pwharton Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Since installing max 2010 I have been having problems with the display. I also run Sketchup, Photoshop, and Corel on my machine. If I run some or all of these programs before I open max I get the attached message. I reboot the machine and its fine, but if I for instance open one of my older scenes from 2009 and changes views form say 4 panels to top view I get the same message sometime. This is not exclusive to Max, I also run Sketchup with the add-on Podium and their newer versions of both programs have similar video problems as well. I bought this machine to do rendering now almost 2 years ago. My questions is looking at my specs below can you give me a clue on what I need to do to make the system more stable for max to run properly. Would a new video card help? I am running a Dell Precision intel core 2 @2.66GHz with 3GBs of ram and a Nvidia Quadro FX 550 graphic card with I believe 128MB in windows XP Professional mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAcky Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Tried updating your vid card drivers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwharton Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Yes, And I am looking into downloading and instaling the max extreme driver now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 If you are running xp64, you could try installing the latest DirectX installer from Microsoft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwharton Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 I am still on a 32 bit machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beestee Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 128 MB video is the minimum spec for Max and Windows XP Pro. Sketchup actually requires at least 512 MB video according to their specs. In my experience I have always run into problems running below, or sometimes even at minimum system requirements. Your solution would be to get a new video card IMO. For ~40 USD you could get a capable 512 MB card. You said the computer was built for rendering but it seems that you are using it as a workstation. If it is indeed being used as a workstation, and you value your time, you could probably justify putting a bit more money into the video card. Even at 200-250 USD for the better video cards available you would still be saving money in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwharton Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Thanks for the reply beestee, I think you are right, when I bought the system almost 2 years ago the spec’s where well within tolerances for max. I looking for information on what would be a good video card for max most of the information I have run across is dated. There is little to no information on max 2010 other then the Autodesk web site and the post here on video cards dated Dec 2008. I have always been a invidia guy, but reading some other post here and other sites it may not be the best for max versus the cost. Could you recommend some options that I can look at? I can’t afford to spend a ton of money for a new board, I rather get a new 64 bit machine but that’s going to happen right now. So I guess I need to find something middle of the road, priced below $500.00 US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beestee Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I would probably try to stay right around $200 since you are dealing with a machine built 2-years ago, that way you can save a little money now that can be invested in your new computer. I have always had preference to NVIDIA myself as well, but if I were in the market for a new graphics workstation card right now I personally would strongly consider the ATI Radeon HD 4890 cards, perhaps this Sapphire since it seems to be getting exceptionally good ratings. If you would like to stick to Quadro, this Quadro FX580 seems to have a good cost/performance balance, and it meets Sketch-Up's minimum requirement for 512MB of memory. If you would like to try one of the GeForce 200 series, this GTX 260 would be a strong performer that will save you a little more in cost. I have a GTX 285 at home and it perfoms great, but I would still strongly consider the ATI HD 4000s for a good workstation card as it will probably offer better performance than what you would get from an equally priced GeForce card. One reason I think you don't see a whole lot of recent discussion about video card performance is that most 3d applications are now behind the curve in utilizing the current video card hardware, thus most cards perform well enough that it is not a major topic of discussion. The fact that Max can actually run on a mere 128MB of video memory is stunning to me It would still probably be beneficial to hear from others what card they are using, and their impresson of it's performance in their application of choice. In my workstation I currently have an early model GeForce 8800 GTX. I use Max 2010 and Photoshop CS4 the most. I had some issues with video failure when the card was new, but recent drivers have kept it rock solid for the last year or so. I hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwharton Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 I want performance so I’ll look at the ATI boards, and I will look at the others as well. I would guess that the 128 board is the source of all my problems on my machine. Thanks for the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwharton Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 (edited) After looking at the specifications for all the cards and the spec. on my machine it looks like I will have to go with the Quadro FX580. The other 2 require a 500 watt power supply. This computers power supply is not that big. Good things to know before I buy a new computer for 3D work in the future …. Does anybody know if the FX580 supports "Shader Model 3.0" per the specs for 3D max 2010. Edited June 11, 2009 by pwharton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beestee Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_580_us.html Check under specifications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onyx Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Im running Max 7 at home and at work, is MAX 2010 that much better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwharton Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 I don’t know about Max 7, I am a Convert from Viz. But I would say so far I can see a lot of improvements from my earlier versions of Viz in the basic functions (Polys and materials for example). The biggest change from max 9 to 10 is the interface and that will take some getting use to if you’re not familiar with the Microsoft ribbon concept used in there newer programs like word or as used in autocad version 9,10. I am still getting up to speed in max 10, I got a new board for my machine a week ago and it so far has worked great! By the way I ended up getting the “Quadro FX580”. The main reason was the power requirements for the other boards, my computer would not be able handle them. Thanks all for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cad64 Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 We are currently in the process of upgrading from Max9 to 2010. I'm currently running the trial version and the biggest thing for me is the ability to now use proxies. So I can proxy in all of my trees and plants, or any object that contains a high poly/vert count, and not have to contend with my system bogging down. That for me is worth the upgrade. Im running Max 7 at home and at work, is MAX 2010 that much better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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