Eon Vue - Hardware Rendering setup [HELP]

[Majestic One]

i am not too sure where i should post this inquiry considering it could deal with CPU, GPU, or even MoBo - but since it deals w/ graphics and rendering, i thought i might start it here.

I built a machine for my mums last year to do her 3D graphic work on. She had been using Bryce 7 mostly, but i found out that Bryce is ONLY designed to utilize 1 single core of any processor. yeah, pretty lame. So i got mum's interested in Eon Vue's Xstream. She's now fallen in love with and is using v10 but is now telling me she is having system lags and hangs. I also installed a little program for her called GameBooster which shuts down unneeded system resources etc, thus helping make her system run a little smoother - seems rendering isn't too much affected by this booster.

I am kind of at a small loss here - not sure which direction I should go for the most affordable route; 6 core cpu OR new GTX2xx gpu... i am pretty sure the mobo is not the issue here.

Please give me some valuable input here, or something for me to "chew on."
In other words some important specs that should be looked at or adhered to, to help me make some sort of decision regarding a budget.

I am aware the GPU is possibly the main issue here, and in your opinions, could i get away with just upgrading the GPU you think?
Also if the GPU IS the issue in your opinions, should i be looking into workstation GPU's?
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=449&name=Professional-Graphics-Cards&Order=PRICE

Minimum and Recommended settings for Eon Vue are here:
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/vue_10.5_xstream/?page=16

Here is the machine setup currently being used:
Mobo: Biostar A880G+ (3.0Gb/s)
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.1GHz
PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W
GPU: Galaxy GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCIe 2.0
RAM: Gskill (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (OC'd to 1600)
OS HDD: Western Digital Black 500GB 7200 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
HDD Storage: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 ST2000DL004 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
OS: Win 7 Ultimate x64

 

[Sunius]

When is it hanging? When working/designing or during rendering?

If it's the former, I'd look at Quadro 600. It would speed things up ALOT.

However, if rendering takes too long, you should upgrade the CPU.

 

[Majestic One]

When is it hanging? When working/designing or during rendering?

If it's the former, I'd look at Quadro 600. It would speed things up ALOT.

However, if rendering takes too long, you should upgrade the CPU.

Well she says when she works with the 'ecosystem' part of the program it is getting some lag, so that is 'working/designing'
But she also has a lot of lag when rendering.

I mean i know a better CPU & GPU would do the trick for sure, but i am trying to make mums happy for lowest cost. She know quite a bit about machines, and is prepared to spend new money on a new machine; but not too much, you know what i mean?

 

[Sunius]

Yea I understand. I'd invest in quadro 600 if I were you. Fluid work is more important than being able to use PC for other stuff during rendering.

 

[Majestic One]

Yea I understand. I'd invest in quadro 600 if I were you. Fluid work is more important than being able to use PC for other stuff during rendering.

i don't understand when you say "fluid." but i learned a little more here:
http://www.newegg.com/product/CategoryIntelligenceArticle.aspx?articleId=288

from what i read in the reviews the quatro 600 is an entry level CAD card; and i am just wondering how soon mums will grow out of that card.

what kind of specs/numbers should i be paying attention to when looking for a good 'workstation' card?
it looks like her current card and the Q600 both have 96 CUDA cores, but the Q600 offers other features I am not familiar with like; NVIDIA Scalable Geometry Engine, NVIDIA Parallel DataCache, NVIDIA GigaThread Engine, Fast 3D Texture Transfer, 64X Full-Scene Antialiasing (FSAA), and GPU Tessellation with Shader Model 5.0. And this card promises to only consume a max of 40W??!! her current GPU calls for a minimum of a 300W PSU (i don't know how many actual Watts it would be consuming).
Just by simply understanding the English language, I can see the greater benefit of using a workstation card for what she does versus using a gaming GPU with lots of power - i guess.

I have an EVGA GTS 450, and I am going to run that today and see if she sees/feels a difference in things, just as a test. The GTS 450 has 192 CUDA cores:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130573
it seems I can get a GTX560 with 288-336 CUDA cores for $130.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600030348%20600094002&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-130-770^14-130-770-TS%2C14-500-241^14-500-241-TS%2C14-500-225^14-500-225-TS%2C14-127-592^14-127-592-TS

Another thing i find interesting is that there really are no Mhz clocks listed on workstation cards. Is that common? or is it just simply not a major enough factor?
I am safely assuming the DDR generation and OpenGL are the main factors on this card. OpenGL is only 4.0 but has GPU Tessellation with Shader Model 5.0.

i think i am rambling, and obviously don't know enough about workstation cards. i just assumed knowing gaming GPU's would translate over, but it seems this is not the case.

Do you have any more thoughts to input as to what could be a pro or con to using the workstation card to say the GTX560's?

EDIT: I just saw that Phenom II 965 Blacks just went on sale for 2 days - down to $89.99 with free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

 

[COLGeek]

It really looks like the higher end "pro" GPUs and "consumer" GPUs will help with Vue xStream. That being said, what kind of budget do you have to work with?

 

[Majestic One]

It really looks like the higher end "pro" GPUs and "consumer" GPUs will help with Vue xStream. That being said, what kind of budget do you have to work with?

well 2 streets here;
1] GPU avenue
or
2] GPU avenue + CPU road

BUdget wise i can't exactly quote, but have informed mums we may be looking at a starting price of $150. She was ok with that, but wants to make sure this is a final avenue she can use for the next 2-3 years for sure. She will be sticking with Vue for some time i am sure of that, and with that in mind i wanna set her up do be able to work NOW and a good rate of performance.

i noticed today, AMD 965 Blacks are on sale for $90 for the next 2 days. would it be wise to up her to a better CPU also, or just get a snappin' GPU to get her work done?

 

[COLGeek]

A stronger CPU will certainly help. I would also recommend the V3900 that I use. It is a solid entry level pro card and renders fairly well with pro apps.

 

[Majestic One]

A stronger CPU will certainly help. I would also recommend the V3900 that I use. It is a solid entry level pro card and renders fairly well with pro apps.

i noticed the V3900 is a PCIe 2.1 and our mobo is a 2.0 (x16).
what kind of suffering will be caused to the GPU when put on this mobo?

EDIT:: it looks like this could be a very good card indeed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCxrRti2GGY&feature=player_embedded#!
Paul at newegg did a good job with the Q & A in the video starting at around 4:08

I am starting to see the difference.
Like Paul said, workstation=creation, gaming=playback (a.k.a. content creation/content playback)
And this card looks to support 'Unified Firepro Driver' allowing the GPU to work with creation apps as well as playback of DirectX games.
Plus too the card has higher quality components versus the average gaming GPU. THAT is a MAJOR plus.

This looks like a very good deal for $118
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195112

 

[COLGeek]

The difference between PCIe 2.0 and 2.1 is negligible and will have no impact on performance. This is not a concern.

The V3900 is as surprisingly versatile GPU. I have been very impressed with how mine has performed.

 

[Sunius]

Workstation cards specification may seem low. However, I've tested Nvidia Quadro 600 with 96 cores side by side with my own GTX 560 Ti - 384 cores. To my amazement, even though the Quadro is cheaper, in 3D design environment it felt much faster than the GTX, I could display much more polygons on screen before it became laggy.

 

[Majestic One]

folks we have decided;
we are definitely going to get the 965 BLACK for the all time low price of $89.99 with free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
we plan on running it at 3.7 or 3.8Ghz whichever is more stable.

and we have also decided on the Firepro V3900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195112

i am an nVidia guy from way back, but I believe this to be without question THE best card for needs, performance, support, and capabilities.

you know, i thought this very morning when someone said they were sorry to a thread that they couldn't pick a best answer - i thought how lame... man, give it to SOMEone!! but you know what? I am finding myself in this very same predicament right now.

Folks, I am sorry i cannot choose a "the best answer" today.

BOTH of you were of great help and I now know for a fact from both ends of the realm (nVidia & AMD) you both are spot on in knowing what was happening here in this thread and what is good equipment.

Cheers to you both - and thank you both very much for your help.

 

[Majestic One]

ATTN ADMIN:
---------------
can someone please close this thread.
Thank you.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey