Best card for 3D Animation?

[imported_Shazzam]

hello everyone,

I am planning to build a computer so that I can learn Maya. which video card would you recommend for max performance with Maya? Also I'm thinking of buying a Quad Core Q6600 do you think that its worth it? (I am waiting for the Jul 22 price drop(can someone confirm if this is true)).

Gamewise I only play Counter Strike and will expect some awesome FPS from this system. I have a 1400x1050 native resolution on my 20" LCD. But I also have a 47" LCD HDTV 1080p which I am planning to connect to it.

Anyway my main focus will be 3D animation and if that means lower gaming performance that is fine by me.

what do you guys think?
ps. first time posting so let me know if you need any more info thanx \\:^)

 

[miker75]

Neither of them help with 3d animation do they? (I'm sure they help with the pre-viz work in the editor, but as far as final rendering of the images is concerned, I don't think the video cards help at all..?)

 

[Dropmachine]

Maya is pure horsepower, not video. Get a hell of a processor, and fast huge chunks of ram.

I am doin the same thing.

 

[imported_Shazzam]

good to know thanx a lot guys
Dropmachine could you tell me your system specs?

 

[rbV5]

Actually, you should do some research in a decent Maya forum (Gnome, Highend3D ect.)

While the video card itself is not much help for rendering individual frames, or renderings, a powerful graphics card makes all the difference in the world for manipulating textured models or working with PaintEffects / Paint3D in the viewport.

It takes a serious card with decent OpenGL drivers to be productive in Maya, however I also believe that starting with weaker hardware in a package like Maya helps develop your skills initially because you are forced to learn a proper workflow to get anything done.

 

[KaOTiK]

I practically live in maya as I use it for a living. Your video card has nothing to do with actual rendering, your video card does effect your viewports framerate though.

Basically, ATI is faster in Maya then Nvidia is but is more unstable and cause of that alone I recommend nvidia and use them myself. Second, I suggest not getting a 8800 series card, as most the users that have them and use Maya are having all kinds of problems, some are lucky and don't and some have used some beta quadro drivers that seem to work but general consensus is 8800 with Maya is not a good combo (though in all fairness I do use an 8800 ultra with no problems in secondary machine). I would recommend against getting a quadro or fireGL (I would recommend a quadro over a fireGL anyways) cause frankly unless you do this for a living and even a lot of us that do, if you know what your doing you don't need that card. I'd recommend like a 7900, they are in the cheaper range and they work perfectly fine in Maya.

As for hardware, I defiantly recommend a quad core, cause when it actual does come time to start rendering you will be very very grateful you did, rendering engines will use up as many cpus/cores you can throw at them and they use the entire thing not like 50%. Ram at least 2 gigs, if you can go for 4 at least (helps in rendering as well a lot, though general performance is much smoother like nearly anything else with more ram). Rest of the computer is same old basically.

There are some things you can tailor a bit more if you know what you are aiming to do, like being a modeler, texturer, lighting, rigging, animation, vfx, etc .

I'm mainly a texture artist, though I do environment modeling some and can light decently. I do freelance on the side when I am not in crunch time at work.
Heres the computers I use, note though that I am a bit overboard on some stuff due to freelance (faster you get it done quicker you can work on more stuff)

Workstation:
2x Xeon quad cores 2.66
16gigs DDR2
Quadro 4500

Gaming machine:
QX6700
8800 Ultra
4gigs DDR2

Macbook Pro
C2D 2.33
3gigs DDR2
some half ass ATI card though it actually performs pretty well but does crash in weird moments.

Kao

 

[tuteja1986]

My bud that does animation/model..ect for a game development company that is making one the best looking game that shall remain nameless. he is working on a 2x opteron 250 , 8GB of ram , Quadro 5600.

 

[imported_Shazzam]

does anyone else here think that the 8800s are not good for Maya work? please post some links that may be helpful
again everyone thanks so much for your help!

 

[heyheybooboo]

IMHO to recommend a $200 gaming card over a Quadro or FireGL workstation graphics accelerator with certified application drivers is just insane . . . .

 

[imported_Shazzam]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
IMHO to recommend a $200 gaming card over a Quadro or FireGL workstation graphics accelerator with certified application drivers is just insane . . . .

hey man no one said a $200 is better than the Quadro; what I understood from it is that a quadro is an overkill for someone like me who is not in the industry.

 

[DSET]

KaOTiK

is it possible to install a workstation card and say a 8800 on a sli board and switch between the two
when using maya and whatnot?

 

[Arkaign]

Nvidia Quadro Plex 1000 Model 3 is the best solution under $25,000.

 

[imported_Shazzam]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Nvidia Quadro Plex 1000 Model 3 is the best solution under $25,000.

yea but i think the CPU is ganna be a bottle neck... I'm ganna have to go with the 32 core processor... lol

mean while in the real world I still don't have video card.


hmmm I feel like lobster tonight, does anyone know where the closest taco bell is?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Three FireGL / Quadro openGL workstation graphics accelerators for less than the cost of an 8800gts.

I prefer the FireGL hardware openGL acceleration drivers and the entry level card is $210.

Now maybe you can afford that lobster

 

[KaOTiK]

Originally posted by: DSET

KaOTiK

is it possible to install a workstation card and say a 8800 on a sli board and switch between the two
when using maya and whatnot?

Probably not unless you can find a Quadro that doesn't take up two slots (not sure which ones don't anymore, it has been awhile). But other then that, I see no real reason why not as long as you get a Quadro and not a FireGL.

To the guy above talking about recommending a gaming card over a professional card is insane, it is far from it. For most people out there that do this work, a gaming card is simply a better and cheaper solution. I've worked in a studio that besides the hi-res modelers, texture artists, a few animators, and vfx guys nearly everyone else used 7900's I believe they were. I'm in no way saying that gaming cards are better then Quadros, but Quadros are overkill most the time unless you are dealing with hi-res stuff.

Kao

 

[sandorski]

If you are just learning Maya and not doing real intensive Animation/Rendering, you really don't need a very powerful vidcard. If you're making the next Shrek, then you might be wise to get a Workstation card.

I used a 9800 Pro when I was learning Modeling in Maya and other than a few ATI glitches it worked perfectly fine. I noticed a dramatic improvement going from an XP 2800 to X2 3800 CPU though. Maya loves Dual/Multi-Core CPUs.

 

[heyheybooboo]

From Qualification of Maya 8.5 on Supported Windows Operating Systems

There are many cards based on GeForce GPU chipsets. Nvidia and Autodesk do not recommend these cards for use with Maya as you may experience various refresh, display and stability problems and inadequate performance. We suggest you choose from Nvidia's workstation cards instead, such as the Quadro families which are much better suited to high-end 3D packages such as Maya.

Nvidia GeForce VS Quadro White Paper(pdf)

If you enjoy modeling and animation here is a neat freeware program called Flux Studio. You can import models from Maya, convert to X3d, add interactivity and links, and upload the content to the Web.

Can't beat free

 

[Lord Banshee]

Also if i am not mistaken if you use paint effects in Maya it will create artifacts on a gamer card due to the non-hardware overlay support in drivers. But this was in the last maya version i used which was v6 so maybe they added a non-hardware overlay version of it?

 

[imported_Shazzam]

I have heard that you can buy a 6800GT/Ultra and mod it to be a quadro. Is this true? would you recommend it?
I did go through some other forums and confirmed that the 8800 series have serious driver issues and are just not worth it.
thanks for the feedback please keep them coming!

 

[PG]

Originally posted by: Shazzam
I have heard that you can buy a 6800GT/Ultra and mod it to be a quadro. Is this true? would you recommend it?
I did go through some other forums and confirmed that the 8800 series have serious driver issues and are just not worth it.
thanks for the feedback please keep them coming!

Yes, some of them can be modded to a quadro. I have an AGP one myself that works properly as a Quadto FX 4000, but I do not think all of the 6800 cards can be modded. It depends on the chip revision and the PCI-E ones may not work at all, I just can't remember. I do know that the newer 6800 chips do not work so finding a new one that works now might be very difficult.

The place to go for that information is the guru3d.com forums. Then check the rivatuner forum. Unwinder is the guy who writes rivatuner, the software you need to do the mod on 6800 cards.

Some ATI cards can be modded to a FireGL, but I know less about them them than Nvidia cards. I do remember reading that ATI cards are a bit more open to the soft mods though so if I were you I would search that rivatuner forum for firegl and then do some reading.

 

[Lord Banshee]

I used my X1950XT as a FireGL in WinXP for my CAD programs
in vista it is a X1950XT for games

search guru3d forums under rivatuner as PG has stated, there are bundles of information to read there.