GPU upgrade suggestion Tweet

[renantstein]

Hi there,

I've been reading a lot of topics about my issue here and looking for information about this, but I though I might ask more specifically about my situation, so here it goes:

I currently have a GTX 970 but I'm really feeling the need for the upgrade, so, considering my budget, I've been thinking about investing in the following options:

- Another GTX 970 (the cheapset solution)

- A GTX 980 (more cudas but still with 4GB VRam, so nothing gets wasted)

- don't give a damn about the Vram bit and really buy a 1070 or something and just go building up.

It's not limited to it, but I guess it's enough for you guys to understand my situation.

Just as a final note, I'm not overly stuck with that budget, I wanna feel I'm investing the right money in the right piece and really feel the difference in my renders.

Thank you very much!

[azims]

Others on the forum may be more knowledgeable on this but below is what I know.

The card memory size relates to the size of a scene you can load/ render. However this does not affect render speed. If you have not run into file size issues with the 970 then you can safely go with a 4gb card. The render speed is related to the number of cuda cores on a card. If money is no object then just go to Nvidia website and look for the card with most number of cuda cores. I think they have a titan xp for around $1200. That is the best option but not everyone can afford it.

My PC also has a 970 card which I bought for a good discount in December 2016. Unfortunately GPU prices lately have jumped the rails. My recommendation is to wait a little longer. Most likely May/ June 2018 Nvidia will release new cards and price of current cards will get a discount. Then you could pick up a 1060 6gb or a 1070 8gb card. In the mean time if you have a deadline etc just use ORC.

In any case avoid buying used cards from ebay as they are most likely abused by 24/7 use.

Best,

[renantstein]

Thanks for the reply and the tips!

Didn't realize used cards could have this issue

I don't plan on spending that much money, like on a Titan X, but good to know about the cudas...I'd just simply look for the one with the most cudas for my buck then.

I'll take a look into the price fluctuation where I live so I don't pay to much more.

Thanks again!