System for rendering (dispute over graphic card)

a3a

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Hi guys I'm buying a new system for architectural rendering and I'll be mainly using 3dmax and Autocad. Here are the parts I've chosen
Cpu: i-7 860
Mobo: p55a-ud3p gigabyte
Ram:4g dual channel adata
amd my main concern is which graphic card should I buy? In the forums they say that the Ati cards are a tad better than the geforce one but I also read that for rendering geforces' CUDA technology is irreplacable. So any advice on which card I should buy?
Thanks in advance!
 

rikishi19

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What is your budget? That will determine whether you should go down the workstation or consumer route (along with whether you will be gaming or not).

However, in order to ensure best performance in 3D rendering with 3dmax, it is actually more important to invest in the best cpu possible over best gpu possible, as the rendering process in 3dmax uses the cpu, not gpu.

Sounds crazy I know, I wish all these 3D companies would switch their render engines to make the most of the gpu rather than cpu.

Hope this helps.

PS. Once you let me know a budget, I'll be able to recommend a few options for you. I recently did a build for architectural rendering too and did months of research into the process.
 

a3a

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I live in Iran, I havent been able to find any traces of Quadro or Firepro. But thanks for the advice. (The guys helped me out on another forum, I'm going with the 5770)
 

andrewcutter

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from what i have seen They are good but 3dsmax is the achiles heel. Performance goes down when compared to geforce in 3ds max.
Just my 2 cents.
These links are a bit old and for quadro vs firegl of previous generation.
I am only providing 3ds max graph as the poster will be using it
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/quadrofx-firepro_17.html#sect0

This is for autocad. same story
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/quadrofx-firepro_18.html#sect0

with such a difference in professional cards, then i think that gaming cards too might have such differences.

Of course the new series might be better but i still think between 5770 and 460 460 might be a better choice
 

rikishi19

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just a quick check on you getting that 5770, do you use the program sketchup at all?

I ask when I did my build I originally got a 5970, and had huge issues with sketchup working. This was due to it being an OpenGL program and eventually AMD admitted to me that they are having problems with OpenGL with their current drivers.

So I swapped it for a GTX480 and it works like a charm.

So I would recommend staying away from AMD/ATI if any of your 3D programs use OpenGL.
 

andrewcutter

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almost all programs use opengl. I think 3ds max is the only exception where directx is also used. the irony is that in professional cards, firepro and quadro are very close. the only exception is max where quadro is better. So i dont think that amd driver has problem with opengl.
 

rikishi19

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The problem isn't with their workstation cards i.e. FirePro. It is with their mainstream cards. They use totally different drivers.

And he isn't getting a FirePro card, he is getting mainstream, so he may get these issues, as I did.

As I say, AMD openly told me they are having problems with their drivers and advised me to get a different card.
 

a3a

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Since Iran is under world sanctions good computer parts are scarce and expensive I'm getting the i-7 860 cpu for something around 320$ (i-7 930 350$) I'm getting the mobo for 230$ whilst mobo's which have 1366(i7-930) is something around 380$ ( I want a mobo that has usb3 ports thats why my choices are limited in the mobo area).
Believe it or not I'm spending something around 1500$ on this rig! :(
I won't be gaming but I think my sister might use it for games sometimes. I didn't think that the performance would be worth it for an extra 200$ so thats why I chose those parts. If you think there not suitable for my needs please explain why? And thanks :D
 

rikishi19

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I stand by recommending against an AMD gpu, get a nVidia GTX card, they are totally compatible with all 3D software, AMD's are not guaranteed to be so.

Update:

I have just noticed that you are doing an i7 build with only dual channel memory. You need to get a triple channel RAM kit to take advantage of the i7.
 

rikishi19

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OK, but just be warned, if you get an AMD card, you may be limited with SketchUp if you do get round to using it, plus any other OpenGL software.

So you should really look into getting an nVidia card instead.
 

a3a

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But wouldn't I need to get the i7-930 with the 1366socket? If so as I said above that would mean an extra 200$ only on the cpu and mobo not to mention the triple channel ram expense which is both very rareand expensive here.
 

rikishi19

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Oh Ok, I thought you had decided to go with the 930, no worries then.