Buying a new graphics card

[benshpayer]

Hello, I would like to ask for help in buying a new graphics card for Maya 2015.

Right now I got the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 650, And I find that maya tends to freeze when working with a more detailed scene.  (low poly but with shaders and especially toon shader applied)

My Setup:

32 GB RAM

Intel core i7-4770 cpu @ 3.40 GHz 

NVIDIA Geforce GTX 650

Sandisk SDSSDXP480G SCSI Disc Device

I would love to know what you recommand, for instance the new 800/900 series gtx or any other brand that works well with maya. Also if any of the other components is lacking I'd be happy to hear your recommandations on whats a worthwhile upgrade.

Thank you in advance!

[3dMastermind]

If you look at the benchmarks of the card:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+650+Ti

Looking at the stats, it seems like an entry level card.

I find the type of card you need depends on the projects that you are currently on.

VP2 rendering and real time playback require better cards.

Chances are, once you are done with this current project, the card may be adequate for your needs but that depends on the type of work that you do.

Here is a list of cretified cards with Maya:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?siteID=123112&id=18844534&results=1&stype=graphic&produ...

[benshpayer]

Hi, 

Looking at the list the most recommanded card is "GeForce GTX 780 Ti".

Should I buy that one or are the new 800/900 GTX series even better for VP2/Realtime playback?

Thank you for your time!

[3dMastermind]

Hello. Unfortunately, we can't give recommendations on graphics cards.

[benshpayer]

So this is strickly a support forum?

Where Can I post this questions to recieve answers from other users?

[kmarkus-walczak]

Ok...these are strickly my own personal opinions, so please take them as such.

If you haven't found it already, Autodesk does have a page with a list of vid cards they have certified for use with various versions of Maya. 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?siteID=123112&id=18844534

Now that said, I would add that personally I've never had anything but problems with Nvidia graphics cards...not just regarding Maya.  The make some lovely motherboard chipsets, however their "GeForce" video cards seem to have a well earned reputation for having compatability issues.  Even if you can find a GeForce card that's on the approved list, this doesn't mean that it's not going to have issues with other software you may be running (or running in the background, like your virus scanner) which could still cause issues for Maya.  They may be good for gaming or something, but for any type of production work, they have always given me issues...I tend to avoid GeForce like the plague.

Personally I prefer ATI (AMD) video cards...even their low end cards have served me very well over the years.  At the moment I'm actually running a Sapphire card with a Radeon HD 5450 chipset (1 gig DDR3 ram)...got it for a whopping $45 at MicroCenter...and it actually does a pretty decent job (no clue if it's even on the approved list, LOL!).

With that, if you're serious about working in Maya (or video production in general), my suggestion would be to take a look at AD's certified hardware list...you'll have to plug in some specific info for what you're looking for....then get the best card that you can afford from the list.  If you have a cool $2000 laying around, an ATI FirePro V9800 is the way to go 🙂

Hope this helps!

[benshpayer]

Thank you very much for the reply. My boss told me we can get the Geforce 760ti though, Hope its good enough.

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

Have a lurk through the forum, paying attention to the posters who provide a lot of answers - many of them provide their hardware details in their signature line.  That should give you some good ideas of whats working, and what isn't.