HARDWARE SETUP

[idtasos]

I am going to build a system with 2 GTX 480 (for rendering) and 1 fx580 quadro (for display) . Will i have a problem with the low memory of the quadro card? Will octane be using the memory of the GTX 480 or is it limited to the 512 mb of the quadro fx580card??
The cards should not be in sli mode. This is done by software or is it a matter of hardware setup??

Thanks!!!!

[P!X3L]

Hello idtasos,

I am new here, but I will try to help you. Please do not take my answer as final and always seek out second opinions I too am looking at getting myself new graphics card(s) but I am not sure what to get yet....anyway;

From what I know, you can allocate rendering graphics card(s) seperately/manually and have a dedicated display card, so you should be fine. Keep in mind though: I saw a company selling workstations with the tesla c2050's, and they said that it is recommended to have a matching display card chip family wise (for example if you get a tesla c2050, then apparently to ensure it is 100% compatible they say go for a gtx 470 for display). Now, this may be bullucks and just be a up-selling technique so don't take my word for it. Have a look around for what kind of display cards people are using with gtx 480's, maybe that should help.

And yes the cards should not be in SLI mode.

When choosing your graphics card, what it comes down to is: What are you going to be using it for, and what kind of image quality do you want to achieve. This makes video ram creep into the picture. Make sure you do as much research as you can before getting 2x480's only to find out that you need more ram. What I may be doing is getting myself a gtx 285 2gb card JUST to see if 1.5gb would be enough for what I want to do...ha! You can probably find one cheap on ebay. Hope that helps.

P!X3L

[radiance]

octane will allow you to use the amount of vdeo memory of the lowest card that's used in a multi-gpu memorry setup.

Radiance

[P!X3L]

octane will allow you to use the amount of vdeo memory of the lowest card that's used in a multi-gpu memorry setup.

Radiance

Does the limit cap effect pass on to other cards even if it is the dedicated display card while you have one or more dedicated (not plugged into screen(s) rendering graphics card(s)? Hope that makes sense.

In another words, does it still happen even if you have a dedicated display card.

Thanks for the information.

P!X3L

[idtasos]

TO OCTANE TEAM: in a previous post you told me that i can use 2 GTX480 for rendering and 1 fx 580 QUADRO for displays. IF THE QUADRO CARD IS GONE EFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE 2 GTX (IN TERMS OF AVAILABLE MEMORY) PLEASE CLARIFY IT!!

sorry for the caps but i am in the process of ordering a 4500 euro PC with octane in mind!!!!

THANKS!!!!!

[P!X3L]

TO OCTANE TEAM: in a previous post you told me that i can use 2 GTX480 for rendering and 1 fx 580 QUADRO for displays. IF THE QUADRO CARD IS GONE EFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE 2 GTX (IN TERMS OF AVAILABLE MEMORY) PLEASE CLARIFY IT!!

sorry for the caps but i am in the process of ordering a 4500 euro PC with octane in mind!!!!

THANKS!!!!!

What kind of quality are you aiming for, in terms of picture quality, clearity (photorealistic?) and at what resolutions are you going to be producing your content? Will you be animating or mostly stills? Before you buy this stuff I seriously recommend you to learn more about the current products and the possible limitations that you may encounter if you opt for the gtx 480. I am saying this because from the looks of things you are saying you want to create production level content, and that takes a lot of ram especially if you are talking about lots of polygons + high resolution textures at lossless formats.

*Like I said, wait for others to put some suggestions. I am new as well, but this is how I see things. Can anyone comment on this please? I too am actually very interested in this very topic! Thanks in advance.

[Proupin]

TO OCTANE TEAM: in a previous post you told me that i can use 2 GTX480 for rendering and 1 fx 580 QUADRO for displays. IF THE QUADRO CARD IS GONE EFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE 2 GTX (IN TERMS OF AVAILABLE MEMORY) PLEASE CLARIFY IT!!

sorry for the caps but i am in the process of ordering a 4500 euro PC with octane in mind!!!!

THANKS!!!!!

It is NOT going to affect the performance if you just use the quadro for display. The VRam will not be capped either...

Do not over-complicate the issue, Octane is affordable enough to be worth it... get a Fermi or two, or a Tesla if you can afford, plug the VGA to the Quadro and do not use it for rendering. For me Octane is an experience worth trying, and since it's in the making, it can only get better!

[P!X3L]

Hehe, my bad. I guess I got a little carried away

[idtasos]

So, will the operation of the FX580 QUADRO effect the available memory from the 2 gtx cards for rendering or not??

[havensole]

If you are just using the Quadro for display purposes then it will not affect the memory limits of the gtx cards used for rendering. The rendering engine only looks at the cards used for rendering, not the one used for display (unless those are the same thing) so you should be good.