GTX 470...ridiculously cheap

[AbnRanger]

Was just browsing Nvidia cards at "Frys" and this is such a good buy that I thought I should mention it here, in case anyone else is looking at upgrading their video card. Normally Newegg has just about the lowest prices, but I stumbled across this little gem and it is not only way below the norm for this model of card, but has really good reviews as well. It sells for about $300 on Newegg and TigerDirect, but I saw this at Fry's for $219.

http://www.frys.com/product/6434032

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTI3MzQ0MDEwMWh0SGNIbnFhTEdfOF8xMF9sLmpwZw==

http://www.guru3d.com/article/kfa2-galaxy-geforce-gtx-470-review/

And you have overclocking software that comes with the card, to make it easy to perform on par with the next model above it...effectively allowing you to put roughly $100-$200 back in your wallet.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/3288/galaxy_geforce_gtx_470_gc_overclocking/index2.html

3ds Max 2012 is supposed to have iRay, which will use multiple CUDA enabled NVidia cards, so you could stick 2 of these in your case and get a lot of rendering horsepower (finalRender is supposed to have GPU accelerated rendering in it's next release as well)...same with VRay 2. I'm sure iRay will be made available for Maya and Softimage users as well, as it's a new subcomponent of Mental Ray

[michalis]

I may buy this, thanks abnRanger. I can flash it using bootcamp (mac + win7) and use it for OSX too.

[AbnRanger]

I realize I sounded like a salesman, but hey...all of us tech geeks do at times. I thought it was well worth passing on. I was considering the new GTX 580...but the cost to benefit ratio just isn't there. I got a Motherboard that has 2 PCI Express x16 slots (running x16 speeds concurrently), so I wonder if there is any way for 3D Coat to utilize the CUDA cores in both cards, when you have two Nvidia cards installed?

[philnolan3d]

Thanks I really need an upgrade, hopefully they'll still be cheap when I have some money. I normally look at NewEgg too and we don't have Fry's on this side of the country so I never would have thought to look there.

[Calabi]

I have to say cuda is definitely worth it. Got myself a new system with a gtx 460, and voxels fly.

[AbnRanger]

After upgrading, I noticed that the navigation (using a SpacePilot) seems much smoother, but I didn't really see a major difference in brush response. I guess 3DC uses the CPU more, if not exclusively for brush strokes. I'm still not clear where CUDA is involved in Voxel sculpting. The Manual seems to be somewhat vague about CUDA, except to mention that the real benefit is when sculpting using Masks or Materials.

I think anyone with a GTX 260-280 series card could stand to wait a while longer before upgrading, but if you have an 8000-9000 series card, the difference will likely be very substantial. Also, I believe anything in the 400 series below a 460, is actually a 9800 repackaged...just as the gts 250 was.

By the way, this card overclocks very well, and according to the review in the following article, it has more headroom to do so than it's higher-priced sibling - the GTX 480. So, basically, you can get a 480 for almost half the price. I almost never go with a top model. You'll always pay "TOP" dollar for it.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/3288/galaxy_geforce_gtx_470_gc_overclocking/index.html