Graphics Card Advice Needed

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cjd223

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Feb 6, 2016
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Hi, I am a 3D modeler/animator as well as a VFX artist. Programs that I use include are Maya, Mudbox, After Effects, Premiere, and I am learning Photoshop and SpeedGrade.

I built my current PC, a 2 monitor 4K PC, in September 2015 and when I bought a GPU, I bought a Gaming one rather than a workstation PC. I now know that workstation cards are meant for Film purposes, and I want to know what I should do: change my card, or keep it?

The card that is currently in my PC is an MSI GTX 980 http:// while the one that I may be switching to is an Nvidia Quadro M4000 http://

So overall, is using my current Gaming GPU an issue either for now or in the long run? If I do need to change over to a workstation GPU, how good will the Quadro M4000 be?
 
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Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163

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Mar 8, 2015
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Hello,

A gaming card can work just as fine if not better in majority of scenarios on a consumer level. In After Effects, a gaming card is superior, but in Maya (depending on workload), a workstation card is superior. FirePro if graphics intensive, Quadro if CPU intensive.

Regarding your question which is better. Nobody can answer that. Not enough information to go on. Without knowing exact workflow and plugins, nobody will ever be able to answer that question, no graphics card is good at everything.

I primarily create VFX in a program called HitFilm, which favors OpenGL, so the clear winner is a GeForce gaming card. Workstation cards aren't even supported in that application.

Even a GTX 960 is more than enough for After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, etc. But what if I wasn't creating any effects that could be graphics accelerated, would I still benefit from a good GPU? No, not at all, the CPU would render everything else just like it normally would.

For the most part, a Quadro is a waste of money, as FirePro kills Quadro in every price category, though again, if your workload is going to be CPU intensive, then it can be worth it. Just realise that you're no production studio for Hollywood. What I mean by that is that the workloads are very likely to not speed up just by spending more money on a graphics card, pretty much diminishing returns at that point.

With all that said, you'd be surprised by how many people are actually using straight gaming rigs for their professional work. Those that argue stability and drivers are an issue, which is worth spending 3x for to reach the same performance that of a gaming card, probably have no clue what they're talking about.

Bottomline, as long as we don't know your workflow, nobody is ever going to be able to recommend a graphics card for you, it just doesn't work like that. But, also worth noting that FirePro is the king of Maya, so that might be worth looking into.




All the best!
 
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