Cuda Cores VS Stream Processors for 3D rendering

[Superguy4ever]

I haven't seen a thread like this since 2013 and im in need of an answer so i decided to go ahead and ask the LTT community, lets hope i dont regret this when a fanboy war starts XD. Anyways, I'm scouting out parts for a new PC ill be using for Blender 3D modelling (maybe cinema 5D once i get good at it), game making using Unity and Unreal Engine 3 and finally some gaming. My price point makes it so that i can either go a little over budget and grab myself an msi gtx 1060 ($270 on Newegg now  ) or an 8GB rx 480. Im very confused between the two options since i know that 3D rendering depends heavily on Stream Processors(SP for short)/ Cuda  Cores and thats where the Stream Processor vs Cuda Core thing comes. The rx 480 has 2304 SP where as the gtx 1060 has around 1250 Cuda Cores. If stream processors are as effective as cuda cores then it would make more sense to go with the rx 480. I also need help deciding between the two since i dont really know if the core clock or VRAM affects 3D render times. If so, the gtx 1060 would make for a better deal, but the fact that there is no SLI option down the line makes me really hesitate on getting it. The one real problem with the RX 480 is that i heard there are lots of problems with AMD and drivers and stuff since ive never had an AMD computer part. I want to choose something wisely since ill probably be stuck with it for the next 3 to 4 years maybe getting a $250 upgrade in the middle. 

[MattBoxer]

7 minutes ago, Superguy4ever said:

I haven't seen a thread like this since 2013 and im in need of an answer so i decided to go ahead and ask the LTT community, lets hope i dont regret this when a fanboy war starts XD. Anyways, I'm scouting out parts for a new PC ill be using for Blender 3D modelling (maybe cinema 5D once i get good at it), game making using Unity and Unreal Engine 3 and finally some gaming. My price point makes it so that i can either go a little over budget and grab myself an msi gtx 1070 ($270 on Newegg now  ) or an 8GB rx 480. Im very confused between the two options since i know that 3D rendering depends heavily on Stream Processors(SP for short)/ Cuda  Cores and thats where the Stream Processor vs Cuda Core thing comes. The rx 480 has 2304 SP where as the gtx 1060 has around 1250 Cuda Cores. If stream processors are as effective as cuda cores then it would make more sense to go with the rx 480. I also need help deciding between the two since i dont really know if the core clock or VRAM affects 3D render times. If so, the gtx 1060 would make for a better deal, but the fact that there is no SLI option down the line makes me really hesitate on getting it. The one real problem with the RX 480 is that i heard there are lots of problems with AMD and drivers and stuff since ive never had an AMD computer part. I want to choose something wisely since ill probably be stuck with it for the next 3 to 4 years maybe getting a $250 upgrade in the middle. 

Overall the GTX 1070 is a much better GPU, in a tier above so it would dominate the RX 480, unless you are rendering videos where OpenGL/AMD is much faster than most Nvidia GPU's.

[Superguy4ever]

Just now, Mattboxer2000 said:

Overall the GTX 1070 is a much better GPU, in a tier above so it would dominate the RX 480, unless you are rendering videos where OpenGL/AMD is much faster than most Nvidia GPU's.

CRAP! i meant to write the gtx 1060 on the $270 deal on Newegg, my bad ;/ 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Cuda cores are normally faster than SP on amd cards, but there are more SP.

 

Never buy a gpu based on specs(core count, rops, bus width)

 

Just look at benchmarks. Also the 10xx cards aren't supported in blender yet.

 

Normally a good gaming card is good at rendering, and id always suggest nvidia for 3d work as it has much better support(blender has full support on cuda and missing many features on opencl)

 

You can use 2 or more different cards for rendering and you don't use sli/cuda.

[MattBoxer]

Just now, Superguy4ever said:

CRAP! i meant to write the gtx 1060 on the $270 deal on Newegg, my bad ;/ 

No problem, then it is a much closer battle but the extra vram on the RX 480 might help you.  And i do agree with this above. 

[Superguy4ever]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Cuda cores are normally faster than SP on amd cards, but there are more SP.

 

Never buy a gpu based on specs(core count, rops, bus width)

 

Just look at benchmarks. Also the 10xx cards aren't supported in blender yet.

 

Normally a good gaming card is good at rendering, and id always suggest nvidia for 3d work as it has much better support(blender has full support on cuda and missing many features on opencl)

 

You can use 2 or more different cards for rendering and you don't use sli/cuda.

Wait, you're saying i could add a second one and it'll function fine with 3D rendering without having them in SLI mode..??

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Superguy4ever said:

Wait, you're saying i could add a second one and it'll function fine with 3D rendering without having them in SLI mode..??

Yea, you can also mix gens of cards(you can use a 570 and a 1080 together if you want, assuming you have enough vram.

 

If your using opencl, you can mix any device(so you could have a cpu, rx480, a gtx 1080, and a xeon phi all rendering one scene at once.

[MattBoxer]

1 minute ago, Superguy4ever said:

Wait, you're saying i could add a second one and it'll function fine with 3D rendering without having them in SLI mode..??

Yup, since you are just using compute perf.

[Superguy4ever]

Thanks guys