Nvidia geforce video card

Rhino Windows Hardware
1

I need to buy a new notebook. I have two choices for graphic/
video card:

  1. nvidia geforce 840M (less expensive)
  2. nvidia geforce GTX 860M (more expensive)
    I would like to know which is the best to run rhinoceros 5 or better if both are ok for Rhino.

Thanks for help

Sonia

2

Hi Sonia,
Both cards will do fine, but I am not sure how much better the 860 would perform in Rhino. 4xx, 6xx, 7xx and 8xx Geforce cards are limited on pure mesh redraw, so if you work with lots of meshes or heavy laser scan meshes then go for the Quadro.

What kind of projects are you using Rhino for?

-Jørgen

3

Thanks for your answer. My idea is to make jewels/bijoux that can be printed with 3d printers. I am starting studying rhinoceros now. I prefer to use a notebook at the moment because I am travelling alot. So you confirm that both are ok so I can buy also the cheepest one the geforce 840m or you think it is better to make an effort and buy the gtx 860M ?
Thanks

Sonia

4

Well, it’s a difficult question, on one side it is always good to have the fastest possible, but on the other hand it’s good to save cash… BUT the 860M has 2GB of Vram, and that is more future proof. The 860M seems to be about 30% faster, and that is not a lot in real life. Can you send some more info about the machines? And what is the price difference?

In example I have a laptop with a 330M that I use a lot. On my workstation I have a Quadro 4000. Both are outdated, yet both works very fine. On the laptop I have to hide more stuff, but not that much, as Rhino is (a software) bottleneck.

Personally I would eat noodles for a week if I could go for the 2GB 860 instead of the 1GB 840. Even though my laptop with the 330M only has 512 MB Vram… Not much help, I know :wink:

5

The two notebook are both Acer Aspire VN7-791 G - Computer B cost 200 euro more.
I write only the major characteristics:

Both have:
Intel Core I7-4710HQ 2,50 Ghz
Windows 8.1
Display full HD
Display LCD technology TFT

Differences: A versus B

Memory: 8 gb vs 16 gb
Graphich card: Geforce 840 M vs Geforce GTX 860M
HDD SATA: 1 Tb vs 2 Tb

I would like a product that can last for a while and is more efficient possible (not only for Rhinoceros).

Do you think that 200 euro is worthwile for Acer B after seeing the different characteristics ?

Thanks and regards,

Sonia

6

From what I could find Acer uses the 2GB version of the 840M, so that evens them out a bit.
Regarding 16GB vs 8 GB RAM, it is nice to have IF you use more than 8GB ram. If you never use more than 6GB then it is no difference if you have 2 or 10 GB extra. (If you have many instances of Rhino open, or many programs at the same time, or many large photos open in Photosho, then you’ll benefit from the 16GB version)

1 vs 2 TB HDD, same as above. 2TB can be nice to have if you do a lot of video editing or otherwise need to store much data on the laptop. But remember to back up! And don’t drop the machine… I converted to SSD after crashing a HDD after a drop. So now the laptop only has a 160 GB SSD and I store the files I need on the cloud, or on a USB stick.

So with all that said, I can not recommend spending the extra 200 unless you want to. I would spent it, as the graphiccard is potentially a bit faster and the extra RAM could be nice. But I am no student.

7

I forgot to write that Acer says regarding the graphic video card that:

840 M capacity graphic memory dedicated is up to 2gb - DDR3Vram
GTX 860M capacity graphic memory dedicated is up to 4 gb - GDDR5SDram

Do you think there is an important difference between the two ?

For the memory If I buy the costless one I would upgrade to 16 gb because I use a lot of graphic programs (Photoshop etc…)

For the HDD is ok also 1 TB .

Thanks again Jorgen

8

Well, if you are going to upgrade anyway, then I recommend going for the bigger one.

There are lots of laptops on the market, make sure you get one you like. Get one with a screen that inspires you. I bought a Sony that had “everything” I wanted, it was expensive and I really tried to love it. BUT it was noisy and the screen was dull… everything I did on it seemed boring. So I returned it and got an even more expensive MAC that I run Windows 7 on. I have had it for 4 years, and I still love it. It has it’s limitations, but I am ok with them. Because I like working with it. Now I would probably bought a different machine, but I don’t really need one…

So that is about all I can say, it is up to you. If you want to save some cash then go for the “lesser one” and be happy with it. Or spend the extra money and be happy with that… :smile:

Good luck!

9

Thanks :smiley:

10

It’s probably too late anyway, and second, it may have been my personal lack of luck there, but I once bought an expensive 4core i7 Acer laptop with all the whistles, and it run two years without being used more than two hours a day, and then it went blank. Bang. Dead. Not the powersupply, juice was there, no reset helped. And, of course shortly after the warranty had run out. Never ever again Acer. It’s a mass consumer product’s company. I’d prefer a used Lenovo or the like to a cheaply manufactured new machine. Just my half cent…

steff