GPU Processing for Video - Help with specs

[Jeff Mottle]

Hey guys,

 

I posted about trying to use the GPU to help speed up video encoding a few weeks ago. Right now I'm looking at getting an NVIDIA card that is CUDA enabled. I have dual GeForce 7800 GTX cards now, but they are not CUDA enabled and do not work for GPU processing for video. Surprisingly my Macbook Pro's video card is, but I want to see if I can get somethign faster. I found this fantastic app to encode video and based on the quick test I did on my MBP is almost twice as fast as CPU encoding.

 

This is the app: http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/te4xp.html

 

I'm looking at a higher end GeForce card, but want as good or better performance as I have now, but CUDA enabled. I found a site that compares all of the specs of NVIDIA cards here: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/132 but I don't really know how to make proper comparisions. I don't know how all of the variables affect GPU rendering speed. For example is a 9000 series card significantly slower than the newer 200 series cards for this purpose?

 

Obviously I want to get the biggest bang for the buck. So paying double for 15% performance increase is what I want to avoid. I just don't know how to compare GPU specs. Also, would a single 200 series card be more powerful than my dual 7800 GTX set up (SLI)?

 

Cheers,

Jeff

[cadmunkey]

Jeff, I wish youd posted this a couple of months back as I read Custom PC magazine (geek alert!!) and it had a large roundup of Nvidia cards with the specs your after. Anyway, Nvidia can be accused of confusing the consumer recently with their 200 series cards. The 260 is actually a step back from the 9800, but the 280 and 295 cards are massive performers but obviously more expensive. You can get the low down on pretty much any card you want here:

http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/605435/graphics-cards/products.html

 

These reviews go indepth with GPU speed figures and RAM speeds, and it looks like a 280/295 would outperform your current setup. I used to run SLi systems but now I have a single 280 and it has excellent performance.

One thing I can't help with is pricing as it seems we pay alot more over here than you do there ;-)

[AJLynn]

I'd say do some research and see if you can get some real numbers (not the nVidia "Over 400% speed increase!" load of manure). I've seen mixed reviews. For example, one techie site where they tried that software on a Core 2 Duo with an 8800GT and it ran twice as fast without CUDA and another one where their CPU was about 50% faster. Unfortunately there is very little high-quality information on this subject.