Graphics Card

[Jock]

Hi guys,

 

Recently bought a new computer and after various issues i'm now getting a refund but it gives me some more time to do some research before buying again.

 

The main issue is the graphics card.

 

I'm a vray user but I dont use RT, so for me the graphics card is onl;y really associated with the viewport speed.

 

I've got s decent budget for it, say up to £600 but at the same time I dont want to spend more moneu for the sheer hell of it and get very little for the extra pounds spent.

 

So with that in mind whats the best performing gfx card to use in this situation. The previous computer i sent back had a gtx680 though whether that was the correct choice or not i'm not sure.

 

Thanks a lot.

[Dimitris Tolios]

The GTX 680 doesn't really bring real viewport acceleration advantages in 3D programs over other 5xx or 6xx GTX cards. I would say that it is probably overkill to spend the money for one unless it is for VRay RT (in which case a 670/680 4GB would be a pretty good choice).

[Jock]

Cheers, and yeah not interested in RT though I do have it. I just use the normal vray side of things.

 

Another one I've had my eye on is the HD7970, though again not entirely sure what to looks for.

 

Is there something I should be looking for in the spec which tells me how good they will perform in the viewport?

[Dimitris Tolios]

The 7970 is a beast of a card - just like the 670/680s.

You pretty much know that it will be ok as it is the top of the line gaming card from one of the 2 players in the field.

 

Reading the specs won't tell you much...for example the Quadro 2000 is on paper outclassed multiple times in comparison to any GTX 5xx/6xx series in pretty much anything: GTexels/pixels/Ram speed/Core speed/buffer size/Cuda cores...

Yet drivers and bios place it ahead in certain applications.

 

Unfortunately you have to search the web for personal opinions, given from people that actually have the cards and are using the programs you want to work with. Official reviews with direct comparisons between Quadro/FireGL cards and gaming cards do not come out often. nVidia and AMD simply do not want/allow this kind of comparison as it would of course create mixed feelings and probably the hype following would hurt the sales of their graphic cards - at least those in the lower end of the scale that find their way to alot of OEMs. Pretty much the only common denominator in reviews is OpenCL/Directcompute that works its way in accelerating both consumer and professional applications.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/firepro-w8000-w9000-benchmark,3265.html

 

Reviews that test Viewport acceleration in modeling/drafting programs usually don't include even a single GTX/Radeon in the comparison tables, and when they do review the gaming cards, they test them in games and maybe go as far as Adobe Suite for Cuda/OpenCL acceleration or video trans-coding.

 

The rule of thumb is that generally Radeons do quite better even than more expensive GTXs in OpenGL viewports like Maya, but cannot perform as good in D3D based viewports like 3DS (both nitrous and D3D), but since these are gaming cards, D3D performance is usually pretty good with either.

[Jock]

Thanks very muchf or the help, you onviously know a lot more on the subject than i do.

 

The one thing I dont quite understand mind you is that if the 7970 and say the 680 are fairly comparable being top of the range for the gaming cards, the 7970 is only £300

 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-144-MS

 

Whereas for the 68, youre looking more at close to £500

 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-030-KF

 

I'm kinda torn in terms of what to choose but i'll scour the net and see if I can find someone who maybe has experience with both.

 

Thanks again.

[Dimitris Tolios]

Steward, your comparison is not direct, as the 7970 series of cards have been through some changes since the coming of the GTX 680 that took away the absolute best title in the 1080p gaming scene, which is the primary market for these cards.

 

The 79xx cards got cheaper to become more attractive to the masses, but still have a lot of advantages over the GK104 cards in games: usually in multi monitor setups, resolutions above 1440p and multi-card setups, the 79xx scales better and are prefered.

 

In the CG world, Radeons offer much better OpenGL performance that is noticeable, yet not that much worse D3D performance which is generally not noticeable (as the latter is pretty high with all hi-end gaming cards as I was saying above). The GTX line offers the best in GPU accelerated compatibility, despite the on-paper superior OpenCL performance of the 79xx line, and ofc access to CUDA-only accelerated applications.

 

Too keep your comparison more fair, I have to write the following rules of thumb:

(re-write cause my browser freaked out and lost the whole post)

 

Cards, much like motherboards, come in 2-3 basic flavors (or more):

• The reference design - that is following the PCB / cooling / VRM basic requirements set by the manufacturer of the GPU/Chipset etc.
• The reference design with custom clocks - aka factory overclocked
• Custom boards - usually with custom cooling, or often with improved PCB+VRM + stock speeds
• Top of the line custom OC boards - set for all-out performance, higher factory O/C, huge coolers, extra power deliver phases etc etc. (examples are Asus TOP, MSI Lighting, EVGA FTW etc series

 

In the 2 links you’ve posted are not tiered similarly: your are comparing a reference 7970, with a custom board / cooling and factory overclocked 680. Could be almost as tier 3-4 680 vs a tier 1 7970. I am pretty sure you can find 680s cheaper than that, just like 7970s more expensive than that in shops that carry a big selection.

 

For your purposes, and if you chose to go the Radeon way, I would recommend a 7950 card. It is a cut-down 7970, yet pretty potent and even more aggressively priced. For viewport acceleration it will give you almost identical performance being cheaper (unless you start comparing top of the line 7950s with reference 7970s again) and less demanding on power. In the US the 7950 3GB reference is around $300 when the 670 2GB reference is at $400 (to give you a comparison).

 

Rumor has it that working AMD driver for Radeons + VRay RT is around the corner, at least as reported by Vlado in the Chaosgroup's forum for VRay RT GPU support, but I don't know when it will be out, and how well it will work. In generic OpenCL benchmarks the 79xx is SERIOUSLY faster than the GTX 580s (which are still faster than the 680s), and even the 7950 will have a comfortable edge over them.

 

I will be buying a SC 670 4GB myself as I want VRay RT more than best viewport, but if things change with driver compatibility, I will seriously think to cut my loses and switch to AMD.

Edited August 25, 2012 by dtolios

[Jock]

Youre a gentleman, thanks for the help, its appreciated.