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GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 10:19 pm
by Ian MacLean
I would love information on what graphics cards integrate with Fusion to provide 'GPU Accelerated Creative Workflow.' Is there a list, or a thread, or a webpage with this information? Thank you.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:00 pm
by Tony Rivera
Here's the link to some system requirements for Fusion.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 9:16 am
by Adam Simmons
I think he was after actual model numbers rather than the vague requirements mentioned in the manual.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:12 pm
by Chad Capeland
Adam Simmons wrote:I think he was after actual model numbers rather than the vague requirements mentioned in the manual.


Either he has a card already, and should just try it, or he's looking to buy, in which case he should just get the best one he can afford. There's issues with both AMD and Nvidia drivers right now, but if I had to choose, I'd do Nvidia. So walk back from an M6000 until you hit the price point that works and fits the system requirements.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 8:44 pm
by Johnny Farmfield
Just generally, Nvidia is the better choice for pro graphics work. Nvidia is way bigger market share than AMD, still, visiting any support forum for any graphics app, you'll find a lot more issues with AMD cards, it's just how it is. AMD is not a good choice for this line of work.

So a good card is a GTX 960 4Gb and above. I currently run a GTX970 4Gb though I might upgrade that with a 6-8Gb VRAM card as I had some issues running out of VRAM messing with Houdini grains- and fluids, else there really is no reason to go for the most expensive GTX cards unless you're doing GPU rendering (Cycles, Octane VrayRT, etc) as the speed increase is negligible even between a GTX 960 and GTX Titan X as it's just not than much running on the GPU in Nuke, Fusion, etc...

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 1:48 am
by Ian MacLean
Thanks guys. I'm nearing endlife on my 2008 mac pro, and thinking about buying new PC. This is great info.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 2:35 am
by Chad Capeland
Ian MacLean wrote:Thanks guys. I'm nearing endlife on my 2008 mac pro, and thinking about buying new PC. This is great info.


If you are interested in doing 10-bit output, GPU Direct interface with BMD products, or quad-buffer stereo, you need a Quadro. I personally love the 10-bit output, it makes it so much easier to detect banding issues in footage. The M4000 is great because it has 8GB, 4 displayport, and is a single slot card. It's pretty amazing for the money. And if you do use a GPU renderer like Octane or iray or Vray RT, two M4000's take up the same space as a single M5000, have 20% more compute power, but cost 17% less. Plus you get 4 more outputs and additional flexibility. The second card won't help you with Fusion, though.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:07 am
by Ian MacLean
Excellent information! I actively hate 3D stereo, but love what you wrote about the banding issues as that's one of the few issues I'd love to stay on top of.

-One issue is that I'm assuming most of these cards have dual output - do they typically, or does it depend? I've got a pair of matte screen 24" Dell 2408's that I like and would like to keep using.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:19 am
by Adam Simmons
If you aren't bothered about 10bit in Fusion you could buy a Titan-X (12GB VRAM, 3072 CUDA Cores) for the same price as a Quadro M4000 (8GB VRAM, 1660 CUDA Cores) which has nearly double the power of the Quadro M4000 when using it in Resolve (I know the OP is also looking at being able to use Resolve on the same system), or you could buy an M4000 as your main GPU and have the Titan-X as the render GPU for Resolve, although it will limit the Titan-X to using 8GB VRAM


The current range of nVidia card usually allow for 3-4 monitors to be connected

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:06 pm
by Johnny Farmfield
Ian MacLean wrote:Excellent information! I actively hate 3D stereo, but love what you wrote about the banding issues as that's one of the few issues I'd love to stay on top of.

-One issue is that I'm assuming most of these cards have dual output - do they typically, or does it depend? I've got a pair of matte screen 24" Dell 2408's that I like and would like to keep using.

These cards at least have dual outputs, often tripple, but they're usually different types, so you likely need a DVI adapter for your second monitor. (with higher end GTX cards, these are often included)

And the Dell monitors are 24 bit, so you will have no benefit from the Quadro 10 BPC output unless you switch displays.

Edit:

And about what Adam said about mixing cards, a Quadro M4000 + a GTX980Ti would be more economical as the GTX980Ti is almost as fast (2880 vs 3096 CUDA cores) as a Titan X though it's 8Gb so you don't pay for 4Gb VRAM you're not gonna use.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:31 pm
by Adam Simmons
Yeah you are right, I was mainly pointing out that the Titan-X is the same price as the Quadro M4000 but a lot more powerful minus the 10bit output

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:47 pm
by Chad Capeland
Adam Simmons wrote:Yeah you are right, I was mainly pointing out that the Titan-X is the same price as the Quadro M4000 but a lot more powerful minus the 10bit output


In the US at least, the M4000 is $200 cheaper. What I like best is the single slot size though. Gets you more total GPUs in your machine, even more important if you have PCI-e SSDs, BMD I/O cards, or HBAs. The M4000 also uses less than half the power, just 120W.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 3:03 pm
by Johnny Farmfield
Don't sweat it, man, you made a great point, I just wanted to add that, as you yourself wrote, seeing the card with the least VRAM set the bar for RAM usage, the 980Ti is a more economical choice before the Titan X as the better part of that (pretty significant) price difference is for the added VRAM... :)

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 3:25 pm
by Adam Simmons
Chad Capeland wrote:
Adam Simmons wrote:Yeah you are right, I was mainly pointing out that the Titan-X is the same price as the Quadro M4000 but a lot more powerful minus the 10bit output


In the US at least, the M4000 is $200 cheaper. What I like best is the single slot size though. Gets you more total GPUs in your machine, even more important if you have PCI-e SSDs, BMD I/O cards, or HBAs. The M4000 also uses less than half the power, just 120W.

There's a reason why it uses less power, that's because it's nearly half as powerful, and from what I can see at newegg the Titan X is around $110 more.
As to getting more cards into your system I've never had any issues getting multiple GPU's as well as BM cards etc into 1 system. If you have to put in nearly 2 Quadro M4000 to get the same power as 1 Titan X or GTx980TI then I don't see the point as you will still be using up 2 slots with the Quadro's

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:49 pm
by Chad Capeland
Adam Simmons wrote:
Chad Capeland wrote:
Adam Simmons wrote:Yeah you are right, I was mainly pointing out that the Titan-X is the same price as the Quadro M4000 but a lot more powerful minus the 10bit output


In the US at least, the M4000 is $200 cheaper. What I like best is the single slot size though. Gets you more total GPUs in your machine, even more important if you have PCI-e SSDs, BMD I/O cards, or HBAs. The M4000 also uses less than half the power, just 120W.

There's a reason why it uses less power, that's because it's nearly half as powerful, and from what I can see at newegg the Titan X is around $110 more.
As to getting more cards into your system I've never had any issues getting multiple GPU's as well as BM cards etc into 1 system. If you have to put in nearly 2 Quadro M4000 to get the same power as 1 Titan X or GTx980TI then I don't see the point as you will still be using up 2 slots with the Quadro's


It's actual more than half as powerful and less than half as much heat, so it's more efficient. How? I don't know, different components maybe? The M4000 isn't cheap compared to a GTX 980, but it has different features that the Quadro brings. And the slot issue is just about efficiency. If you have just 2-3 slots available, you can put in independent GPU's, so one is dedicated for display and the other for compute. It gives a MUCH better user experience than a single GPU. If you never intend to fill out all the slots, or if you don't need any of the Quadro's features, like 10-bit or GPU Direct, then a 980Ti or Titan X is probably the most economical choice.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:44 pm
by Adam Simmons
It has lower temps because it has a much lower memory bandwidth and memory interface, both of which can have an effect on the speed of the card, so unless you need the 10 bit output or the other features on Quadro's you're better of spending you money on a 980TI or Titan X.
You can still use the GTX or Titan as your GUI with not much of a hit on that speed of the card and it will still be a lot faster than the M4000.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:40 pm
by Ian MacLean
You guys are doing all my research for me. It's heaven! The Titan X does have reviews which consistently mention heat. However, if I look at PC builders, some offer water cooling. Can you put a water cooled heatsink on any of these cards, or does that take too much space?

*And you're right about my Dell's not being real 10 bit. Not sure 10 bit replacements will be in my budget any time soon, so not an issue. Thanks again.

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 6:28 am
by Adam Simmons
The GTX 980ti and Titan X have great stock coolers that are designed to vent the hot air straight out the back of the system, so even though you can get watercooled versions there's no real need to unless you are prepared to add in your own pumps and pipes

Re: GPU hardware compatible with Fusion?

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 4:45 pm
by Ian MacLean
You mean fans, yes? I'm worried about the Titan X being noisy, but we're into minutia here. Thanks again for great information.