Video card D3D compatibility - Revit 2010 on Vista / Win7

[Wes Macaulay]

Ha! And I'll get to recommend Geforce cards again, LOL

Update: I had used the DriverHeaven MobilityModder utility to allow me to try various versions of the Catalyst driver series, including the latest 9.11 drivers, the 9.8 drivers Autodesk suggests for Acad 2010, and an earlier version. With D3D on in Revit, all of these exhibited similar problems: objects disappeared as you zoom in plan views, and in 3D when zoomed close in to the model. The MobilityModder also allows you to install the FirePro drivers, which I've done. Objects no longer disappear in plans, but they still do in 3D with shadows disabled. With shadows enabled, objects do NOT disappear -- very weird!

So those of you with desktop or laptop Radeon hardware on Vista or 7, you may be able to mod the FirePro drivers and install them with better results than the Radeon Catalyst drivers you are currently using.

[patricks]

There needs to be a "try before you buy" on graphics cards and Revit.

My Quadro FX550 has been working fine in Revit and XP x86 (as long as HWA was kept off in 2010), but now it seems to be the bottleneck on my same system upgraded to Win7 x64 (fresh, clean install on a brand new HDD).

[Wes Macaulay]

No way -- Autodesk actually needs to fix this hardware compatibility problem

We've all tried way too many cards already

That's why I've changed my sig. Professional level software like Revit really ought to have this fixed by now -- wouldn't you think?

[Wes Macaulay]

We've submitted SR on the Radeon 4670, which is having the problem in both of the computers that have them. For those shopping for hardware, I've seen the Radeon 4650 work perfectly, so it's all very strange.

Summary:

• Good: Radeon HD 4650 on Vista32
• Bad: Radeon HD 4670 on Vista32, Win7 64

Everything else I've got is on XP for now...

[twiceroadsfool]

We've submitted SR on the Radeon 4670, which is having the problem in both of the computers that have them. For those shopping for hardware, I've seen the Radeon 4650 work perfectly, so it's all very strange.

Wes, after all the emails you and i sent back and forth while i was fighting with machines here, i filed a support request on the Nvidia Quadro FX570, for XP32 based systems. I even told them in the SR that i didnt even care if they had an *officially supported* driver for the card, that i just simply wanted to know what they were USING.

They offered nothing in response, other than a "we do not have official recommendations for video card drivers for revit."

Although, the machines that have moved to Vista64 with the same Quadro FX570, and the same driver version (albeit for x64) seem to be way more stable.

[KGC]

Anyone using a GTX card? Just built a new machine for home with a GTX 260 core 216, haven't had the chance to play in revit yet or do benchmarks. Ill try and do some benchmarks this week though.

[Wes Macaulay]

Anyone using a GTX card? Just built a new machine for home with a GTX 260 core 216, haven't had the chance to play in revit yet or do benchmarks. Ill try and do some benchmarks this week though.

No -- though I'm hoping people will start posting to this thread with their results.

Aaron, I think the Factory doesn't want to take the heat if someone buys the recommended card and it doesn't work! Plus, who wants to take sides on the vendor wars?

This whole thing is a mess. It's hard to lay the blame on the Factory -- I've got a Radeon 4650 which works great (Vista 32). But the mobile 4670 (Win7 64) and the desktop 4670 (Vista 32) don't work with D3D in Revit -- turning D3D on in Revit on the 4670s makes views slower and causes objects to flicker on and off. So with the same drivers, why does the 4650 work with D3D in Revit, and the 4670 not work?

[Joef]

[quote=It's hard to lay the blame on the Factory [/quote]

Not if you know how! I find it quite easy. I'll send you a tutorial!

[iru69]

It's hard to solely lay the blame on the Factory...

I corrected your statement for you.

To be fair, video card hardware/drivers have their fair share of idiosyncrasies (err, bugs), and it is a frustrating area for software developers. But we've been talking about this for years now - you can't continue to blame the hardware vendors year after year - Revit has a massively disproportionate failure rate compared to other software using DX (and OpenGL before it).

As you know, DX in Revit 2010 was suppose to help with compatibility - the DX APIs are set by Microsoft and the hardware vendors test against that (WHQL certification).

DX is new to Revit and maybe the Factory just needs another year (even if their track record doesn't speak well for things changing for the better).

Anyone using a GTX card? Just built a new machine for home with a GTX 260 core 216, haven't had the chance to play in revit yet or do benchmarks. Ill try and do some benchmarks this week though.

It would be great to know vendor/model and OS and whether it works flawlessly with Revit HWA and your general impressions.

[KGC]

Will do, ill run the RAC and MEP bench tonight. Although last time i tried doing the bench in win7 it wouldnt write the csv file