Maya for 3D Printing - Rapid Prototyping
In this course we're going to look at something a little different, creating technically accurate 3D printed parts.
# 1 03-06-2015 , 08:09 PM
DonnieBrasco2069's Avatar
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New Video Card PLEASE HELP!

Hopefully I'm posting this in the right section. Recently upgraded most of my computer except the monitor and video card, which I'm finally about to do now. This is a work/rendering computer (NO GAMES) and I'd like a card that will fit into that workflow.

Current system:

Supermirco X10DAI motherboard
Dual (2) Xeon 2630v3 8-Core Processors (16 cores total)
128GB quad channel 288pin RDIMM Memory
NVIDIA GTX 460 1GB Video Card (blah)
930W power supply

I've read a lot about the GTX vs the Quadro cards, and if I'm going to plunk all the cash down for a quadro, I want to be confident it's going to benefit my business. Will a Quadro 3GB or 6GB GDDR5 speed up my overall rendering times given my current system config? I always struggle to understand how an extra 3GB of video memory will make a difference when I have 128GB already.

For any of those with enough technical expertise: how do I control in Maya how my passes/renders get divided between the CPU and the GPU?

Lastly, I'm looking to have a 34" monitor AND a 24" monitor setup, so at least a 3440x1440 resolution for the v-card.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and reply. You're definitely helping me out, and I do appreciate it =)

Donnie

# 2 04-06-2015 , 01:18 AM
David's Avatar
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GFX card will have no effect on your render times does not matter how fast it is. The extra memory on the gfx card can be used to cache textures in the viewport realistically 3gb will do just fine. There are some gpu renders on the market and VRay has vray rt (ipr) which is a preview render that uses the gpu

A fast gpu in maya will speed up the viewport if you're an animator using skinned characters and complex deformations a quatro might be of some benefit to you.

As to the monitor maya 2016 supports 4k out the box so you will have no problem there.

Really if you animate complex layered characters and i do mean complex get a quadro, if not save yourself the money!


From a readers' Q and A column in TV GUIDE: "If we get involved in a nuclear war, would the electromagnetic pulses from exploding bombs damage my videotapes?"
# 3 04-06-2015 , 01:22 AM
David's Avatar
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PS if you're a texture guy and use mari then you'll see a bigger benefit out of your gpu then you probably will in Maya again depending on if you're an animator or not.

I'll throw this in run Maya of an SSD going back to loading maya of a hd drives me nuts lol with the money you're spending i take it you have this covered user added image

That said I used 8 x 4k textures in patches in mari last week so 32k texture on one model and had no problem with a gtx 660 so...


From a readers' Q and A column in TV GUIDE: "If we get involved in a nuclear war, would the electromagnetic pulses from exploding bombs damage my videotapes?"
# 4 04-06-2015 , 01:47 AM
DonnieBrasco2069's Avatar
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Location: Santa Monica, CA
Posts: 20

PS if you're a texture guy and use mari then you'll see a bigger benefit out of your gpu then you probably will in Maya again depending on if you're an animator or not.

I'll throw this in run Maya of an SSD going back to loading maya of a hd drives me nuts lol with the money you're spending i take it you have this covered user added image

That said I used 8 x 4k textures in patches in mari last week so 32k texture on one model and had no problem with a gtx 660 so...

Hi David, thanks for the reply.

I'm pretty much exclusively using Maya 2014 with mental ray as my primary renderer...a bit of reading has revealed that MR doesn't even support GPU rendering (aside from iRay, apparently). So, shit lol

Seems like a GTX card at 4GB or thereabouts would be my best bet, since it'll only be powering the viewport. My main goal is to be able to spit out prod quality renders in a reasonable amount of time so as not to have to use a render farm.

Lol I actually only have a WD Green at the moment for the hard drive. From what I've read, the SSDs give the most benefit to servers that have to quickly access information from lots of users. I don't think what I'm using it for is where my system is bottle-necking, but I could be wrong...it does take over a minute to load some of my larger scenes, which is annoying.

Honestly, what I really want to do is get two Dell UltraSharp U3415W monitors and have an immersive display in front of me...I have no idea if a GTX card can power something that nuts lol

# 5 04-06-2015 , 01:59 AM
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Location: Prague
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I also have a wd green as a storage drive BUY the SSD you'll be extremely happy you did! Trust me best system upgrade i ever did just get a 128 gig one keep the os, maya and Photoshop on it install everything else to the hdd

If you want to run 2 4k monitors (I use three standard monitors) do what I do run two gfs cards in sli. I personally prefer three standard monitors that may change but for right now it's the best option for a number of reasons IMO


From a readers' Q and A column in TV GUIDE: "If we get involved in a nuclear war, would the electromagnetic pulses from exploding bombs damage my videotapes?"
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