Vray RT - future GPU version - video RAM requirements

[davision]

Hey Vlado,

I don't know if you can answer this -- but maybe at least speculate -- I won't hold you to it...

I am going to plunk down money for a laptop soon, and I will use it occasionally for net rendering AND Vray RT GPU rendering once that becomes real. I can choose either get a 256MB video card or 512MB.

Will RT require a certain amount of RAM to run? Point being, do you think a 256 card will even work? I'd rather not buy the 512, but if (you think) it's necessary for RT then I would.

[vlado]

What graphics cards are you looking at? It must be at least a 2xx series in order to be any faster than a CPU.

Best regards,
Vlado

[davision]

Damn you're fast. It's like instant messaging.

Truth be told, it's the new MacBook Pros. They have nvidia GT330M with 256 or 512. I figured I'd bootcamp it for net rendering.

[GLASS-CANVAS]

Davison, get the 512. So many programs are moving to the GPU that you will never regret it. Remember, when you buy a computer don't just buy it for now, buy it so it's still current 2 years down the line.

[timdog]

Any news regarding ATI vs NVIDIA ? (Fermi vs 58xx series)

[vlado]

It's probably a safer bet to go with nVidia for now. As for the GPU RAM, the more, the better

Best regards,
Vlado

[davision]

Thanks for the guidance.

[timdog]

Any special reasons that Nvidia is the better choice?
I am willing to sacrifice some performance in order to keep down heat,noise and electricity.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Cude/Physic I ges... and some ''new'' unknown to me fermi features I gues :s

[timdog]

Cuda is not needed because Vray gpu will support OpenCl.
PhysX is not rendering related

Wonder what these Fermi goodies would be?

[phizikl]

they both support openCL, currently the radeon 5970 is the fastest graphics card, with its dual gpu, much faster than gtx295 (dual gpu) and still faster than gtx480 fermi, but the fermis are especially good for cuda and openCL, so i think ATI just has to make better driver support for openCL,

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/n...th-the-wait-/6
there you can see the new fermi doing much better for openCL, but its only about twice as fast as the 5870, so my guess is the 5970radeon is about same for openCL performance

[timdog]

Thanks for the info Phizikl!

Will future Vray gpu rendering be all about the OpenCl performance?
Or is there other stuff that might come into play as well?

[phizikl]

im sure theres always other stuff to comes into play, but openCL as fas as i know will be the language spoken! i cannot wait to get vray gpu! its gonna shatter us all to pieces!!!!!!

[werticus]

by the time vray rt comes out with gpu support who knows what video card will be the best option....