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what vid card to run Maya?

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Genjix

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2002
Location
Queenz NYC
My friend wants to get out of the mac world and into the PC world. He wants to use the program maya, according to him it is a intensive 3D program. Would the 9800 pro be an overkill or would the 9700 pro be just fine with this program>? any input would be great.
 
I think you would do best with some kind of professional VGA, like the 3dlabs, or those with the nvidia QUADRO, this cards are made and therefore optimized for running professional apps like Maya.

But if your friend is also a gamer then ...
 
I have ran bryce 5 on my 9500 pro with no problems (Landscape rendering) .Those workstation cards are overkill if you ask me.9700 is fine for like photoshop,maya,bryce,3Dmax.Youve got a P4 too and a 9700 is more than enough.;)
 
Game cards suck at CAD, CAD cards suck at Games.

Just because it looks good to you dosn't mean the cards doing a good job.

Go workstation if your doing stuff like Maya
 
It's been a while.

For raw speed, the new radeons are probably the best, but a 3DLabs Wildcat VP series will have better image quality and stability. Quadro is probably the most powerful consumer/private workstation card. Going above Quadro would bring me back to 3DLabs, for their Wildcat IV or better (and muchos dinero).

I'm not sure if Maya runs best in DirectX or OpenGL. That makes a difference because if he needs good OGL then he'll be better off with a workstation card.

At half the price of most "pro" options, I would certainly consider a 9700 at least as an option.

BoB said this; "Game cards suck at CAD, CAD cards suck at Games." The second part is far truer than the first. Real pro CAD cards are designed with no consideration of price and by the time gamers can afford them, they should really be melted down for parts. Game cards work fine for CAD as long as the app runs fast in DirectX, they're just a little rougher around the edges.

Ask him his budget, after you max out the CPU/RAM, spend the extra on a pro card. If you can't max out the system with the budget, get the Radeon.
 
Remember the whole "modding the R300" deal from a while ago? I think one of the possibilities of the mod was to turn it into the Fire GL Z1 or X1 (depending on the original card).

Has someone found a software/BIOS crack for this?

That could be another possibilty you might want to consider.
 
Here is how to turn 9700PRO into GL X1:

PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVEN'T TESTED THIS MYSELF AS I DON'T HAVE 9700PRO YET.

But a lot of people have done it with success and a lot (of people) with problems.

From what I understand it is all software modifications - no BIOS flashing or hadrware mods are necessary.

Also, if I remember corectly, once you convert your 9700PRO to X1 (change the drivers) your 3D-Apps performance increases grately BUT your games performance suffers. (Please, double-check that beause I am not 100% sure) If it is so you will need a second installation of Windows for gaming.

The program is called RivaTuner at www.guru3d.com (the menu on the left). It is used mostly for modding nVidia cards but contains the Radeon mods too. It is made by a guy named "Unwinder".

The forum specific to RivaTuner is HERE.

Have fun.
 
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definitely go pro card on this one... i use maya, 3dsmax, and bryce all the time and i wish everyday i had invested in a pro card.. *or a convertable one*
 
If he is ever planning on playing any games on that pc, he should really invest in a standard vid card. I'm sure he isn't going to be using 3d apps the entire time on his pc. I've used my geforce 2 ultra and this ati 9700 on autocad and it works just fine. Of course 3d performance does take a hit (at college i use autocad 2004 with some workstation vid card and performance was incredible). Its your friends call. Sacrifice game performance or sacrifice 3d app performance. Either way i'm sure he'll be happy.
 
A pro card would be well worth it. I don't know much about them, but this and this would most likely have no issues with either playing games or Maya.
 
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