Hey Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone out there in Carrara-land has every tried rendering/graphics work using a pro-level video card (i.e. 3D Labs cards)? Do they decrease render time? Are these cards more efficient than consumer-level cards? I have a sneaking suspicion that the cost-to-performance trade-off is small, but I admit to being jaded (snicker-snicker).

Your thoughts/comments/insight are appreciated.

Thanks!

Todd

Most of the pro-level graphics cards are variations of consumer-level cards.  They excel at 2D redraws, but don't do much with regards to 3D engine redraw speed (compared to high end consumer cards).  Rendering a final scene -- for print or an animation file, is processor FPU intensive – GPUs do nothing to accelerate such renders.  Real time rendering is GPU intensive, which is what I was discussing as redraw speed.

One of the main differences is that the pro-level card use optimized drivers for stability and screen-draw accuracy.  Also, they generally use “hand-picked” hardware components.  This is where the pro-level cards excel.  Often, the hardware differences are quite small, and you can sometimes use the pro-level card drivers on the consumer-level card.

Unless you are designing cars, airplanes, or bridges for a living, I would simply buy the best high-end consumer card.  You will get the best bang-for-the-buck.

Wow! Thanks for the info! I really appreciate that you took time to differentiate the consumer vs. the pro stuff. I didn't know that you could (sometimes) sub a pro-level driver for a consumer-level driver... very fascinating! I had suspected that where processing power really mattered (during  rendering), that there really wouldn't be much difference between pro/consumer stuff.

Thanks again... you have saved me from dropping some serious $$$ on something that would not have made much difference to my rendering pipeline. :)

Have a great day!

Todd

To substitute a "pro" level driver on a consumer card, and actually enable the pro functions typically (I know of no direct, unmodified swap that actually works and enables the pro options, but may be wrong) takes some modification of the drivers (an activity that is illegal as specified by the driver  licensing agreement). Both Nvidia and ATI have used identical hardware in both the consumer and pro cards, with on board ID setting hardware that enables the pro driver functions and the use of pro drivers.  3Dlabs has only "pro" cards, and makes some very fine OGL Cards.

For applications that use the high end OGL functions, the  "pro" cards are well worth the additional cost.  In some cases, such as using Quad Buffered Stereo, the performance of 3DLabs  cards typicaly is MUCH better than Nvidia or ATI (quad buffered stereo is not available in consumer cards). So it really depends on the software your using, and how Open GL is implemented, to determine if a "pro" card would make any real difference. 

In fact, for gamming, a pro card will actually have poorer performance than the "equivalant" consumer card.  My guess is that you will probably see very little difference between pro and consumer cards on Carrara, since it is aimed at the "pro-sumer".  For applications that take advantage of the high end OGL features (3DS Max, Maya, Etc.), you will definitely notice improved interactive 3D performance and image quality/realism.

I must confess that all this techno-talk is making me drool. The nerd in me has been fully satiated!Thanks DustRider!

I stumbled into a thread somewhere on Eovia forums about recommended video cards for Hexagon2. Apparently the techies there are blaming old/cheap video cards for any failings of Hexagon2. Unfortunately the Mac users report real problems with the most modern cards available, too. In any case, does not seem to be an actual list of cards that will work or won't work. About the only thing that comes out is that 128 of VRAM is a minimum, 256 might be nice, and all the stuff that is grayed out shouldn't be selected (!!)

I had some internal errors and a rather severe VPU recovery that kicked in (thank god) when I collapsed dynamic geometry after texturing and displacement, then tried to do an AO render. I updated my drivers...they had just come out w/ a new one, but I would just stay away from AO. I can use it fine, but I think that's a  buggier area. Not critical to me since I will render in Carrara. I am sure bug patches are coming. I have an 9600xt 128MB and other than that I have been working in several areas and no crashes. People should do all geometry first, then the texturing and use AO lightly if at all. I have stuck to that and no crashes so far. It is a cool program. The video driver thing is just a rough road anyway. For years video drivers have been an annoying issue for everyone. It just comes w/ the territory. I am glad ATI implemented the VPU recovery because it helps alot in most situations. Oh, and I haven't crippled my OGL at all.(this is OGL 2.0)