New Video Card advice

naxuam_66429eb97e

My current DAZ computer is Windows 7 and has an x58 pro-e motherboard with a ATI Radeon 5450 graphics card.  The graphics slot is a PCI express x 16.

An IRAY render takes me anywhere from 3 to 6 hours .

What would be the best options for graphic cards upgrades? Am I limited by the age of this computer?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

frank0314

If you want Iray to work with your graphic card it needs to be an NVIDIA, Iray don't work with any other brand, so your renders are being ran from your CPU.

JamesJAB

That all depends on your budget.
Nvidia is your only option for GPU rendering in Iray.
No, you are not limited GPU wise by the age (Iray GPU rendering is handled on the GPU card as if it was a stand alone computer.  Older computers will just take a little more time getting the scene loaded into VRAM)
4GB is the "realistic" minimum amount of VRAM you will need on your GPU for moderately complex scenes.
If your buget can afford it, go with a GTX 1060 6GB or higher.
Make sure you have a name brand power supply that is rated for at least 500W

father1776

PNY NVIDIA Quadro P400 Professional Graphics Board - (VCQP400-PB) Graphic Cards

or similar

set you back $120 at amazon and this is the entry level one

that is my pick for digital art, but that is subjective

 

JamesJAB

Unforunately, that card you are suggesting only has 2GB of VRAM, this makes it pretty useless for anything more than rendering a single character portrait in Iray.
That card also only has 256 cuda cores.  and a tiny little 64bit memory bus.  At every price point the regular Geforce cards are better for consumers.  On the flip side, If you need 16 or 24GB of VRAM, or a GPU that will be rendering Iray scenes 24/7 then Quadro cards are the only way to go.

• For about $150 you can get a Geforce GTX 1050ti with 4GB of VRAM, 768 cuda cores and a 128bit memory bus
• For about $(dont buy one right now, crypto currency miners have inflated the price) will go back down to about $250 after the mining bubble pops... Geforce GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM, 1280 cuda cores and a 192bit memory bus.
• For about $(dont buy one right now, crypto currency miners have inflated the price) will go back down to about $400 after the mining bubble pops... Geforce GTX 1070 with 8GB of VRAM, 1920 cuda cores and a 256bit memory bus
• For about $510 you can get a Geforce GTX 1080 with 8GB of VRAM, 2560 cuda cores and a 256bit memory bus
• For about $700 you can get a Geforce GTX 1080ti  with 11GB of VRAM, 3584 cuda cores and a 352bit memory bus

naxuam_66429eb97e

Thanks to evryone for the tips and suggestions.

 My follow up question would be:What kind of rendering boost time would I get? Is that determined by "cuda cores"? I

 Like I said now, cpu only, single figure backdrop and 3 lights is 3 to 6 hours

I apologize for my ignorance.

 

father1776

the quadro was the entry level card, they come in 2gig up to 16gig or more.

with increasing price

 

JamesJAB

Here is a link to a post on this board.  It is a Iray scene that only makes use of the free "Starter Esentials" pack that comes with Daz Studio.

It is an ongoing thread where people post their render time results with various hardware combinations.

CPU only depending on how many cores and clock speed, completes in anywhere from about 20min - over 90min.

• GTX 660 = about 17min
• GTX 770 = about 9min
• GTX 970 = about 7min
• GTX 980 = about 6min
• GTX 980ti = about 3min 30sec
• GTX 1060 6GB = about 4min 30sec
• GTX 1070 = about 4min
• GTX 1080 = about 3min
• GTX 1080 ti = about 2min

nicstt

I would look for a card with at least 6GB of RAM; you can manage with less, but it gets annoying quickly.

Just make sure your current machine will support the card.

And definitely pay attention to the PSU; the PSU is (arguably) the most important part of a PC as nothing works without it. :)