Graphics Graphics Card for 3D rendering...

Hi all been asked on behalf of a mate about Graphics cards for Rendering, he works for an architects and uses 3D rendering programs (cant rememebr what they are called though)

They are using Nvidia Quadro NVS 290's are the moment which are just too slow at rendering so they want to upgrade.

He was asking if they could use high end gaming cards like the GTX285/275 but I think they will need to stick to something designed for the job like a Quadro FX 3800 or something.

Anyone got any knowledge in this field that could advise him?

Many thanks

 

hi

As you mentioned high end graphics cards would be perfect for the job, especially in SLi, but if you want something more 'industrial', then I would suggest one (or two) of these. When my mate went to uni, he studies 3D rendering using 3D studio Max, and that card ran it beautifully, and you could go SLi I think

Very expensive though lol

 

if your serious about rendering gaming GPU are horrible really.

They are not optimized either hardware or driver wise.

I use 3d modelling software and we use nvidia quadro range.

we got various models lying around ranging from basic quadros to high end ones.

these are vastly superior to any gaming GPU. even a low end quadro would wipe the floor with a high end GPU because they are just not designed for it.

EDIT - i meant quadro FX range not just general quadros.

The NVS ones are business orientated for multi screen setups not rendering powerhouses.

 

Gaming GPU's can work, but not optimally. A BIOS flash can turn most GGPU into their industrial counterparts, though not 100% transformation.

Would be beneficial for you to take a gander at this page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro

 

almost all 3d rendering applications are depended on cpu and ram they barely use video card other than display

 

For 3dsmax rendering is cpu/bus dependant, I use a gaming gpu fine, unless you are using huge thousand part assemblies and actually modelling using a parametric surface modeller then i wouldnt even contemplate buying a quadro.

 

i use 3DS Max and always assumed rendering was performed on the cpu? i thought rendering was one of those GPGPU task that couldnt be assigned to the card until a driver update?

could someone enlighten me? would like to know

EDIT: as i was typing my questions were answered! so the gpu is used when creating objects in the viewport? and then the cpu to render?

 

with most giant 3D models with tons of data on screen you need a pretty beefy professional GPU to manipulate it quickly.

trust me we got some laptops that even on your lowest setting chug along in slide show style when rotating a normal model and you can forget about the big ones.

the CPU and RAM are very important but the GPU does do alot as well.

The actual rendering is heavily RAM dependant but viewing/manipulating 3D is done all the card baby

 

if u want faster renders get u a dual socket lga 1366 mobo and 2 xeon quads and ull be blazing thru frames

 

you'll also be blazing through your bank balance

i'd suggest a bit of overclocking as a more short term solution

 

its not that much actually
and overclocking doesnt promise stability

 

well to me its a lot of money, and my oc'd system definately provides faster renders than stock (and doesn't crash)

 

Any GPU will not impress you on rendering 3D images, especially several frames. They are really helpful in light progressive renders as you work, but painfully slow in the finished render.

I can only find the original liks to the creators of the Microwulf, but I have links somewhere in my bookmarks where guys have used similar builds to render in a fraction on the time. What took hours took 15 - 20 min. Something like that.

The price that is stated on this page says 1250, but you could build it for less now. Probably about the same price as a 295GTX.



http://www.calvin.edu/news/2007-08/microwulf.htm

http://www.calvin.edu/~adams/research/microwulf/

Also Google "Render Farm" you will find tons of articles and how to's about building one.
If he demands high performance this is his option. No graphics card will do anthing close to this.

 

I wanted to add.

Desktop (Gaming) GPUs are designed to view one viewpoint or window. A commerical GPU is encoded to view several viewpoints of a scene in Maya or 3DsMax. They are also good for viewing a live scene in different viewpoints after the render.

When it comes to rendering a scene or image it is primarily using CPU and Ram power. That is why a render farm of machines or better yet a microwulf would be the best option to use in a network for rendering. They have no need for high end if any GPUs.

 

Applications with CUDA support should run faster (much faster) on nVidia hardware.

 

if only they would add cuda support to 3ds max

 

coolamasta, If your friend is using CAD then he might be interested in Gelato 2.2. Click on the link below. It has plugins for several #D rendering applications. It does speed up the process.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/gz_learn.html

rickysio, If you would like to do some coding on CUDA for the community we would be ever grateful. Right now it seems like a political issue to why we have not taken a strong hold of CUDA in the 3D rendering industry.

But like I stated before nothing beats multiple CHEAP CPU power and Ram. You slap together some older hardware and all of a sudden you have a supercomputer.

 

ive got a 3ghz p4 with 512mbs ram and a 1.8ghz dualcore with 4gb ram hooked to my i7 for rendring and its speeds it up quite a bit

 

If I could do coding I don't think I'd still stick with my current system, what with a avenue of income and all that shtick.