New video card for Vray RT

[markf]

I'm thinking of upgrading to Vray 2.0 and want to be able to take advantage of the Vray RT.

 

I have this MB - ASUS P5Q SE PLUS LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131347

 

and I have an nVidia GeForce 8800

 

I read the sticky and it specs the nVidia GTX 580 as the card to use. I'm looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130778

 

I'm using dual monitors and it appears to support dual monitors, (it has two output connectors).

 

I'm not 100% sure it would be compatible with my MB or any other compatibility issues I should confirm? Also any opinion on if this is a good card would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[Dimitris Tolios]

I'm thinking of upgrading to Vray 2.0 and want to be able to take advantage of the Vray RT.

 

I have this MB - ASUS P5Q SE PLUS LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131347

 

and I have an nVidia GeForce 8800

 

I read the sticky and it specs the nVidia GTX 580 as the card to use. I'm looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130778

 

I'm using dual monitors and it appears to support dual monitors, (it has two output connectors).

 

I'm not 100% sure it would be compatible with my MB or any other compatibility issues I should confirm? Also any opinion on if this is a good card would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

First of all you wan't need a better GPU to work with VRay RT. VRay RT can use CPU or GPU, so you could get a taste of it with your existing system, even if your GPU was inadequate.

 

The newer cards should work just fine with your mobo.

 

It's more an issue of your PSU being adequate to feed the newer monsters (especially the GTX580). I would recommend not to think of anything less than a 650W PSU to work with should you go 580, and you would still be stressing it quite a bit. Your s775 with a 580 and the rest of the drive clutter etc might be pulling more than 450W or wall power. This is harsh for most PSUs, and you should aim for a 50-60% of your max capacity, more only with quality PSUs that you trust. Many no-name, or cheap PSUs might not even get to 50-60% of their claimed max output and might blow a capacitor or two - worst case scenario taking the mobo and/or the GPU with them.

 

The 580 was the GTX of choice since it had the most available VRam (3GB Version), and ofc was a beast for computation tasks due to multiple cores and high clock speeds. Still is a great choice.

 

Recently nVidia released the 4GB versions for both the newer kepler based cards, GTX 670 and 680. These cards are on par with the GTX580 in computation tasks like the brute force rendering calculations VRay RT GPU uses.

The 670 4GB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785 would be a clear choice for me: it has more buffer than the 580, it is faster in almost anything but OpenCL (and VRay RT) and uses way less energy when idling or under load. The latter scales up to less noise under similar circumstances (yes, the 580 IS LOUD, the 670 is actually quiet in comparison), stresses your PSU much less (the 680 draws about 70W less than the 580, and 670 takes out 10-20W off the 680) and heats up the interior of your case much less (all the components will like a cooler environment, and ofc your legs will suffer less should you have them close to a cooler exhaust).

 

As VRay gets updated with patches aware of the Kepler architecture tweaks, and nvidia releases newer drivers, the 670 matched the 580 in most cases, and will probably surpass it in later VRay releases.

 

All of the above cards do multiple monitors just fine (way better/faster than the 8800 ofc).

Edited June 27, 2012 by dtolios

[markf]

Wow Dimitrios! Thank you so much for your excellent explanation and recommendation.

 

I have a 750 Watt power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

The 670 card you recommend is out of stock at NewEgg, but I'll shop for it.

 

Thanks again that was just the info I was looking for!

[Dimitris Tolios]

Wow Dimitrios! Thank you so much for your excellent explanation and recommendation.

 

I have a 750 Watt power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

The 670 card you recommend is out of stock at NewEgg, but I'll shop for it.

 

Thanks again that was just the info I was looking for!

 

580s are out of production and 670/680s are backorderd as nVidia has trouble keeping up with demand.

Thus not many choices in newegg for either. Shop around, or setup "back in stock" email notifications and be patient. I believe it does worth it getting the 670 over the 580 for the noise/heat alone, and the 1GB extra vram is a perk.

 

Hold a small basket for VRay GPU tho: it is very fast and nice for setting up your lighting, most people do have some issues with adv. modifiers / displacements and other unsupported by VRay RT GPU features that might or might not force you using the classic CPU rendering methods for your final production.