Basic Guide Purchase a New System

[constantine]

Damn ! Mixed opinions here as well .

@tkin - The card is for casual rendering and heavier gaming , so i cant go for a workstation card , it'll got outta my budget too .

@skud - The course does not include physx programming . And i was leaning toward Dell U2311H too. Thanks !

 

[Skud]

Then get HD6950 Twin Frozer III.

btw, which course is this?

 

[Cilus]

Tkin you are right at your point but I don't think I'm totally wrong. what I was trying to covey by saying Starting PhysX programming is that you cannot write the PhysX code itself which is possible in case OpenCL.

PhysX SDK is just like Mcrosoft dot net framework SDK which provides you sets of functions , properties and behaviours and by using them you can develop your own applications.

But itself, how these methods/functions or properties are implemented are not shared, you have to just use them or you can expand them to add more functionality.

 

[constantine]

Thanks Skud ! I'll go for it !

And its Bsc Game art , Manipal University .

Oh and anyone using Razer Abyuss ? cause im planning to get the Cyclosa combo , and i need a mouse thats a lil heavy.

 

[ico]

Also note, amd's drivers related to rendering etc are a total mess, nvidia's drivers are more compatible and are better maintained, if rendering is your game then get nVidia, nVidia still leads the market when it comes to workstation cards.

Pure rendering? Maya. 3dsmax etc? Go nVidia eyes shut, try to grab a workstation card, casual renderer? Get nVidia but go with consumer cards, like 560ti.

I'll only point out a simple fact.

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/graphic-cards/140290-nvidia-drivers-opengl-issues.html

[H]ard|Forum - View Single Post - Desktop versus Workstation GPU's?

In my case, my GTX 470 card is roughly half the speed of my 8800 GTX, and right around the same speed as my old 9800 Pro.

@constantine: Having said that, go with GTX 560 Ti if you really want to. But if I was you, I'd play safe. (and get HD 6950 2GB)

 

[constantine]

Holy smoke ! Thats a hell lotta a difference between the GTX 470 and the 8800GTX ! Damn !

Well guess i'll play safe and go for HD 6950 2gb ! ( 4 years ago i wouldve gone gor Nvidia without bating an eye lash used to me a Nvidia fanboy lol! )

Thanks ico !

Also are there any posts which show the performance of the 6950 on 3ds max / D3d ? Longshot i guess ?

AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950: Cayman GPUs are There! - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.com

Should i rethink it ? help !

 

[ico]

Also are there any posts which show the performance of the 6950 on 3ds max / D3d ? Longshot i guess ?

I also tried searching that for you. Couldn't find results.

But I do expect them to be crippled as there is a big difference between the optimization of rendering and gaming series drivers. But to this extent?? No idea!

Ideally, you should be using workstation card.

Just for the info AMD launched two workstation cards - V5900 (Cayman LE GL - $599) and V7900 (Cayman Pro GL - $899) which have very sweet performance for the price compared to Quadro 4000 and 5000. No point in exclaiming "NVIDIA HAS TEH FASTEST PROFESSIONAL CARD QUDRO 6000" when the card itself costs slightly under 2 lakhs and their own Quadro 5000 offers 75% of the performance at 45% of the price. I can give you links about their performance. Link 1 Link 2

and the word Cayman Pro reminds us of HD 6950/6970.

Nutshell: Gaming and rendering cards have different drivers and they are made for different tasks. People might talk about CUDA, PhysX and APP but for me it is raw performance which matters.

The call is yours on what to get.

 

[constantine]

Thanks ico ! This really helps a lot , however like i said i need gaming , its vital for my living !
Another question - can i use a 6950 and a quadro together ? ( too stupid ? im really clueless on this one ) :3

Oh and i found this -

[Tested] ASUS Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 Review - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.com

This Test Review is now screwing with my mind , i need help ! Seriously !

GTX460 Cyclone beats HD6950 in OpenGL but 6950 beats in in D3d ! but the other benchmarks are ... i just need help people !

 

[ico]

AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950: Cayman GPUs are There! - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.com

Should i rethink it ? help !

It is more of a gaming related tessellation benchmark. nVidia is much much better at tessellation. Not all games are utilizing insanely extensive tessellation. As far as 3ds max and Maya is concerned, we will have to stand by what I posted in my earlier post as it cites experience.

[Tested] ASUS Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 Review - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.com

This Test Review is now screwing with my mind , i need help ! Seriously !

GTX460 Cyclone beats HD6950 in OpenGL but 6950 beats in in D3d ! but the other benchmarks are ... i just need help people !

See, in one OpenGL 2 gaming oriented benchmark, you can also see GTX 500 series easily outperforming old Geforce 9000/GTX 200 counterparts. But are there any rendering application benchmarks? Nope. What I think is, call of particular OpenGL functions which are used by Autodesk products is crippled.

Like I said, the choice is yours. I have done my part.

 

[constantine]

See, in one OpenGL 2 gaming oriented benchmark, you can also see GTX 500 series easily outperforming old Geforce 9000/GTX 200 counterparts. But are there any rendering application benchmarks? Nope. What I think is, call of particular OpenGL functions which are used by Autodesk products is crippled.

Like I said, the choice is yours. I have done my part.

Ok , i get that , guess for now i'l stick with the 6950 but i might go for a workstation card later , so will i be able to use a quadro with a 6950 or will i have to get a firepro ?

Also how is the ASUS VH242H ? better than Dell u2311h ? or is that the current best in the market for 24" s in terms of gaming and multimedia ?

 

[Cilus]

I'll only point out a simple fact.

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/graphic-cards/140290-nvidia-drivers-opengl-issues.html

[H]ard|Forum - View Single Post - Desktop versus Workstation GPU's?


@constantine: Having said that, go with GTX 560 Ti if you really want to. But if I was you, I'd play safe. (and get HD 6950 2GB)

Thanks Ico for those links. Actually lot of people having the misconception that nVidia offers far better performance in 3D applications & their drivers are the bet without any issues. But that is not the case, currently AMD's cards performance combined with their Getting better everyday drivers are also showing their performance.

 

[Skud]

For a rundown of the performance of the latest 11.6 catalyst drivers, check this:-

AMD Catalyst 11.6 Windows 7 Driver Analysis :: TweakTown USA Edition

 

[Cilus]

Checked the performance review of 11.6. The best thing is the performance improvement is least in AMD's latest HD 6900 series. 5000 series is got little bennifit from this update but the highest improvement is in BART, namely in HD6870. There are cases of almost 10FPS improvement in 1080P resolution and in every benchmark there is a noticeable performance improvement.

 

[Skud]

Hard to get more fps-es from the 6970 in games that they used to benchmark. I think a refresh in the games is badly needed like inclusion of Metro 2033, Shogun 2: Total War, Dirt 3 etc. instead of AvP. Mafia II etc. Heaven results are heartwarming though.

 

[constantine]

@ Skud and Clius - Sweet Stuff ! So MSI HD6950 Twin frozr III PE - FTW !

Now seriously guys - ASUS VH242H ? any good ? Or should i go with Dell u2311h itself ?

Also i dont know about this - 8ms response time - will i notice any sort of ghosting or any thing that hinders gaming experience (FPS mainly) ?

Also anyone using the Razer Cyclosa bundle ? I need to know if the abyuss is any good ? Is it too light or mid-heavy ?

Also how's the Razer Arctosa ?

 

[Skud]

Those who have game with the Dell U2311H has had a very good experience in gaming and reviews are positive too as far as gaming is concerned. But the Asus has 1" more screen space. Its a quality vs quantity issue, you have to decide about it.

I am using the Razer Cyclosa bundle. Pretty comfortable but I am not an expert gamer, pretty casual basically, so ask others with experience & knowledge.

 

[Tenida]

Razer cyclosa is good but not best.If you ask my suggestion i will say...go for :_

Keyboard- Microsoft Side Winder X4 USB Keyboard -Rs 2k
Mouse-Logitech MX 518-Rs 1.2k

 

[constantine]

@ Skud - Oh you use the Cyclosa bundle ? Cool !

How is the abyuss ? Heavy , light or just perfect ?

@ Tenida - Woah ! MS sidewinder X4 looks hot !
Thanks man ! I'll go for X4 nad MX518 , its just 700 bucks more than the cyclosa !

 

[Skud]

For me just fits in. Yeah, better go with Tenida's suggestion.

 

[constantine]

Thanks !
now its just the monitor - the Asus vh242h looks pretty amazing on video reviews on youtube but no review mentions or shows the viewing angle , the Dell u2311h looks awesome from every angle . Also its just .6" more than the Dell .

Oh And Vengeance 8 gb or Ripjaws 8 gb ? (i72600k , asus asus p8z68-v pro, Nzxt Tempest EVO ) and will the vengeance fit well with an CM N620 ?