optimized GPU for 3DSMAX 2010

[infoRYF23]

dear all,

i would like to ask a question about some difficulties that we have been experiencing. 

The Auto-desk programs we use are:

• AUTOCAD 2010
• 3DS MAX 2010

The problem we encounter is that in two different workstations, we notice strong differences between them, in model management, e.g. response time (model movement), and rotation of the model. The same problem is observed on 2D files and 3D files also.  

I quote you the specifications of the two workstations:

1. Workstation 1

• Operating System -  Windows 7 x64
• CPU  - Dual x (Intel Xeon Processor E5-2670 @ 2.60 GHz / 8 cores-16 threads)
• RAM - 64GB  DDR3  Buffered
• SSD   - Samsung 850 PRO 2.5" SATA III 256GB
• GPU  -  NVIDIA Quadro P2000 - 5 GB GDDR5

1. Workstation 2

• Operating System -  Windows 7 x64
• CPU  - Intel Core™ i7-5820K @ 3.30 GHz  / 6 cores-12 threads)
• RAM - 12GB  DDR4  Unbuffered
• SSD   - Samsung 850 PRO 2.5" SATA III 256GB
• GPU  - NVIDIA Quadro K2200 - 4GB GDDR5

Anyone would expect the workstation 1 to respond better, with a faster and smoother result. This is not true. Instead, the workstation 2 responds much better. Workstation 2 is faster and smoother to the commands. We suspect that the problem is on the GPU and the way GPU cooperates with AutoCAD 2010 or 3DS MAX 2010.

Is there any way to fix this issue? Thank you very much in advance. 

[Anonymous]

When troubleshooting a problem like this, I always make sure I'm using the latest approved video card driver. Then to confirm my suspicion that its the video card, I would swap video cards in the computers. 

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

No, what you're seeing is about what I expect.  A lot of day-to-day operations in both programs are single threaded (that's a whole other story for another time...), so a higher clock speed is preferred over more cores - especially for AutoCAD.  Dual Xeon processors won't benefit AutoCAD at all, and 3DSMAX only when using a CPU renderer like Mental Ray.  Similarly 64 GB RAM is going to be wasted on AutoCAD, even with highly inefficient and bloated models.

You may also be having some version conflicts, trying to use such old software on very new hardware like the Pascal-series GPU.  Something that new is optimized for the latest DirectX and OpenGL systems, which the 2010 releases aren't designed with.