graphic card advice for 3dmax and autocad

[blue_heart]

i built a system 2 months ago with the following specifications: -

AXP 1700+
Soltek Sl-75DRV2
2x256mb PC2100
seagate barracuda VI 40gb
3d hercules KYRO II 32mb graphic card
win2k SP2

the system is currently using for autocad and 3dmax, unfortunately we are getting crashes under 3dmax after working for 2-3 hours (in both setups {direct3d and opengl}), and i think this is becasue of the graphic which can not do well in such applications. other than that the computer is perfect and very stable and no issues in autocad

the cpu temp is normal (45-50c) (room temp 28-30c) and it is not going more than that temp and i am 100% sure it is heating issue but most probably the graphic card.

therefore please advice how to solve this problem and if buying new card will solve this problem i will buy i.e. geforce 3 or 4, i think ATI8500 have driver issue therefore i do not want to buy it and face the same problems.

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[bront]

If it's a heat problem, try adding an extra case fan. Run MBM 5 on your system and get a log of heat, so you can track it till you crash. It will also log power, but I think Heat is a more likely culpret.

As far as new cards, the 8500 does not have driver issues anymore, and is constantly becomign a better deal with newer and better drivers (Rumored 40% speed increase in the next driver release under OpenGL)

I do not like it Tom you see,
I do not like green PCB.

 

[blue_heart]

i am sure it is not heat issue, i run prime95 for more than 1 hour and the temp was on 51 (room temp 28-30c) and i do have front and back fan.
i am sure the problem is graphic card as i heard from other users lately that KYRO II is not that good performer in 3dmax.

i am thinking to get geforce4 as long as it has a good driver to run with AMD platforms and under win2k, also the ATI in the place i live in is not available, only geforce but i can order one from another country even if i had to pay more for taxes, but i need a stable system and good results from the card i am going to buy

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[williamc]

The Nvidia Quadro series of cards is pretty much the only affordable solution for high end graphics work and is certified for both of those platforms, The Elsa Synergy series of Quadro 2 cards is still widly avaiable right now, Quadro 4's are really really hard to get as Elsa is struggling to stay alive in Europe right now. There are no other makers of really good cards for this i know of. If you want to stick with a consumer card though i'd recommend a GeForce 4 TI card as it has all the same features as the quadro 4, just does a few of em in software instead of hardware the way i understand it.

Bottom line is, the Quadro 2 and Geforce 3 Ti's, 4 Ti's and Quadro 4's are the cards to use for 3ds max etc....

Oh yea, and Kryo II would be about the worst possible card on the market for it right now....
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by williamc on 03/13/02 01:55 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[flamethrower205]

Quadro 2 is old, and not too great in the sense it lacks the new technology. Get a GF4, and when the hack arrives, convert to Quadro 4.

Sig of the week.

 

[blue_heart]

thanks for the advice.

i am note sure if i will be able to get the quadro 4, even i do not know what the price is (if someone have an idea then please let me know).

i can buy the geforce4 ti4600 since it will not crash anymore, however i asked another guy who is working on on 3dmax too, they have 2 systems P4 1.7 and dual PIII 1gh, and he said that they are facing the same problem, sometimes the 3dmax closes itself and sometimes after working for hours and making a load and adding more objects so the program crashs, he said that this is normal also he said that they are not setting the program to work on hardware, they set it to work on software because of the cardsm he said to rid on this problem you need a special graphic card where the price is about US$1500, as he says even the geforce wont help. btw they use funny card tnt and savage 4, loooooool and for this readon they are getting the same problem

i am not sure how much correct this guy is, and i do not want to spend $400 and then facing the same problem, i need a clear reply, does geforce 4 ti4600 will solve my problem?

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[williamc]

The Geforce isnt certified for use with 3dsmax, The Quadro's are, they do however use the same chipset, and have basically the same features. Quadro 4's do run right around $1500. The Quadro DCC is around 900 i believe, look on www.nvidia.com they have a page linked off of the quadro page where you can see places that sell the card. The Quadro 2 might be a little old now, but that just means its really affordable...and hey, its still about the only thing certified for 3dsmax and autocad. All that's listed on their site. The TI 4600, i am assuming, would work in place of a Quadro 4 because its basically the same thing with a few of the hardware features disabled and forced to run in software mode.

 

[blue_heart]

thanks williamc.

so the geforce4 ti4600 will work without crash, but is it certified? if so then i will buy it and shut my problem

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[williamc]

its not certified but it "should" work fine. Read about it on www.nvidia.com if you want more info.

 

[blue_heart]

i went to www.3dmax.com to check the certified cards, but i only found card benchmarks, is there any link can help me finding the certified cards for 3dmax?

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[flamethrower205]

The quaros are made to run w/ 3ds max, and that's actually one of their optimizations and purposes. The GF, although not officially recognized, will run 3ds max just fine. The crashing problems you are experiencing are definetly wierd, and shouln't be happening on win2k, regardless of scene complexity. On win98, that happens, but it really shouln't on win2k. You know, the GF series can be converted to Quadros, and there is a hardware method to convert it to a Quadro 4. It'll run basically just as well as a real quadro, and you can use maxtreme, which is really awesome. I used to do that w/ a GF2 Pro, but then got a real Quadro DCC.

Sig of the week.