Improvement in CUDA performance?

I have the opportunity to replace an older nVida GeForce 8800GT video
card with a new nVidia GTX470. Is there a website or other source where
I can predict what type of improvement I should expect in Cuda-based
processing. I am specifically interested in knowing how video rendering
programs like TMPGExpress, ProShow Gold, or other such software improve
with the substitution of the newer video card.

Thanks in advance for any opinions and suggestions!

Smarty wrote:
I have the opportunity to replace an older nVida GeForce 8800GT video
card with a new nVidia GTX470. Is there a website or other source where
I can predict what type of improvement I should expect in Cuda-based
processing. I am specifically interested in knowing how video rendering
programs like TMPGExpress, ProShow Gold, or other such software improve
with the substitution of the newer video card.

Thanks in advance for any opinions and suggestions!

http://groups.google.com.kh/group/al...79cf3138870692


--
Vincenzo Mercuri

Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:

Smarty wrote:
I have the opportunity to replace an older nVida GeForce 8800GT
video card with a new nVidia GTX470. Is there a website or other
source where I can predict what type of improvement I should expect
in Cuda-based processing. I am specifically interested in knowing
how video rendering programs like TMPGExpress, ProShow Gold, or
other such software improve with the substitution of the newer
video card.

Thanks in advance for any opinions and suggestions!

http://groups.google.com.kh/group/al...cards.nvidia/b
rowse_thread/thread/5f79cf3138870692

Thank you very much Vincenzo. The thread you cite was my earlier
attempt to speed up rendering, which ultimately turned out successfully
by adding a SpursEngine cell co-processor card in a PCI-e slot I had
available, yielding about a 2.6X improvement with some programs such as
TMPGExpress 4 in rendering time.

The next "leap" will be the CUDA speedup of about 2X based on the link
you cited based on a GPU improvement from the current 8800GT to the
GTX470. This is a very substantial gain, and comes at far less cost
than performing a CPU upgrade to achieve similar speed improvements in
rendering.

Thanks once again for your assistance.

Smarty wrote:
Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:

Smarty wrote:
I have the opportunity to replace an older nVida GeForce 8800GT
video card with a new nVidia GTX470. Is there a website or other
source where I can predict what type of improvement I should expect
in Cuda-based processing. I am specifically interested in knowing
how video rendering programs like TMPGExpress, ProShow Gold, or
other such software improve with the substitution of the newer
video card.

Thanks in advance for any opinions and suggestions!

http://groups.google.com.kh/group/al...cards.nvidia/b
rowse_thread/thread/5f79cf3138870692

Thank you very much Vincenzo. The thread you cite was my earlier
attempt to speed up rendering, which ultimately turned out successfully
by adding a SpursEngine cell co-processor card in a PCI-e slot I had
available, yielding about a 2.6X improvement with some programs such as
TMPGExpress 4 in rendering time.

The next "leap" will be the CUDA speedup of about 2X based on the link
you cited based on a GPU improvement from the current 8800GT to the
GTX470. This is a very substantial gain, and comes at far less cost
than performing a CPU upgrade to achieve similar speed improvements in
rendering.

I got your point, but I can suggest you not to buy a GTX470.
It's a waste of money for now. Just wait, and NVIDIA will come
out with something better from every point of view.
For example, GTX460 represents a far better technology.
Always distrust NVIDIA "new entries", wait them to revise
their "draft video cards", so you can put your hands on
something more reliable.


--
Vincenzo Mercuri

Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:


Always distrust NVIDIA "new entries", wait them to revise

I meant, wait for them (nvidia folks) to revise...

--
Vincenzo Mercuri

Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:

Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:


Always distrust NVIDIA "new entries", wait them to revise

I meant, wait for them (nvidia folks) to revise...

Thanks for your advice and comments Vincenzo. I am not in a big hurry,
and will wait to see what nVidia offers next. The GTX 470 is expensive,
and I would very much like to buy a card which ONLY improves CUDA
performance since I do not play video games or use other features of
the GPU in the same way that a gaming enthusiast requires. Maybe there
is some way to get a big CUDA increase without spending a lot of money.

Thanks again!

Smarty wrote:

Thanks for your advice and comments Vincenzo. I am not in a big hurry,
and will wait to see what nVidia offers next. The GTX 470 is expensive,
and I would very much like to buy a card which ONLY improves CUDA
performance since I do not play video games or use other features of
the GPU in the same way that a gaming enthusiast requires. Maybe there
is some way to get a big CUDA increase without spending a lot of money.

Thanks again!

You are welcome. I think GTX460 is the way to go.
And it's very likely that NVIDIA will release GTX475 and GTX485
with major improvements to the earlier video cards.
If GTX485 will be released you'll get the entire GF100 enabled.
This means 512 actually working stream processors.
(that means the best CUDA improvement yet, on single GPUs).
They also rumor of a GTX490 with a dual-GPU inside...

http://videocardz.com/nvidia/geforce-400/geforce-490gtx

http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...i-feature-set/

Anyway, even in this case, read as many reviews as you can
before buying. Some of them could have
serious problems. I happened to hear that some GTX470
and GTX480 have burnt brandnew motherboards.

Let's wait and see.

Cheers






--
Vincenzo Mercuri

Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:

Smarty wrote:

Thanks for your advice and comments Vincenzo. I am not in a big
hurry, and will wait to see what nVidia offers next. The GTX 470 is
expensive, and I would very much like to buy a card which ONLY
improves CUDA performance since I do not play video games or use
other features of the GPU in the same way that a gaming enthusiast
requires. Maybe there is some way to get a big CUDA increase
without spending a lot of money.

Thanks again!

You are welcome. I think GTX460 is the way to go.
And it's very likely that NVIDIA will release GTX475 and GTX485
with major improvements to the earlier video cards.
If GTX485 will be released you'll get the entire GF100 enabled.
This means 512 actually working stream processors.
(that means the best CUDA improvement yet, on single GPUs).
They also rumor of a GTX490 with a dual-GPU inside...

http://videocardz.com/nvidia/geforce-400/geforce-490gtx

http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...idia-prepares-
to-launch-gtx475-gtx485-with-full-fermi-feature-set/

Anyway, even in this case, read as many reviews as you can
before buying. Some of them could have
serious problems. I happened to hear that some GTX470
and GTX480 have burnt brandnew motherboards.

Let's wait and see.

Cheers

The 2 links you provided are excellent! I have not been following video
card / GPU developments, and these sites are very well informed (as you
are also Vincenzo). They confirm to me the wisdom of waiting to see
what is likely to be a newer and quite possibly much better alternative.

I have not found any way to predict CUDA performance in any of the
readings I have done so far. Is there any benchmark site or other
method to compare the nVidia boards in terms of actual CUDA results? I
am wondering if, for example, a 480 versus a 470 makes much difference
in CUDA, or if the 2X improvement versus my current 8800GT is about as
high as I could currently expect.

Again, thank you!

Smarty wrote:

The 2 links you provided are excellent! I have not been following video
card / GPU developments, and these sites are very well informed (as you
are also Vincenzo). They confirm to me the wisdom of waiting to see
what is likely to be a newer and quite possibly much better alternative.

I have not found any way to predict CUDA performance in any of the
readings I have done so far. Is there any benchmark site or other
method to compare the nVidia boards in terms of actual CUDA results? I
am wondering if, for example, a 480 versus a 470 makes much difference
in CUDA, or if the 2X improvement versus my current 8800GT is about as
high as I could currently expect.


Well it's very difficult to provide such an information since it
depends on the application you want to run. It depends on the
resolution and many other variables. Of course, being GTX470 and GTX480
based on the new Fermi chip they are way faster and better performing than
8800GT. However don't consider video game based benchmarks and rendering
applications benchmark as unrelated, because they both make use of the
stream processors power. I just found benchmarks about video games:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/n...th-the-wait-/9

As you can see, with a resolution of 1280x1024 a GTX470 can beat a
GT8800 from a factor of 1.7X up to 3.0X (this is the
power of the stream processors i.e. the CUDA architecture)

See also http://www.tomshardware.com/us/#redir for the latest news
about the video cards market.

--
Vincenzo Mercuri

Vincenzo Mercuri wrote:

Smarty wrote:

The 2 links you provided are excellent! I have not been following
video card / GPU developments, and these sites are very well
informed (as you are also Vincenzo). They confirm to me the wisdom
of waiting to see what is likely to be a newer and quite possibly
much better alternative.

I have not found any way to predict CUDA performance in any of the
readings I have done so far. Is there any benchmark site or other
method to compare the nVidia boards in terms of actual CUDA
results? I am wondering if, for example, a 480 versus a 470 makes
much difference in CUDA, or if the 2X improvement versus my current
8800GT is about as high as I could currently expect.


Well it's very difficult to provide such an information since it
depends on the application you want to run. It depends on the
resolution and many other variables. Of course, being GTX470 and
GTX480 based on the new Fermi chip they are way faster and better
performing than 8800GT. However don't consider video game based
benchmarks and rendering applications benchmark as unrelated, because
they both make use of the stream processors power. I just found
benchmarks about video games:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/n...480-and-gtx-47
0-6-months-late-was-it-worth-the-wait-/9

As you can see, with a resolution of 1280x1024 a GTX470 can beat a
GT8800 from a factor of 1.7X up to 3.0X (this is the
power of the stream processors i.e. the CUDA architecture)

See also http://www.tomshardware.com/us/#redir for the latest news
about the video cards market.

The comparisons you have provided are very helpful, Vincenzo, and I
once again thank you for your help. I am weighing the alternatives of a
processor upgrade versus a GPU/video card upgrade, given that the only
2 ways to substantially improve my rendering speed for AVCHD video
editing are to either buy a new CPU/motherboard or update the video
card.

My only motive for making this improvement is to shorten the several
hour period typically needed to render the video I am editing. All
other computer activities are fast enough that I mostly likely would
gain very little by a CPU upgrade in other daily tasks. Rendering has
been the extreme 'bottleneck' since I began doing h.264 1920 by 1080
video, and I can only gain any further improvements at this point with
existing software by making either or both of the changes.

A 2X improvement is very worthwhile, and is (coincidentally) about the
same amount of improvement I would see if I replaced this QX9650
quadcore with an i7-980X six-core with some extra. faster RAM. Compared
to the cost involved in such a change, the video card actually seems
like a relatively 'inexpensive' purchase.

I think, in the final analysis, I will wait to see what nVidia does
next, given the references you cited. If a GTX 470 or a 465 becomes
available at some really amazingly low price, I may just buy it and
consider the issue resolved.

Thanks again!