Looking for a way to have Rhino 7 raytrace render with installed Nvidia A4000 GPU/s.
Under Properties, Rhino Options, Cycles, Device Settings the GPUs are not recognized under the Cuda tab. The only option given is to use the CPU.
Hardware: Lenovo p620 with 2 Nvidia RTX A4000s.
Software: the latest version of Rhino 7, Windows 11, and Nvidia drivers (472.84) are installed.
Rhino 7 does appear to be recognizing and using the GPU for the viewport in OpenGL mode. When going to the Document Properties, Rhino Options, View menu, it shows the following under Video Hardware & Driver Information:
Hmm, I will have to put in the A4000 again to test, but I am sure it was recognized when I last tested it. Mind you, this is on Windows 10 - my machine does not support Windows 11.
At least the A5000 and A6000 currently in my machine work like a dream.
Are you using the Studio Driver or the Game Ready Driver?
Windows 10.0.19044 SR0.0 or greater (Physical RAM: 32Gb)
Computer platform: DESKTOP
Standard graphics configuration.
Primary display and OpenGL: NVIDIA RTX A6000 (NVidia) Memory: 48GB, Driver date: 9-13-2021 (M-D-Y). OpenGL Ver: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 472.12
> Accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Windows Main Display attached to adapter port #0
- Secondary monitor attached to adapter port #1
Secondary graphics devices.
NVIDIA RTX A4000 (NVidia) Memory: 16GB, Driver date: 9-13-2021 (M-D-Y).
> Accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- There are no monitors attached to this device!
NVIDIA RTX A5000 (NVidia) Memory: 24GB, Driver date: 9-13-2021 (M-D-Y).
> Accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- There are no monitors attached to this device!
Intel(R) HD Graphics 630 (Intel) Memory: 1GB, Driver date: 9-5-2020 (M-D-Y).
> Integrated graphics device with 3 adapter port(s)
- Secondary monitor attached to adapter port #0
OpenGL Settings
Safe mode: Off
Use accelerated hardware modes: On
Redraw scene when viewports are exposed: On
Graphics level being used: OpenGL 4.6 (primary GPU’s maximum)
Anti-alias mode: 4x
Mip Map Filtering: Linear
Anisotropic Filtering Mode: High
Vendor Name: NVIDIA Corporation
Render version: 4.6
Shading Language: 4.60 NVIDIA
Driver Date: 9-13-2021
Driver Version: 30.0.14.7212
Maximum Texture size: 32768 x 32768
Z-Buffer depth: 24 bits
Maximum Viewport size: 32768 x 32768
Total Video Memory: 49140 MB
Rhino plugins that do not ship with Rhino
D:\Dev\Rhino\rhino-developer-samples\cpp\x64\Debug\SampleRealtimeRenderer.rhp “SampleRealtimeRenderer”
C:\Program Files\Bongo 3.0 (64-bit)\Rhino6\Bongo.30.rhp “Bongo 3.0”
C:\Users\Nathan\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\7.0\Plug-ins\Crayon (43f0446f-00a7-4ff3-864f-0d3af5e47e2b)\1.0.7751.36916\Crayon.rhp “Crayon” 1.0.0.0
C:\Program Files\Doliwa Workshop\Rhino Nature\Rhino Nature.rhp “Rhino Nature” 1.0.0.19879
C:\Users\Nathan\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\packages\7.0\IntelDenoiser\0.6.4\IntelDenoiser.Windows.rhp “IntelDenoiser.Windows” 0.6.4.0
C:\Users\Nathan\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\packages\7.0\NVIDIADenoiser\0.4.3\NVIDIADenoiser.Windows.rhp “NVIDIADenoiser.Windows” 0.4.3.0
C:\Users\Nathan\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\packages\7.0\SubstanceImporter\2.0.2\Substance.Win.rhp “SubstanceImporter” 2.0.2.0
I use RTX A4000 or A5000 for my Zbook 17 G6 as eGPU without issue. Rhino 7 works well with any of them.
My other system (HP Z820) was having issues for month’s but apparently, I managed to find out that some Windows 10 updates causing it.
It could probably one or some Windows 10 updates messing up with your computer. Addressing this potentials could take some time. Try to update it manually through ISO downloads to 20H2 or 21H1, or the latest.
UPDATE: I re-tested the RTX A4000 as the virtual workstation from my Lenovo P40 on HP Zbook 17 G6 host. Rhino worked and recognized the A4000 as well. I believe there’s nothing wrong with A4000.
Nice 3 GPUs, Nathan Hoping to get another A5000 so I could set NVLINK between the A5000s in the near future for the Z820, and let the A4000 serves my Zbook 17
Really appreciate the info, Nathan. I would simply remove the NVLINK bridge when using Rhino with the Z820, when the A5000 arrived. It could possibly be next year.
Whoa! That’s surely like me when doing some hardware research stuffs I see that the A4000 is being supported by “unique” paper box
FYI. Just updated the latest Studio branch driver for both Quadro T1000 and RTX A4000. Both are recognized in the virtual workstation too and working as usual in Rhino.
Check your NVidia Control Panel settings under the “Manage GPU Utilization”… and make sure it’s set to “User for Graphics and compute needs” (see pic).
So if then even the latest “third Generation NVLink” is not supported in Cycles Rendering then what hardware / configuration would you suggest would be best to connect / install say two Nvidia RTX A6000 GPUs to obtain the best GPU performance from these cards for Cycles Renderiing?
NVLink isn’t for CUDA rendering, it’s for machine-learning-type stuff where the thousands of cores need to actually talk to each other(well that’s the sales pitch anyhow,) or stuff like driving a wall of displays in OpenGl.
Thank you so much for your advise, expertise, explanation and help. I appreciate it. So then the same would apply if you installed 3 cards etc. ? correct ?( Assuming the Motherboard and CPU can support X number of cards- via I believe the latest PCIe 5.0 lanes and there are enough slots on the Motherboard.) I am sorry to have to ask but this “next generation” of rendering capabilities looks very promising but it is also quite expensive.
So I (it just about goes without stating) want to leverage the technology to the fullest extent possible and do so avoiding costly mistakes. And certainly do not want to configure the system whereby I unwittingly make the system unstable- the worse case scenario.
I suspect you both know the feeling: a file / model you are working on and have been “poring your heart and soul” into crashes. One’s system is set up so you get most of your work back and or you have a recently saved out / backed up version of it but still in the “back of your mind” you wonder if there has now been introduced some file corruption (or I believe you can get a warning about this possibility) ? So maybe one saves out a new version of the recovered file and moves on - hoping for the best; or depending on the circumstance, goes back to the last saved out version.
As you can see I am not very knowledgeable about the hardware technicalities so I am sorry if I am stating the issues with incorrect terminology etc.
To support multiple GPUs you naturally have to ensure that for instance your power supply unit (PSU) can deliver the power required for your entire system. I have a 1000W PSU in my system, I couldn’t run this on a 650W PSU under full load. Also the CPU, motherboard, cooling systems etc need power, so factor those all in.
I don’t worry much about file corruption, as I don’t create Rhino projects like that, but it is always a good idea to make regular backups of your project files, especially if they are mission critical. How you would do that is up to you. Rhino files I want to keep safe and accessible I generally put on my Google Drive, but any cloud service could be fine. Better yet would be some NAS, but I don’t have the room for that. The gist of it all is: use a backup system that works for you.
I think the biggest difference I saw on the list is the OS. I use windows 10 on all machines as there are reports of issues for Windows 11, so Windows 10 would probably be still the best for me. @nathanletwory is using Windows 10 as well.
Microsoft released some updates on functionalities and fixes for Windows 11. You may want to check your windows update.
I remember experiencing some issue with graphics (both quadro/rtx A and firepro/radeonpro) with Windows 10 her 17xx. The issue went away after updating it to 19xx. And now my machines carry 20H2 update, and running fine.
Well the first question is where are you even finding RTX A6000s?
Those are getting into the price realm where maybe you shouldn’t be trying to DIY it unless you are an experienced PC builder, or at least know enough to know there are better places to ask for help–everyone here just uses Rhino or codes it, that doesn’t make any of us PC hardware authorities!–I don’t know if it’s even feasible to find those things outside of an OEM. If they aren’t getting enough power, if something isn’t configured right, you aren’t going to be getting your money’s worth. I remember some years ago when I had a 9-5 job we DIY’d a monster dual Xeon software rendering rig, and it maybe saved us a few bucks, but it took forever for all the parts to arrive and it’s a little bit scary when you have to troubleshoot why one of the $3000 CPUs on the $1200 motherboard isn’t recognized(it just wasn’t seated right…which was also alarming!)if you don’t have extra compatible hardware just lying around to swap out for testing.
Yes, I did read all of your posts and tried to pay keen attention to them. So I am so very sorry if my post expressed otherwise.
But what prompted me to inquire further as I did was because I did not know what a PCI riser was (and so I looked it up, likewise for NAS) and so I really was simply trying to clarify matters. And your additional guidance is very much appreciated.
Ideally, I would like to do all of the rendering within Rhino and not have to use a rendering plug-in. I think that your team and you are and will continue to innovate to make Rhino rendering ever so more robust. So I am just trying ensure that the GPU power I have in a machine can be / will be used by Rhino Render as effectively as possible.
Now I do not know if this ideal situation will ultimately be possible but I am optimistic that it will i.e. I read in another of your posts that Caustics is not supported ( if I understood correctly) but maybe that is not important for me or this will change ?
Thank you for the information. It is appreciated. I am running the 21H2 version but with a Quatro P4000 card - and Rhino runs fine- but it is looking like it time to start to plan the configuration of my next machine. So it’s clear what “caught my eye” about this tread / topic.
Hoping to get another A5000 so I could set NVLINK between the A5000s in the near future for the Z820, and let the A4000 serves my Zbook 17 
