new machine render time

[btrusty]

using just the simple project example in 2011
revit 2011 wu2
default 3d view
default custom quality (from project)
printer 150dpi resolution

old machine - dell precision pws 390
core2duo e6700
dell mobo
4gb ddr2 667 (pc2-5300)
quadro 3400/4400
hitachi 80gb 7200rpm sata
win7 x64

new machine - custom build
i7 870
gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 P55
8gb (2x 4gb) ddr3 1600 (pc12800)
geforce gtx 460, 1gb
wd black 1tb 7200rpm sata6
win7 x64

OLD: 7:45 minutes
NEW: 2:30 minutes

3.1 increase in speed (310% increase!!)

more stats as i do them...

[iru69]

I'm very interested to know how that GTX460 works out for you. Please post your experience when you've had a chance to use it for a while.

[ron.sanpedro]

I'm very interested to know how that GTX460 works out for you. Please post your experience when you've had a chance to use it for a while.

IRU69, some more data points. We have been using GTS250s and GTX460s for a few months now. The latter are for new machines with better PSUs, the former are for upgrading existing machines which have weaker PSUs but also have GeForce 8600GT cards that desperately need upgrading.
Thus far both cards are working perfectly with all three of the latest nVidia drivers. No problems with graphic anomalies, hardware accelerated functionality or Revit/OS stability. And the GTX460s are so fast that some people have taken to working extensively in Realistic views, as well as Shaded w/ Edges & Shadows & Ambient Occlusion. Medium size school projects with LOTS of modeled detail.

The GTX460 (2GB version) is only $230, and while I don't think there is a Quadro that uses the GF104 GPU yet, when it comes out it will probably cost 5-10 times as much, and offer squat for better performance in Revit. Quadro is like the ridiculous jacked up rates for business phone service. I think the mentality is "Well, they can take it as a write off, so charge them all you can". Come to think of it, that is probably why Revit costs $5000!

Gordon

[Munkholm]

Gordon. If I could buy Revit for "only" 5000 USD, I would´nt have to worry about the pricetag on the graphiccards
(a Revit license is about 10000 USD "over here")

But thanks for the info on the GTX460

[Henry D]

(a Revit license is about 10000 USD "over here"

That's absurd...I'd really like to hear Autodesk explain why they charge 2x for the same product in Denmark . It's not as if they have any shipping costs .

[iru69]

Hey Gordon, thank you so much for that info! Great to hear as well.

Curious if you tried both cards in the same system to see if you could tell a difference... I'm wondering at what point does it become overkill.

[ron.sanpedro]

Hey Gordon, thank you so much for that info! Great to hear as well.

Curious if you tried both cards in the same system to see if you could tell a difference... I'm wondering at what point does it become overkill.

We did indeed. Two users, tested both cards, switched, switched back, and then back to old cards. Consensus was that both where a HUGE upgrade from GeForce 8600/Quadro FX1700 performance, and while the 460 was faster than the 250, it was not so much faster that we wanted to push for an upgrade of both the card and the PSU for old machines. But it was enough separation that it was worth specing the 460 for new machines. Basically, on our projects, both make shadows/ambient occlusion viable at all times. Really helps early on when the model is basically white foam core. And the 460 was allowing the designer who was testing to work on interior 3D views with Realistic materials. We considered making the 460 a "designer" spec and the 250 the "production" spec, but we really want everyone taking on a design mentality, so we pushed for the extra funds to make all new machines i7-870s/8Gb/GTX560/SSD machines. Sweet. Not iMac sweet, but at least a nice spec.

Gordon