Render speeds in 1.5 vs. 1.47.03

[davision]

I haven't upgraded yet due to lack of time. However, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any speed increases/decreases in 1.5.

Specifically, I'm not actually asking with GI rendering but just raw speed of raytracing, etc. without any irradiance maps or qmc gi.

[Morbid Angel]

as far as i know there werent any architecture changes in raytracing. Most work was done on the qmc sampler as an example, and others. Vray 1.5 is close by its paramiters to 1.47 but obviously with some changes.
Infact i think that qmc sampler is now better then it was before, with fixes for some bugs and etc.

[davision]

Since I don't really fully understand all the uses of the QMC Sampler, I have to ask -- does it have an effect non-GI renders?

Is it used for glossy reflections, for example?

[Morbid Angel]

qmc sampler as a whole affects everything in the scene. It basicly affects everything that has samples. Glossy reflections would be one of them yes, another is a vraylight casting shadow. A shadow is based on sample rays. Default is 8 i believe, which often is not enough, so you may eather increase the ray samples in the light itself or do it through qmc sampler. The difference is often qmc sampler provides global control whereas doing it for each light will be local control.
Also noise threshold is the one value you have to pay attention to. It basicly specifies the threshold for samples to be taken in the noise areas, if the thresh is low, many samples will be forced thus producing a smooth image at the cost of higher render times.
Vlado would be able to answer about qmcs better then I ever could