Photoshop build - nvidia CUDA question

[cugir]

I am building a machine for photoshop and have about $1,200.

I've read that photoshop can take advantage of CUDA type graphic cards including the nvidia Fermi line.

I've seen reports of freezes with the GTX 460 series but the GTX 470 seems to work ok from what I read. The EVGA 470 is also on the wiki but I'm unsure if it supports dual display.
The wiki reads
EVGA -GTX 470 1280mb - Yes - DVI/HDMI iBoot-GE/MultiBeast 3.0/tonymacx86 NVIDIA Update

Does anyone know if the 470 cards improve photoshop performance?

Can I use the less expensive PNY 470 here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

Would one card support dual displays?
Could I use two of these cards at the same time?

My build so far with the recommended ATI card:
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366
GIGABYTE GV-R577UD-1GD Radeon HD 5770 card
i7 960
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 (x2)
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850
Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler
Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe MKNSSDCL60GB-DX 2.5" 60GB SATA II SSD
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD

 

[waffle head]

The MPE CUDA acceleration for CS5 does work on a hack, and for any CS5 build I would definitely recommend a Nvidia card.

The new Nvidia cards might be a bit more difficult to get going on a hack than the latest ATIs, but MacMan has a build with a GTX 470 and has not encountered the 'Fermi Freeze' or any of the other problems others have had with the new Nvidia cards:

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=14260

If you plan to follow MacMan's build you would need to change the motherboard, as he suggests that the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 is perhaps the reason why he has not had the problems others have had with this card.

A cheaper option would be to go with an older Nvidia card. I have a GTX 285 which is a supported card for the MPE in CS5 and works great. The card worked OOB and seems to perform almost as well as the Fermi cards in benchmarks due to the weak Fermi drivers for Mac. The GTX 285 has been discontinued, so you would need to buy one second hand.

You could also look in to other older cards, such as the GTX 260, 9800 GTX or GT 240. These cards aren't supported for the MPE, but there is a hack that would get them working:

http://www.studio1productions.com/Artic ... ereCS5.htm

You shouldn't have any problems getting two displays working, but I'm not sure about SLI.

 

[cugir]

Thanks for the info wafflehead, it is encouraging.

I'd love to order this puppy right now but still have a couple questions..

Do you think the PNY version of the GTX 470 would work with the same hacks as the nvidia 470?

Is the MPE CUDA accceleration in photoshop worth the extra expense and trouble? Where does it help? in screen redraw? resizing actual files? filters? something else?

I may consider sticking with the ATI batmobile card if I need to use the expensive NVIDIA 470 instead of the PNY.
••edit, I guess I should find an invidia instead for photoshop acceleration. my 9800gtx allows 3d acceleration and ATI batmobile may not if I read your post correctly.

 

[waffle head]

If you only use Photoshop from the CS5 suite, then perhaps there's no point going with a card that supports CUDA acceleration as Photoshop doesn't support any native CUDA acceleration. There are some plugins that can use CUDA acceleration though I believe. On the other hand, for Premiere Pro for example, it would be worth it.

If I understand your last post correctly, you already have a 9800 GTX. Why not see how you get on with that card before you splash out on a new one?

As far as the different GTX 470s go, I'm not sure whether they all work as well as each other on hacks. If I were you, and I was going with that card, I would follow MacMan's build to the T and get exactly the same card.

 

[cugir]

Thank you again wafflehead for the great info.

Yes, my main use is photoshop retouching on large files and raw processing in "capture one" which im pretty sure doesn't use the GPU for processing so to speak.

My current 9800 gtx is in my lifehacker build hackintosh and was working great with 2 monitors, one being 1680x1050 and the other a 19" crt at 1160ish...but now I have a second LCD instead running 1920x1080 and now photoshop has very jerky scrolling but only in full screen mode.
I'm using CS3 by choice still but will go to cs5 on the new build.

Wafflehead, can you suggest a new and available card for my photoshop build. I suppose I need one that allows the "enable 3d acceleration" checkbox to work. Is the requirement just open GL support for that? Could I in fact use the ATI card and still get open gl support in photoshop?

I will certainly try my 9800 in the new hack but also need to order another card to make both machines work.

 

[waffle head]

From what I've read in order to enable the 'advanced 3d acceleration features' in Photoshop all you need is a card with 1GB ram and support for OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0

Here is the list of supported cards on Macs from Adobe:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/831/cpsid_8311 ... ID=2159997

I guess as long as you have the latest drivers for any of those cards the GPU acceleration should work.

So if you aren't able to get your 9800 GTX to work properly then maybe you could go with the Gigabyte ATI 5770 Batmobile that a lot of people on this forum seem to get on well with - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15899

It might be worth seeing if someone on here can confirm whether or not the advanced GPU acceleration works in Photoshop on a hack with that card. Perhaps start a thread in the System Usage/Photography section.

 

[cugir]

So i just finished building and testing my new hack with the batmobile card and photoshop cs3 recognizes it and shows GPU acceleration checkbox.


ETA: dual monitors working great and screen redraw is fine and fast even in full screen mode.

 

[Solidww]

Good write up as this the biggest reason I am looking to make another build.

Thanks for all the links.