Mistyk Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Would like an impression as for which cards are actually used by professional Houdini artists. Did SideFX's official certification of specific video cards influence your purchase? How important is the certification? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stremik Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 I'm currently in transition state right now(dumped the old card but havent gotten a new one yet) but I can tell you, dont even consider any of ATI's crap!Their consumer cards OpenGL support is so bad, it's almost doesn't exist(You wouldn't even be able to view background images in the viewports.The system crashes every time you try to do it.)As for FireGL's... I've read meny reviews and from what I've learned I'd say they're preatty crappy to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Yikes! reviews shmeviews. I can tell you that the FireGL4 is one of the fastest cards I've ever seen. Really. And it has the most truly wonderful linux drivers. Its all good, really. Then again, the top of the range FireGL's aren't exactly consumer cards, and they're quite expensive. The certification process doesn't really specify which cards are good to use. More like which ones actually work. . I'd still say that if you're looking at sub $1000 cards then nvidia is probably your best bet. Good opengl, decent drivers and it works on linux. And best of all, your games will rule! My 2c Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stremik Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 I don't mean to start a war here but fastest doesn't say anything. It may be the fastest in shaded mode for example but the slowest when textures are displayed. Than again, how does it handle antialiasing? As far as I know nothing beats Wildcats when working in wireframe mode and antialiasing turned on. They all have their advantages and disadvantages and your choise really depends on what are you planning on using the card for. DCC, CAD. Performance could even differ from one scene to another.Like, if it,s a scene with a lot of lights, Wildcat with its 32 hardware lights is the best choise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 Well sure, you get no argument from me . But the wildcat is a tad more expensive than the firegl I believe. Unless the VP has all the features of the big boy.... But the FireGL 4 is really good, and I mean in wireframe, shaded, textured, blah, blah ... its all good baby. If you went to the Houdini5 launch and happened to say, wow that graphics card is one snappy bugger... then you were talking about a FireGL4 . l8r Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stremik Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 Ooops! Mistyk wanted to hear opinions of people about those cards which they actually use and I managed to turn this thread in to an argument Sorry! I'm just mad at ATI for bad drivers support. Hopefuly it'll change with their Catalyst drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 ..<shrug>.. we'll call it a healthy discussion . I'm just as keen to hear other opinions, and I'm sure this is helping Mistyk anyway. Its always good to hear differing opinions. Its not like we've degenerated to name calling yet.. .. ... .. yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJuice Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 Well, I'm not a pro user but... GeForce2 64MB 12.90 drivers (kinda old now) Softquadro Anti-aliasing works, no real problems with the GUI, and it's fast enough for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenong Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 The list of cards are certified to work with Houdini & not a must for Houdini to work. The list did not influence my decision, my budget did. Before my current card (GeForce2Ti 64Mb), I was using 3Dlabs VX1 Pro 32Mb. Both cards work equally well, OpenGL wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUsualAlex Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 Still using the good o' Oxygen GVX1 since 1999. Trying to decide between Wildcat VP and nVidia QUadro card for my upcoming card in the next 6 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyk Posted July 9, 2002 Author Share Posted July 9, 2002 Thanks for your replies. A slight argument is never wrong. It either means that the cards, which are subject for the argument, are both good. In that case there is a greater range to choose from. It might also imply that both cards are poor, in which case it's good to be steered away from a purchase of either of them. As such, an argument migth be productive. Fight on! Does any of you have first-hand experience of the FireGL8800, especially with its latest drivers? It is said that the old drivers sucked bigtime, while the new ones provide an accuracy and a wireframe performance superior to those of the Quadro4 cards. Anyone used a Quadro4? Are they really as inaccurate as people claim them to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 As I wrote in some other posts, after trying different geforce4 cards from "3D labs" and "MSI" which are not the best for houdini , I have know the "GeForce4 PowerPack Ultra/750 XP " from gainward. This card works PERFECT and is very fast in all areas. ( approx. 500 US) cheers michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUsualAlex Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 As I wrote in some other posts, after trying different geforce4 cards from"3D labs" and "MSI" which are not the best for houdini Wow. I didn't know. i've not have any problem with GVX1 running in Houdini. Although GVX1 is really aging and considered really slow nowaday, it has served me well all these years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stremik Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Anyone would know how do these two look in comparison to one another? "Gainward" GeForce4 PowerPack Ultra/750 XP Ti4600 "Leadtek" WinFast A250 Ultra TD Ti4600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 look at digit-life GAINWARD and LEADTEK for specs and comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheep Factory Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 Hi Guys , first post here I am using quadro dcc 900 XGL with houdini , until the recent detonator drivers came out , it worked really bad , but after i upgraded the drivers it worked like a charm. I have yet to see a slowdown in any application. A|i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUsualAlex Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 Hi Guys , first post here I am using quadro dcc 900 XGL with houdini , until the recent detonator drivers came out , it worked really bad , but after i upgraded the drivers it worked like a charm. I have yet to see a slowdown in any application. A|i NEAT! In that case, do you recommand it totally? (I am still trying to decide between Quadro and Wildcat VP at the moment. Wanted Wildcat VP, but their lack of Linux support is what turns me off) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyk Posted July 14, 2002 Author Share Posted July 14, 2002 Sheep Factory, You hang out at CGTalk, right? Could you comment on the 900XGL's visual quality in general and when using Houdini in particular? Are there any artifacts or anomalies whatsoever? How would you rate its precision/accuracy in comparison to other professional grade video cards? Can you think of any disadvantages of the 900XGL? I know the 900XGL is mighty fast, but some people have complained that its wireframe performance and accuracy are somewhat poor. Thus, I would appreciate if you could confirm or kill that rumor. All, Does SESI's certification of the Quadro4 imply that there are NO flaws at all in the way the cards handle OpenGL and user interface? Or does it simply mean that the Quadro4 line is sufficiently compliant that no MAJOR errors are likely to occur? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 We just received some killer HP machines at work with the 900XGL's in 'em. Very nice cards. I didn't notice a slowdown at all. We through a 360something thousand poly iso surface SOP at it and it didn't even slow down when tumbling in shaded mode. Very impressive. As for the certification. I really don't think you should take SESI's cetification as holy writ. It means that the cards work, and that they have sufficient support for openGL that Houdini works on them. But because of numerous other factors, drivers being the greatest of them, Houdini might not work as well as some might expect. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyk Posted July 15, 2002 Author Share Posted July 15, 2002 Sounds promising indeed. However, might I ask if you find the output of the 900XGLs a tad unsharp (blurry)? That is the picture on the monitor, be it 2D or 3D. Someone felt that this was the case when he switched to the 900XGL after having used the FireGL8800. I'm not trying to find weaknesses of the 900XGL, rather make sure that there are none because I'm strongly considering it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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