Graphics card comparison for 3ds Max

[Anonymous]

I started a new job a few months ago and have been asked to recommend some hardware to upgrade my current workstation. I originally wanted to get the following:

Dell Precision 7810 Workstation

With E5-2643 v3 processor, 32 GB RAM and a nVidia Quadro K4200 4 GB graphics card.

However, I've been informed that the computer I've chosen isn't compatible with the security measures my company requires of all the hardware. For additional security reasons, I have been advised to stick with Dell in general and an Alienware Area 51 computer was suggested.

Problem is, I'm not as familiar with the graphics card options offered with that system (nVidia GeForce GTX models) am not sure which would work well with 3ds Max. I've been researching the graphics cards and it seems like a single GTX 980 4GB or a GTX Titan-Z 12-GB Dual GPU are good options. However, from what I've read the dual GPU factor would be moot when it comes to rendering in Max.

I would prefer to get a single, powerful graphics cards that could handle the viewport and heavy rendering in 3ds Max 2012 (I hope to upgrade to 2015 later this year). In addition to Max, I also regularly use ZBrush, Adobe After Effects, Premiere, Media Encoder, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I currently use a nVidia Quadro FX 4800.

Sorry for the length of the post- but I could really use some advice. I would definitely appreciate any feedback you guys may have!

[Brock_Lafond]

Upon reading your post I am puzzled by what "security measures" may be implemented and how your hardware selections aren't compatible; sounds like paranoia to me.

As for the video card, what is the intended use? Is it primarily for rendering or viewport performance?

I made a switch from Quadro to GTX over a year ago and haven't really looked back. Sure, a decade ago with Maxtreme drivers and openGL, Quadro was the way to go. My current rig had dual GTX 780s with 3GB RAM each and I haven't experienced any debilitating viewport performance, even with multi-million poly scenes.

My primary renderer is Mental Ray and I do toy around with iRay. So far the iRay scenes I've been playing with have all rendered fine and I haven't exceeded the RAM on the cards.

[Anonymous]

I work as a medical animator/illustrator for a medical center, and all the hardware has to be encrypted and loaded with extra security software to ensure patient information is kept secure- thus the extreme security.

As for the purpose- a bit of both. I don't have access to a render farm so I have to render using my machine only. At the same time, I'd like to be able to have decent viewport performance since I sometimes work with large scenes, particles, etc. in Max.

I primarily use Scanline and Mental Ray.

I appreciate your feedback concerning GTX vs Quadro. That's definitely been a big question- especially since none of the GTX cards are 'certified' as compatible by Autodesk.

Based on your feedback and some performance views online, I guess a setup with Dual GTX 980s (2x4GB) would work better (and be cheaper) than the 12GB Titan-Z? I also have the option of dual (2x2GB) or triple 770s (3x2GB).

[Anonymous]

---

@Brock_Lafond wrote:

My current rig had dual GTX 780s with 3GB RAM each and I haven't experienced any debilitating viewport performance, even with multi-million poly scenes.

---

Did you have to download any special drivers to get the GTX working with Max? Again, may seem like a silly question but I am completely unfamiliar with the GeForce Series. And you mention debilitating. Does that mean that you did, in fact, experience a decrease in viewport performance when you made the switch, just on a smaller scale?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

If you're using scanline and mental ray to render with, then the video card doesnt get used at all at render time. (for rendering) It will get used when and if you switch over to iRay. I moved from Quatro cards (back in the day FX 4800) to GTX 780. I use Mental Ray on a daily basis, Premier Pro, After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator. My scenes and files can get very heavy, and its a very rare thing for my video card to be the weak link.

Don't bother with the dual GPU cards. Great for gaming, useless for MAX.

Dean

[Brock_Lafond]

With GTX drivers are often released more frequently. The newest drivers aren't always 100% reliable when using Max, but I've yet to have any issues.

After making the switch to GTX from Quadro I noticed faster viewport performance in general. This is due to higher clock speeds and higher RAM frequencies. A cost to this is heat generation and the potential that they will become unstable under heavy load for extended periods of time. I've had my 780s for nearly a year and have not had any problems.

One area that the Quadros did perform well, I think, was with viewing particle systems in the viewport. This may have changed in recent Max released. I found that th Quadro cards would provide a consistent level of performance when viewing extremely dense particle systems. When I switched to GTX it seemed to go in spurts; viewport performance would be smooth and then there would be a slow down, and then smooth again... Like I said above, this may have changed in recent releases.

I run dual cards to power my dual monitor setup. One per display.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both so much for your feedback! Everything you have mentioned is very helpful and I'll look into getting a single, decent GTX card instead of dual cards or a quadro.

Thanks again!

[protoanima]

hi. about a year ago, i was working on a realy big scene whit a complex and big terrain mesh (imported from Civil 3d) using a nViidia GTX 750 ti. i got some viewport issues like lagging when i entered in vertex editing mode on the terrain mesh... it was impossible to work (hope you understand me, english its not my first lenguage). So, i tried with a Quadro 2000 and, worked well, so i buyed a Q 2200k and its going pretty smooth.

but i'v seen in your post that you can get your work done whit a 780.  Now i have to buy a GPU for working at home, so ... what do you think? should i buy a Q 4000 (for 250 US dollars) or a gaming card like a  gtx 970 (i mean, its for home and i like playing he he) 

again, what do you think?

or a big, big favor: can you tell me please how many poligons had your biggest scene?

thanks

[Brock_Lafond]

I have a Q4000 and ended up switching to GTX series. The Q4000 is on par with the GTX780; some cards use the same GPU.

Gaming on a Q4000 is possible, but you will get higher framerates with an actual gaming card as the Q4000 runs at a lower clock speed. One definite positive that I found with the Q4000 is that it ran quiet and cool. 

In all honesty, gone are the days of Maxtreme drivers with OpenGL and the Quadro line for 3DS Max don't hold up like they used to.

[Anonymous]

CUDA-capable GPUs are big for rendering in Max 2017. Besides Iray (where they always give a boost) they now really help mental ray too.

Max 2017 includes the latest mental ray, which provides a new, very easy to use GI method that is heavily GPU accelerated. A top end GPU will now outperform a 14-core CPU by about 5X.  To take advantage of this, you just need to change your GI method to "Indirect Diffuse" as shown below. This new GI method and GPU acceleration works with all mental ray shaders and effects, and only geometry is loaded into GPU memory (i.e., textures are not). This new method is about 2X faster than Final Gather - so 10X faster than before with 1 GPU, 18X faster with 2 GPUs, etc.  You can also forget all those Final Gather or Photon Map settings and rely on a single quality slider to control it all. Final frame film rendering just got a lot faster and easier in Max 2017.

- Phil