................................

[lambros]

I recently upgraded from a p3.4 2gb ram with a Gforce 5950Ultra system to an Athlon 4000+ 2gbram with an ATI Fire GL 7100. The ATI is supposed to be the high end of the market (although I do not know how it compares to a Quadro 4400. they must be close though). I was a bit dissapointed when I first ran 3dsmax with the FireGL. I loaded some old projects and I did not see a 200% change in viewport navigation. I could not really estimate the performance gain, but in Specview 8.1 it was about 100-150%. But then, why did a quite simple 200k appartment building did not navigate like hell?

My conclusion is that max slowed down earlier as the polygon count rose with the older card. A simple scene with 10k teapots (let's say around 8million polys) did navigate quickly. But when many different objects combine with textures, splines etc things can get slow even with a pro card.

So, the bottom line is that buying a pro card may be worth the money if you need it. But it surely does not change your life that much (compared to a high end gaming card).

Also, I have a doubt whether the Quadros work in an SLI configuration. I thought that only Gforce 660GTs, 6800s and 6800GTs worked in SLI. If they do work, they will surely rock, but keep in mind that if you use SLI you are confined to one screen display (you cannot use a dual display configuration)

[AJLynn]

I've noticed a difference, but maybe my models are too complicated. I go to grad school and we have a lab with fast P4s, 1 gig RAM and GeForce 5something, and at home I have an Athlon64 3000, 1 gig RAM, Quadro4 900, and my computer beats the snot out of the school computers for doing things like putting a complex Max model in full-screen perspective and rotating/panning/trucking through it quickly to check things and make edits. For a laptop, I've been using an Inspiron, P4 2200, 1 gig, GeForce 440 Go 32MB, and recently got a used Precision, P4 2400, 1 gig, Quadro4 500 64MB, and the difference is amazing. The Inspiron (okay, 32MB is a limitation...) is intolerably slow doing anything complicated. The Precision is in the same class as the Athlon, though a very small bit jerky, and not nearly as fast at rendering.

 

I think the main difference is whether the card allows you to run Maxtreme - that makes a big difference. I can't really see needing anything more advanced than the Quadro4 900, which can be had on Ebay for under $100.

[tnatua]

i am buying a ne computer and i dont know weather to get one 512mb quadro 4400 or two quadro 3300 using SLI. i mostly do architectural viz (MAYA and MAX). so i have large polygon counts and render large stills (24"x36" @ 300dpi). from what i understand about SLI is that even though i have two 256mb GPU's thay run parallel so the computers acts as if i only have 256mb of vram but it can process the info ALMOST twice as fast. so that would make the redraw faster as long as i dont need more than 256mb of vram.

 

thanks in advance for the help.

Hi

go to the link:

http://www.generation-nt.com/commenter/cartes-graphiques-amd-ati-radeon-hd-2900xt-nvidia-geforce-8800-gts-benchm

 

arks-actualite-24158.html

 

sorry it's a french site

3DS Max - Catia - Maya run faster with the ATI HD 2900 than with the

Quadro FX 5600....a 8800 GTX is faster than the ATI HD 2900

so it's up to you

Friendly

[AJLynn]

Please stop digging up old posts and making multiple posts to the same sets of benchmarks. Also, your multiply posted link is "La page spécifiée n'existe pas".

 

Thank you.

[tnatua]

it's OK sorry for dead link

excuse me:confused: