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need help selecting 2X video cards to speed up rendering

AbnormalPixelsAbnormalPixels Posts: 37
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

please help me verify this is correct below. this is going to be a 2k expense and I would like the community's input if this is a sound decision.

 

i have a GTX980Ti hybrid and it works well https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE8D8ZC5981&Description=980 ti hybrid&cm_re=980_ti_hybrid-_-14-487-144-_-Product

I render in Iray only. However, i wish to improve rendering speed/time. If I understand correctly, I go faster the more CUDA cores to process. Also if I have more ram, it will not need the cpu and render on the video cards gpu only making the render faster.

I have looked at the RTX 2080 series but there are too many mixed reviews. I cannot afford to get this wrong so I am going with what I understand to be tried and true but technically older technology.

I am interested in getting two GTX1080Ti. This will give me 6144 CUDA cores and 12 gb ram each https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE8D7ZM7132

If I understand correctly, instead of 6gb ceiling of the gtx 980Ti now have doubled the ram and max out at 12gb.

my motherboard is an ASUS X99-A and appears to be able to use 2 cards. it states

 

3xPCI expresss 3.0/2.0 x 16 slots (single at x16, dual at x16/16)

I am not using anything else such as a M.2 card that uses the pci lanes.

I have an 800 watt power supply. the card draws 250 watts each. which leaves 300 left over. I have a 2011-v3 cpu that draws 140 watts.

 

My questions are these if buying 2 titans:

1, will my motherboard use the two cards for iray rendering?

2. I believe the only thing I have to do is disable SLI. Is there anything else I need to do?

3. If my system accepts two titans, would you recommend I upgrade my power supply which will be using at least 640 of the 800 watts provided? If so what size?

4. If I cannot afford 2 cards should I spend the money on 1 titan? I only get a few hundred more CUDA cores but I do double the ram and I do not have to upgrade my power supply.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

 

Comments

  • fastbike1fastbike1 Posts: 4,078

    You will have a hard time finding a GTX 1080TI (new or used) for less money than a Fonders Edition RTX 2080 TI direct from Nvidia.

    Studio 4.11 beta seems to be stable for most people and there also seems to be stable 2080 drivers available now.

  • AbnormalPixelsAbnormalPixels Posts: 37
    fastbike1 said:

    You will have a hard time finding a GTX 1080TI (new or used) for less money than a Fonders Edition RTX 2080 TI direct from Nvidia.

    Studio 4.11 beta seems to be stable for most people and there also seems to be stable 2080 drivers available now.

    thanks for the fast input. the cards and drivers for the 2080 seem to be really hit and miss. when you read the reviews on newegg and amazon, I am not confident that they have it stable enough.

    At newegg, I can get two 1080Ti Titans for $1,180.00 each. I just do not want to spend the money for two cards and only one will be used or I have to do additional upgrades that I did not anticipate needing more money. i have limited knowledge of the subject.

    I was looking at this 2080  https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487440 but i did not want to be the first to find out if it was a good card.

  • AbnormalPixelsAbnormalPixels Posts: 37

    this thread is why i am hesitant to use the RTX2080Ti. it seems it is so new the drivers and Daz are still working out the issues.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/314441/rtx-2080-ti-not-working-in-daz#latest

     

    so i am back to the original questions. any input would be helpful

     

    1, will my motherboard use the two cards for iray rendering?

    2. I believe the only thing I have to do is disable SLI. Is there anything else I need to do?

    3. If my system accepts two titans, would you recommend I upgrade my power supply which will be using at least 640 of the 800 watts provided? If so what size?

    4. If I cannot afford 2 cards should I spend the money on 1 titan? I only get a few hundred more CUDA cores but I do double the ram and I do not have to upgrade my power supply.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

  • JamesJABJamesJAB Posts: 1,760
    AbnormalPixels said:

    this thread is why i am hesitant to use the RTX2080Ti. it seems it is so new the drivers and Daz are still working out the issues.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/314441/rtx-2080-ti-not-working-in-daz#latest

     

    so i am back to the original questions. any input would be helpful

     

    1, will my motherboard use the two cards for iray rendering?

    2. I believe the only thing I have to do is disable SLI. Is there anything else I need to do?

    3. If my system accepts two titans, would you recommend I upgrade my power supply which will be using at least 640 of the 800 watts provided? If so what size?

    4. If I cannot afford 2 cards should I spend the money on 1 titan? I only get a few hundred more CUDA cores but I do double the ram and I do not have to upgrade my power supply.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    1. Yes
    2. Do not disable anything, just do not install an SLI bridge between the cards and you will be fine.
    3. Yes I would recommend a larger PSU.... I would probably go with at least a 1000W (keep in mind that you could throw your GTX 980 ti into the bottom PCI-e port to drive your display.
         Follow up question : What CPU do you have installed?  Depending on the CPU ,you have either have 28 or 40 PCI-e lanes on your CPU.
    4. Call me crazy, but honestly with the amount you are looking at spending on those GTX 1080 ti cards...  Here are the options that I would be looking at:
         a. Purchase 1 or 2 (depending on budget and ebay pricing) Nvidia Quadro P5000 cards. (These are productivity oriented GTX 1080 cards with 16GB of VRAM and the price fluctuates from $1100-1500 each on ebay)
         b. Save up a bit more and prepare for the future.  $2500 Nvidia TITAN RTX with 24GB of VRAM (This card includes a NVLink port that allows 2 cards to pool resources and VRAM

  • AbnormalPixelsAbnormalPixels Posts: 37
    JamesJAB said:
    AbnormalPixels said:

    this thread is why i am hesitant to use the RTX2080Ti. it seems it is so new the drivers and Daz are still working out the issues.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/314441/rtx-2080-ti-not-working-in-daz#latest

     

    so i am back to the original questions. any input would be helpful

     

    1, will my motherboard use the two cards for iray rendering?

    2. I believe the only thing I have to do is disable SLI. Is there anything else I need to do?

    3. If my system accepts two titans, would you recommend I upgrade my power supply which will be using at least 640 of the 800 watts provided? If so what size?

    4. If I cannot afford 2 cards should I spend the money on 1 titan? I only get a few hundred more CUDA cores but I do double the ram and I do not have to upgrade my power supply.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    1. Yes
    2. Do not disable anything, just do not install an SLI bridge between the cards and you will be fine.
    3. Yes I would recommend a larger PSU.... I would probably go with at least a 1000W (keep in mind that you could throw your GTX 980 ti into the bottom PCI-e port to drive your display.
         Follow up question : What CPU do you have installed?  Depending on the CPU ,you have either have 28 or 40 PCI-e lanes on your CPU.
    4. Call me crazy, but honestly with the amount you are looking at spending on those GTX 1080 ti cards...  Here are the options that I would be looking at:
         a. Purchase 1 or 2 (depending on budget and ebay pricing) Nvidia Quadro P5000 cards. (These are productivity oriented GTX 1080 cards with 16GB of VRAM and the price fluctuates from $1100-1500 each on ebay)
         b. Save up a bit more and prepare for the future.  $2500 Nvidia TITAN RTX with 24GB of VRAM (This card includes a NVLink port that allows 2 cards to pool resources and VRAM

    thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and provide additional options. I really appreciate it.

    To answer your question, CPU is a 2011-v3 i7-5930k (6 cores) running at 3.5ghz in an Asus X99-A motherboard (which I believe has 40 lanes) 32 gb of corsair dominator ddr4 ram. i do not overclock anything.

    I will take a look at the nvidia quadro p5000 cards. again thank you for taking the time to help.

  • JamesJABJamesJAB Posts: 1,760

    If you go for the single Quadro P5000, I would recommend keeping the GTX 980 ti installed for running your display.

    For the long game since you have a 40 PCI-e Lane CPU.
    You have:
    2 PCI-e 16x slots
    1 PCI-e 8x slot (full length)
    1 PCI-e 8x slot (full length PCI-e 2.0 from the motherboard chipset)

    The Quadro P4000 is a single slot 8GB GPU that's almost as powerful as the GTX 1070
    I would Upgrade the PSU to a 1000W and install 2x Quadro P5000 and 2x Quadro P4000
    (180 + 180 + 105 + 105 + 140) = 710W + (HDDs, RAM, Optical, and Motherboard)

  • kenshaw011267kenshaw011267 Posts: 3,805
    AbnormalPixels said:

    this thread is why i am hesitant to use the RTX2080Ti. it seems it is so new the drivers and Daz are still working out the issues.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/314441/rtx-2080-ti-not-working-in-daz#latest

     

    so i am back to the original questions. any input would be helpful

     

    1, will my motherboard use the two cards for iray rendering?

    2. I believe the only thing I have to do is disable SLI. Is there anything else I need to do?

    3. If my system accepts two titans, would you recommend I upgrade my power supply which will be using at least 640 of the 800 watts provided? If so what size?

    4. If I cannot afford 2 cards should I spend the money on 1 titan? I only get a few hundred more CUDA cores but I do double the ram and I do not have to upgrade my power supply.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    If you can find a 1080ti for less than the cost of a 2080ti then sure buy 2, you're wasting a lot of money but its your money.

    If you are really willing to spend 2k then just get 2 2080's. They will far outperform a single 1080ti and the thread you reference is of someone who didn't initially use the beta. The second problem appears to have been him using older drivers. That issue could just as easily happen to any card if a Daz update requires a certain driver version minimum and you haven't kept up to date and do not simply update your driver when you have a problem.

  • AbnormalPixelsAbnormalPixels Posts: 37
    JamesJAB said:

    If you go for the single Quadro P5000, I would recommend keeping the GTX 980 ti installed for running your display.

    For the long game since you have a 40 PCI-e Lane CPU.
    You have:
    2 PCI-e 16x slots
    1 PCI-e 8x slot (full length)
    1 PCI-e 8x slot (full length PCI-e 2.0 from the motherboard chipset)

    The Quadro P4000 is a single slot 8GB GPU that's almost as powerful as the GTX 1070
    I would Upgrade the PSU to a 1000W and install 2x Quadro P5000 and 2x Quadro P4000
    (180 + 180 + 105 + 105 + 140) = 710W + (HDDs, RAM, Optical, and Motherboard)

    thanks. After the recommendation of the P5000, i did look and consider the P4000 as well.

  • AbnormalPixelsAbnormalPixels Posts: 37
    kenshaw011267 said:
    AbnormalPixels said:

    this thread is why i am hesitant to use the RTX2080Ti. it seems it is so new the drivers and Daz are still working out the issues.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/314441/rtx-2080-ti-not-working-in-daz#latest

     

    so i am back to the original questions. any input would be helpful

     

    1, will my motherboard use the two cards for iray rendering?

    2. I believe the only thing I have to do is disable SLI. Is there anything else I need to do?

    3. If my system accepts two titans, would you recommend I upgrade my power supply which will be using at least 640 of the 800 watts provided? If so what size?

    4. If I cannot afford 2 cards should I spend the money on 1 titan? I only get a few hundred more CUDA cores but I do double the ram and I do not have to upgrade my power supply.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    If you can find a 1080ti for less than the cost of a 2080ti then sure buy 2, you're wasting a lot of money but its your money.

    If you are really willing to spend 2k then just get 2 2080's. They will far outperform a single 1080ti and the thread you reference is of someone who didn't initially use the beta. The second problem appears to have been him using older drivers. That issue could just as easily happen to any card if a Daz update requires a certain driver version minimum and you haven't kept up to date and do not simply update your driver when you have a problem.

    After a test render last night, my heavier rendering is a little less than 4gb of the 6gb of my video card memory and the 980Ti hybrid has 2816 cuda cores. I am not sure how much "faster" I will go if I get a new card with and if it would be worth the money. I think I may wait a few more months and take a look at getting just one good 2080. Thanks again for everyone's help. you have saved me from being impulsive and wasting money.

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