Sanity Check 6950 2GB?

[correct]

6950 2GB owners, are they still unlocking like 99% of the time? I thought I read that AMD was putting the kibosh on that or that they finally had enough salvage parts to use for it that it wouldn't work anymore.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, as if I am the 6950 2GB is just a phenomenal value (still is without the unlock but that just puts it over the edge)

just bought a msi hd 6950 the other day (amazon $245 after mir free shipping no taxes) , and unlocked it (shaders only) no problem..

 

[Makaveli]

I picked up a sapphire one at Canada Computers for $274 on sat.

Have it shader unlocked and just about to try those 11.4 preview drivers, I upgraded from a 4890 and it was quite the boost.

 

[sgrinavi]

I'm such a retard, I just ordered a second 6950...

 

[Arkadrel]

@Sgrinavi

Niceee Did the first unlock?
Anywhoo... 2x 6950 unlocked turned into 6970s in CF is quite a monster build.
(only thing faster is 580 SLI and not really by that much)

So now you just need a 3rd monitor so you can game with Eyefinity

 

[SickBeast]

Has AutoDesk added support for Cuda?

The only cuda enabled app that I have found any use for was a rendering engine for 3dsMAX 2010 (octane) , but with 2011 the Quicksilver hardware renderer is built in and works on ATI or Nvidia

How do those plugins compare to running the rendering on a modern quad core or hexacore CPU, in terms of performance?

Rendering is very CPU intensive. I didn't realize these plugins existed.

 

[sgrinavi]

@Sgrinavi

Niceee Did the first unlock?

I haven't set up the system yet, that's why I'm an idiot. It's going to be fun to see my new "cheepo" system kick my x58/SLI ass in every category....

i2600k $300
Asrock Extreme6 $220
16 GB Gskil Rip Jaw $150
2x 6950's $480

$1150

same components for the system in my sig were close to $2000

 

[sgrinavi]

How do those plugins compare to running the rendering on a modern quad core or hexacore CPU, in terms of performance?

Rendering is very CPU intensive. I didn't realize these plugins existed.

The octane renderer is not really a plug-in, it's a stand alone renderer that supports any software that can make an .obj file. It's pretty slick and very fast, but not really convenient; you actually work in, nearly, real time when tweaking your materials/lighting.

Personally for the type of work (and work flow) that I do, architectural interiors with teams of interior designers/PMs/pesky clients & architects, its faster to just use mental ray on my 6 core xeon workstation than go through the process every time the design committee wants to see another version. If you were doing a big, fully animated, scene, there is no doubt in my mind that Octane would be of some benefit.

Max 11 includes a GPU renderer that's about 5x faster than mental ray, but it does not support some materials and is not as forgiving with shadows & reflections, or so it seems in my limited experience.

 

[dust]

:thumbsup:

In Crysis 2, the GTX570 is barely faster (1fps at 2560x1600). I just replaced my GTX470 with a 6950. 6950 idles at 29-31*C at 33% fan speed and 76*C at 33% fan speed at load. If I crank fan speed to 42-44%, my load temperature falls to 65*C. That's far lower temps than the 470 and significantly quieter.

Crysis 1 performance is up 36% at 1920x1080 4AA/16AF and 42% at 1920x1080 8AA/16AF. That's before unlocking! Even when I overclocked the GTX470 to 760mhz GPU (+25% overclock), it still cannot beat a stock 6950 2GB in Crysis under any 0AA/4AA/8AA scenario.

I assume your card is stock, that's why you get such temps. I have this: http://logout.hu/cikk/6950_6970_biosflasheles_megeri/bevezeto.html and it idles at 39C at 45% fan speed, also at stock, with a 23-25 C ambient.

 

[SickBeast]

The octane renderer is not really a plug-in, it's a stand alone renderer that supports any software that can make an .obj file. It's pretty slick and very fast, but not really convenient; you actually work in, nearly, real time when tweaking your materials/lighting.

Personally for the type of work (and work flow) that I do, architectural interiors with teams of interior designers/PMs/pesky clients & architects, its faster to just use mental ray on my 6 core xeon workstation than go through the process every time the design committee wants to see another version. If you were doing a big, fully animated, scene, there is no doubt in my mind that Octane would be of some benefit.

Max 11 includes a GPU renderer that's about 5x faster than mental ray, but it does not support some materials and is not as forgiving with shadows & reflections, or so it seems in my limited experience.

Interesting. Thanks for letting me know.

I know that I always go with the rendering that gives me the absolute best image quality possible. Ray tracing is a must. I'm guessing that HDR rendering has gone mainstream now.

If you work in an office you could just use the collective computing power of all the machines to do your rendering super fast over the network. You can do tile based rendering where each machine does a small portion of the image which is then "stiched" together. :ninja:

 

[Makaveli]

I haven't set up the system yet, that's why I'm an idiot. It's going to be fun to see my new "cheepo" system kick my x58/SLI ass in every category....

i2600k $300
Asrock Extreme6 $220
16 GB Gskil Rip Jaw $150
2x 6950's $480

$1150

same components for the system in my sig were close to $2000

Some of the components aren't comparable.

i2600k vs a Xeon Processor it should be obvious which one is more expensive.

And the 58x asus board should also offer more features and should be a higher end board than that Asrock one.

if I were to build the same i7 system now the difference would probably be $1500 vs $1150 and that would be using a non xeon i7 like a 950

 

[RussianSensation]

I assume your card is stock, that's why you get such temps. I have this: http://logout.hu/cikk/6950_6970_biosflasheles_megeri/bevezeto.html and it idles at 39C at 45% fan speed, also at stock, with a 23-25 C ambient.

Yes, my ambient temp is 21*C and my case has outstanding airflow. Those 2 factors are probably contributing to lower temps compared to your card's.

Unlocked to 1536 SPs @ 840mhz, my load temps are now 71-72*C at 41% fan speed. :thumbsup:

 

[sgrinavi]

.....

If you work in an office you could just use the collective computing power of all the machines to do your rendering super fast over the network. You can do tile based rendering where each machine does a small portion of the image which is then "stiched" together. :ninja:

Ya, if the network nazis would let me that would be cool, I tried, they shut me down.

 

[SickBeast]

Ya, if the network nazis would let me that would be cool, I tried, they shut me down.

Perhaps you could outsource it to a university, on the condition that you guest lecture and show them how to do it. I know where I went to school they would have loved that and they would welcome stuff like that.

I know that's probably overkill for what you do, but it would be good PR and you could produce some world-class work.

 

[SickBeast]

You know what would be really cool is a distributed computing client for architectural rendering.

 

[sgrinavi]

Some of the components aren't comparable.

i2600k vs a Xeon Processor it should be obvious which one is more expensive.

And the 58x asus board should also offer more features and should be a higher end board than that Asrock one.

if I were to build the same i7 system now the difference would probably be $1500 vs $1150 and that would be using a non xeon i7 like a 950

That xeon is just 920 d0 - it was the best way, at the time, to assure you got the good stepping. It was $20 more than the 920. Other than the full x16 lanes that go along with the x58 I think this ASRock board might actually be a bit nicer. The only reason I bought that premium was to get the USB 3.0 and 6.0 gb SATA, neither of which I ever used LOL.

 

[sgrinavi]

Perhaps you could outsource it to a university, on the condition that you guest lecture and show them how to do it. I know where I went to school they would have loved that and they would welcome stuff like that.

I know that's probably overkill for what you do, but it would be good PR and you could produce some world-class work.

Dont you use backburner?