Graphics card problems maybe?

[CADD_OPS]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if this graphics card is sufficient to run VW2012?

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac10,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 4 GB

NVIDIA GeForce 9400:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9400

Type: GPU

Bus: PCI

VRAM (Total): 256 MB

Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

Device ID: 0x0869

Revision ID: 0x00b1

ROM Revision: 3454

Edited October 25, 2011 by CADD_OPS

[CipesDesign]

MInimum recommended VRAM is listed at 512, and 1g is better. Here is an article from the Knowledge Base.

http://kbase.vectorworks.net/questions/714/Video%7B47%7DGraphics+Card+Guidelines+for+Vectorworks+-+9%7B47%7D13%7B47%7D2012

If I had to guess I would say that VW's 2012 will run on your machine, but probably not very well...

[CADD_OPS]

Thank you Peter!

[Kimcz]

I have a Nvidia Quadro FX3500, which is only 256mb of GDDR3. I am using 2012 now, and was using 2011. I have Architect but not Render. I will not be using any of the Render features which are hungry for videocard memory. I understand that 256mb is ok unless you use Render. Would 516 mb improve the speed of regen? I obviously don't want to change unless there would be a big improvement.

[Kimcz]

I have a Nvidia Quadro FX3500, which is only 256mb of GDDR3. I am using 2012 now, and was using 2011. I have Architect but not Render. I will not be using any of the Render features which are hungry for videocard memory. I understand that 256mb is ok unless you use Render. Would 516 mb improve the speed of regen? I obviously don't want to change unless there would be a big improvement.

[CipesDesign]

As I understand it (I hope Dave D will correct me if I'm wrong) only Open GL rendering relies on the GPU whereas Renderworks rendering relies on the CPU...

And yes, more GPU Memory will decrease screen redraw times and Open GL speed. I assume it would be a fairly proportional improvement...

[Kevin McAllister]

After having worked with Vectorworks 2012 for a few days I suspect that you may be unhappy with only 256mb of video ram. My Macbook Pro has 512mb of video ram and seems fine for most things. However a couple of large imported PDFs and some geometry heavy models have caused some strobing with the redraws.

Kevin

[Jonathan Pickup]

512 min, 1GB better.

I think in the future, we will be looking at a 1GB min VRAM, so when you are thinking about that new computer, study the VRAM closely.

[Damon Design]

Yep,

I'm finding my 256mb of VRAM a bit sluggish, with odd graphics behavior and such on my now seemingly out of date just two-three+ year old machines. Hate that. Do not have the money to upgrade, and machines (IMac/Powerbook) cannot easily be upgraded with a just new video card (right?) but definitely will go for the 1GB when I do.

[Kimcz]

I can't say that all sluggish problems are over, but I upgraded to a NVidia Quadro FX 580 512MB card, and the usability of VW2012 is much improved and a lot more immediate. Editing groups is good; editing symbols much better, but not perfect; worksheet regen, when there are multiple viewports on the same sheet,is almost acceptable. On the whole I am pleased with the investment, and yes, possibly I should have bitten the bullet and purchased a 1GB board, but I don't use Renderworks. The feedback is, don't try to stagger along with a 256 graphics card. It just leads to frustration.

[taoist]

Peter, you are correct.

Anything other than OpenGL uses the CPU.

CAD (VW) has needed to use the Video cards a lot more for years.

FWIW VW is not the only CAD software that has this issue.

However, some others (CAD software) have realized the need to utilize 64 bit OS's and multi cores for this very reason.

taoist