Hi,
I decided to learn Houdini using a non-commercial license seat, and then completely migrate to Houdini when feel confident. I will buy a new computer for it. However, i do not want to get a quadro yet (high end models are really expensive). I have searched the forum and seen lots of people whining about the problems with the graphic cards. Is there anyone out there who is running H9 Public Beta on a geforce 8xxx series without any problems ? What graphic card should i buy ? I guess i don't have many options there, especially when i elliminate quadro and firegl for now. I definetely won't buy an ati, which leaves the only option geforce, but which one ? Which geforce is stable with H9 ? I also don't want to get an outdated card. Would it be a wiser choice to get a low end quadro instead of a high end geforce (which seems to be about the same price) ? Thanks in advance for all the answers.

I've run H9 on a QuadroFX 1000 (circa ~2002), a GEforce 7800GT (~2005) and a GEforce 8800GTS 320MB (~2007). The only real difference is how they handle tumbling heavy geometry in the viewport. The earlier Quadro was the slowest, the 7800 is pretty fast and so is the 8800. We have also improved the support for ATI FireGL cards in H9 lately, but I haven't run one so I cannot comment on that.

If money is a concern (and those quadro's aren't cheap), you can safely stick to the consumer Nvidia cards. The 7950's are a pretty good deal right now, and offer you more bang for the buck that the 8600.

I would stay away from the GeForce 8 series, there is a nasty issue with the display drivers where displaying points/point numbers/etc will grind the card to a halt on Windows (haven't tested Linux). It causes the display to use the CPU instead of the GPU, dropping you from 100fps to 2fps.

Thanks a lot for the answers, another question just popped in my mind now, i was wondering if Quadro Fx 1500 is a good choice or not ? Is Quadro Fx 1500 or GF 8800 faster ?

I am using QuadroFX 1500 PCIe at home – not a single problem for me so far.
Although I'll be upgrading my system to Vista64 in a few week, so… we'll see what happens as far as the driver goes…

mertyamak
Thanks a lot for the answers, another question just popped in my mind now, i was wondering if Quadro Fx 1500 is a good choice or not ? Is 7950 or the newer 8800 faster than fx 1500 ?

I find the 8800 to be extremely fast, but until someone works out the issue with display points the card is only good for games. If you can afford it go with the Quadro.

Would any Quadro Fx 1500 user share his Houdini experience please ?