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Lambert avatar image
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Lambert asked Lambert commented

Best graphic card for FlexSim?

Hi,

I am thinking about upgrading my hardware setup to improve FlexSim performance.

I am wondering whether I will notice a big increase in performance and smoothness while modelling by purchasing a last gen 2000€ nvidia card. Does FlexSim profit from the capabilities of these last gen card? If so, which card would you recommend? Are nVidia QUADRO cards better for FlexSim?

Also, I've read about RTX mode. Is FlexSim fully compatible? I cannot find it in this list. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/design-visualization/rtx-enabled-applications/

Thank you very much in advance,

Lambert

FlexSim 22.1.0
graphic card
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Ryan Clark avatar image Ryan Clark commented ·

Hi @Lambert, was one of David Seo's or Joerg Vogel's answers helpful? If so, please click the "Accept" button at the bottom of the one that best answers your question. Or if you still have questions, add a comment and we'll continue the conversation.

If we haven't heard back from you within 3 business days we'll auto-accept an answer, but you can always unaccept and comment back to reopen your question.

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3 Answers

Joerg Vogel avatar image
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Joerg Vogel answered Jason Lightfoot edited

FlexSim hardware recommendation in manual:

https://docs.flexsim.com/en/22.1/Reference/SystemRequirements/SystemRequirements.html#recommended

activating RTX Output:

https://docs.flexsim.com/en/22.1/Reference/GeneralModelSettings/GlobalPreferences/GlobalPreferences.html#graphics

Quadro cards leads often to problems, because a driver update Interval is much slower than for gaming cards. You find hints to use quadro cards in gaming mode to increase a performance in FlexSim. The GPUs are the same to Gaming Cards. Some options are activated or deactivated by design layout. The design is optimized for reliability and stability to support working day performance over 3 to 5 years. A gaming card life time ends often after 2 years.

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Lambert avatar image Lambert commented ·
Thank you Joerg,

do you know if FlexSim profits from quadro graphic cards better than the other nvidia's?


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Jason Lightfoot avatar image Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ Lambert commented ·
You may get benefit with higher performance cards if you are GPU limited - the TaskManager may show you the percentage of the GPU that is being used by FlexSim and/or Chime. If you have complex scenes or are using VR then you're more likely to see a difference.
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Lambert avatar image Lambert Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ commented ·

In my laptop with a quadro T1000 I cannot work enabling RTX mode in FlexSim because I get super low fps. Do you think this would change if I upgrade?

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Ben Wilson avatar image Ben Wilson ♦♦ Lambert commented ·

I can't speak specifically for RTX abilities, but even a lower end RTX card like the mobile GeForce RTX 2060 trounces the Quadro T1000 in benchmarks, with a 50% advantage:

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/Quadro-T1000-with-Max-Q-Design-vs-GeForce-RTX-2060-with-Max-Q-Design/4295vs4199

And if you considered a higher end RTX 2000 series card, or a newer 3000 series, they would give an even more significant performance boost. You can check out the various benchmarks for other RTX cards there at that site.

Benefits and considerations in using RTX mode in FlexSim are found in our user manual: https://docs.flexsim.com/en/Reference/PropertiesPanels/WindowPanels/ViewSettings/ViewSettings.html#rtx

And @Phil BoBo may be able to comment more on the latest status of using RTX mode in FlexSim.

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Phil BoBo avatar image Phil BoBo ♦♦ Ben Wilson ♦♦ commented ·

"Nvidia RTX graphics cards (Turing architecture) have RT cores that improve the performance of RTX Mode. Some older Nvidia graphics cards (such as Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta architectures) can work with RTX Mode with lower performance."

RTX Mode - View Settings (flexsim.com)

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Joerg Vogel avatar image Joerg Vogel Lambert commented ·

I’am sorry. I cannot say anything to actual to RTX 3000 or 2000 series or their quadro variant A3000, A4000,… I cannot afford them. I only own a Pascal gpu graphic card, not Turing or Ampere.

Edit:

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/Quadro-T1000-vs-RTX-A3000-Laptop-GPU-vs-GeForce-RTX-3060-Laptop-GPU-vs-GeForce-RTX-3060/4124vs4414vs4342vs4345

Encode Decode abilities

Quadro T1000 Mobile 1 Chip, 1 Encoder, 1 Decoder, 3 Sessions

https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-and-decode-gpu-support-matrix-new > on Tab Professional (Quadro / RTX)

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Lambert avatar image Lambert commented ·
Thanks for your answer Joerg.


My understanding was that Quadro cards driver update interval was slower because they focus on stability and performance on professional and CAD applications, rather on optimizing for the latest games in the market.

Isn't FlexSim part of the professional applications they optimize drivers for? Hurts to read that is better to have FlexSim running on a gaming card than on a much expensier 3D professional card.

Just curious, where can I find more info about use Quadro cards in gaming mode?

Thank you

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David Seo avatar image David Seo Lambert commented ·

Hi. @Lambert

I am using Quadro RTX A4000 card though the price is very expensive more than RTX 3070. The comparing is https://technical.city/en/video/GeForce-RTX-3070-vs-RTX-A4000

I think FlexSim is focusing on the performance and the price. Quadro RTX gpu is not efficient in the performance / price.

My using is once a time this year. I have been using not quadro gpu. It is for workstation not gaming. I want to know the differences of them so I purchased it. But the result of it is the price of quadro to be expensive. The performance is ....hm...not high as I think. I recommend to use NVidia RTX not Quadro.

The techinical reply will be uploaded by others. I have not the techinical knowledges about it.

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Jason Lightfoot avatar image Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ Lambert commented ·

It used to be that there were niche advantages in using a Quadro:

  • multiple/windowed stereo3D views on supporting displays
  • better performance with 3D views when the view is partially obscured by other windows
  • faster drawing and antialiasing of some CAD render modes
  • more memory

I'm not sure if this is still the case - info from 2004 here.

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David Seo avatar image
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David Seo answered

I am using Quadro RTX A4000 gpu card which I purchased Dell Workstation Precision 3650 about two month ago newly.

It shows the best aninmation quality in flexsim 22.0 and 22 update 1 beta without any issue till I used. But I always do not use the shadow feature while working. And I don't use it in presentation mode also when making a video recording for customers.

It's not important for customer's view point.


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Lambert avatar image
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Lambert answered Lambert commented

I got my A5000 graphic card today and in FlexSim I am getting 5fps in RTX mode.

Pretty dissapointing actually. How is it possible I am getting this low framerate?

I wanted to showcase my models in RTX mode but seems it is going to be impossible.

Thank you in advance,

Lambert


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Jason Lightfoot avatar image Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ commented ·
This is in line with Phil's comment
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Lambert avatar image Lambert Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ commented ·
what comment sorry?
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Jason Lightfoot avatar image Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ Lambert commented ·

You need to expand all comments on this page for the link to take you there - sorry.


Phil wrote: "

Also, FlexSim's RTX Mode is not designed for active model-building or live presentation. It's rather slow even with RT cores that greatly improve its performance.

RTX Mode is best for taking screenshots and video.

It is "real time" in that it renders multiple frames per second rather than taking minutes to render each frame like traditional ray tracing, but the framerate is not fast and smooth like the default graphics rendering mode."

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