I am planning on buying a new graphics card in the next few weeks and would like to know what the minimum recommended on card RAM requirement is for TG2 to have enough overhead for smooth operation of the software for tasks like rendering and so forth?
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel
@CA - Without venturing into Planetside's support, I remember something about the video card not being a complete show stopper. Get a good one with 256M and a newer one and I'll bet it will be enough. But, I'd wait to hear from Oshyan or someone else at Planetside.
System RAM and the CPU are where you need the potential.
Graphics cards are not important for TG2. Any modern graphics card will do you in good stead unless you get node networks with hundreds of nodes (drawing the node network is the only thing TG2 uses the graphics card for).
Well I was just researching video cards and resolutions. Not for terragen though. I am looking for one to talk to my new wiz-bang LCD flat screen. If your PC is integrated with home a entertainment center (or just want to see terragen or photoshop on a big screen) you want to make sure that it outputs in HD format, which is a resolution of 1920 X 1080. I don't think that a crazy high-end card will be any benefit for rendering as I believe that is processor intensive. BUT -I'm no expert there!
For more info on non-terragen specs on display resolutions read this Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution
Any modern graphics card will be fine. Just make sure you have the latest drivers.
- Oshyan
OH I'm soo excited about this
I'm getting a New 512 MB Graphics Card tomorrow!
I didnt realise the graphics card made a diffrence, as I remember someone saying the Graphics card didnt matter because TG 2 used CPU for the rendering..
I may be wrong though
@zionner - Reading just this thread, notice:
"Graphics cards are not important for TG2." - old_blaggard
"System RAM and the CPU are where you need the potential." - me
"Any modern graphics card will be fine. Just make sure you have the latest drivers." - Oshyan
Hello, dude. What could you be wrong about? Another search on CPU or RAM or system memory would give you plenty of information along these same lines. The Objects use up System RAM and complex nodes use up CPU...for simplicity's sake.
No..
Ok, I didnt meant to put it like that...In fact..I completly screwed up that post...Let me start again lol
I remember once seeing: High End graphics Cards arent needed for TG 2, as the CPU and RAM takes care of it, but High end graphics Cards DO help...
In what way dose it help....because (as mentioned below) my new graphicsc card is arriving tomorrow.
Yeah, uuh...I know thats ^^ completely diffrent from my last post..but..it kind of makes for sense towards what I was wanting to say lol
From my experience, graphics cards will help with drawing the node network - if you are dealing with a project composed of several hundred nodes, a good graphics card will speed up the navigation and response of the network. That's all.
>.>
*wishes He never said a thing*
Thanks, o_b. That's good to know...and I think I read this in another post.
Thanks for bringing this up, zionner.
Quote from: old_blaggard on January 02, 2008, 04:07:36 PM
From my experience, graphics cards will help with drawing the node network - if you are dealing with a project composed of several hundred nodes, a good graphics card will speed up the navigation and response of the network. That's all.
TG2 does not use the graphics card for primary rendering in any way. Rendering speed is dependent almost entirely on the CPU speed.
I haven't personally observed node network speed being dependent on graphics card capability, but it's quite possible. I'll try to do some more benchmarking on that to verify.
- Oshyan
Since the card and the RAM probably share some manner of the same work during processing, I'd think there might be some help with a good video card. Please let us know what's true, Oshyan.
Quote from: calico on January 03, 2008, 09:54:11 AM
Since the card and the RAM probably share some manner of the same work during processing, I'd think there might be some help with a good video card. Please let us know what's true, Oshyan.
I don't really understand what you mean. The graphics card and RAM (assuming you mean main system RAM) do very different tasks. A graphics card computes and processes graphical effects to create visual output - it is fairly specific in its function. RAM is a much more general storage system for high-speed access. It differs from the hard drive, your primary storage, really in only 2 ways, one of which is just a byproduct of current technology. First, RAM is much faster than a hard drive - this is the main reason it even exists separate from primary storage. Second it is volatile, meaning you must constantly supply power to it or the data will disappear. If we could create higher-speed non-volatile storage we probably would. In an ideal world all storage could be unified, but our current technology doesn't allow that.
Some graphics cards *use* main system RAM as part of their operation, but this takes *away* available memory from the system. So they're not at all performing similar functions.
TG2 uses RAM like any other program to store its working data. Because TG2 works on very complex graphics tasks its memory usage can be quite high. TG2 does not use graphics card functions for rendering and so a faster graphics card doesn't have any impact on render time. Other areas of TG2, basically the User Interface, do use *basic* graphics card functions and so they may be faster with a better graphics card, but in most cases you're unlikely to notice. The 3D preview depends on the same rendering system as the main renderer so it will *not* be made faster with a better graphics card.
- Oshyan
My intent for this post was to ask about how much on board Memory (Ram on the Graphics Card its self) was required to give good program overhead when TG2 is running which is a separate entity from main system RAM so I can multi-task and not have any slow down of the system, that was my intent?
Thank you for your assistance in this regard.
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel ;D
The kind of Graphics Card/Amound of memory on a graphics Card will not make any diffrence to system preformance while running TG 2, The point is The Renderer Uses Normal RAM to store data while it works and CPU to render the graphics. Now your system will run according to the CPU Usage, and since TG 2 uses a large amount of CPU, so if you want a more smooth preformacne with your system while running TG 2, I suggest upgrading your RAM and CPU.
One other Quick Note: Graphics Card upgrades should only be used if you either 1: Play games on your computer or 2: use your computer for other graphic intense programs, such as 3D Modeling programs
Zionner is correct, the amount of graphics card RAM will not have a notable effect on TG2's performance. Just avoid a graphics card with "shared memory" (meaning it uses some of the main system memory for itself). The majority of non-budget and not-onboard solutions do not use shared memory.
- Oshyan
aye video cards are mainly designed for people like me. who are either playing games like Crysis or working with a few million polys in real time on screen. Otherwise they don't do much for you.
Also: If you do upgrade your CPU, get one with at least 2 cores, so you can let TG run on 1 core, and have your computer running ok on the other one
http://www.boxxtech.com/Products/APEXX/apexx8_overview.asp
32 cores baby!
..wish I had one...
but yea dual cores are getting cheaper by the day look on Newegg or something.
:o
Wow!!!
I didnt even know there WAS a 32 core CPU lmao
think its like 8 quads
in 50 years we will all be running on a box like this :D
*drools*
Mines only a Dual Core :(
same, pentium D, but I drew you off topic....again, for which I apologize.
what..ME?
I never go off topic!
My trouble is in order to upgrade my processor I'd need to completely upgrade my main board as my processor is based on Socket-A technology and I don't think that you can buy processors for that socket type any more. Once you change the main board you may need a new power supply, new fan and maybe new memory so once your done you've almost completely rebuilt your system and that is some thing I can not afford to do right now nor do I know how even if I could afford it.
Right now my current processor is an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ which I know is now as old as the dinosaurs but thats what I have.
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel
ok, In that case I would recommend RAM! and lots of it!
Same problem (For now) my main board only has two memory slots (Pretty poor I know) and only supports 512MB which is what I have, so for now I'm stuck with an under powered machine which is now 5yrs old and is frankly three or even more generations behind.
If I should be in the position to be able afford an new system what kinds of specifications should I be looking for, I read some where the CGI pro's use systems with dual quad-cores and at least 4GB's of RAM.
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel
Ok, My specs arent Great, and are nowhere near these ones, I'm saying this to show these sort of specs arent needed for a good system
ok: Recommended Specs:
4x 3.4 GHZ CPU (3.4 GHZ Quad Core)
>4 GB RAM DDR
Graphics Card----Dosent Matter
My Specs/Mid Range:
2x 2.8 GHZ (2.8 GHZ Dual Core)
2 GB RAM DDR
Graphics Card--Again dosent matter, but 512MB Geforce 8500 GT
I would forget about upgrading your current system, but don't assume that you need to spend gobs of money to get a great new system either, and remember that some parts of your current system may also be salvageable and may not hurt performance much at all on a new system (e.g. hard drive, optical drive).
You will almost certainly need the following new:
Case and power supply
Motherboard
CPU
RAM
Graphics card (unless onboard - with enough RAM this is not a major issue unless you want to play games)
That's really it, and you may be surprised how affordable it can be. I bought a pretty excellent system a few months ago for about $1600, including a new copy of Windows Vista x64 (which I would not recommend - transfer your old XP license over if you can and save money). My system is a 2.4Ghz Intel quad core with 8GB of RAM, a 500GB HD, Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS, and a decent motherboard, in an Antec case with a 600w power supply. If you went with a cheaper graphics card and half the RAM you could get something under $1000 these days. If that's still too much, you can easily get a still very decent machine with at least dual core at 2.4+ghz per core and 2+GB of RAM for about $500.
If you're in the US, Newegg.com is a great place to purchase parts (provided you can build it yourself), or check out PCClub.com for system builds (best if they have a local store in your area). Outside the US I'm not sure of the best options for a system builder, but generally an online/large chain will be cheaper and the local shops may or may not have the best knowledge and experience. Internationally Dell is becoming a better and better option as they continue to provide Windows XP and are now offering "no software bundle" options on several of their systems. Look for this option and Windows XP as I wouldn't recommend Vista yet.
Edit: Zionner, they don't even have 3.4Ghz quad core CPU's yet, at least not without overclocking.
- Oshyan
Oshyan, can you venture to tell us where you purchased your unit? If so, where? Was it an online purchase?
I put mine together myself. I've worked as an IT professional for about the past 10 years so I have a lot of experience doing it. I bought the parts from the aforementioned Newegg.com.
- Oshyan
Thanks. I've built a few. Not sure what I'll do.
I've even wondered about a laptop.
Quote from: Oshyan on January 06, 2008, 02:54:37 PM
I put mine together myself. I've worked as an IT professional for about the past 10 years so I have a lot of experience doing it. I bought the parts from the aforementioned Newegg.com.
- Oshyan
Athlon XP 2000+, a nvidia 7600 gs or gt, series card with 256mb memory would be best bet... probably agp too ....
My suggestion for those who want a fast TG2 machine but can't wait for Intels 45nm CPUs is:
A Q6600 G0 stepping CPU
A motherboard that supports the new 45nm CPUs and at least a 1333MHz FSB (for a bit of future proofing).
2/4/8GB of PC6400 DDR2.
A good CPU cooler.
Why?
Well the Q6600 has a 1066MHz FSB but the GO Stepping seems to be happy to run with an FSB of 1333MHz which gives a CPU speed of 3.0GHz.
More importantly it will (usually) run at this speed without needing additional voltage/excessive cooling.
When used with the above components the Q6600 G0 is effectively a 3.0GHz 1333MHz FSb quad core CPU, which as long as it is cooled adeqately has none of the usual disadvantages of overclocking.
I should point out that even if you are using one of Intels current CPUs, no overclock is guaranteed unless supported by a manufacturers warranty.