Philip Herlihy <thiswillbounceback@you.com> wrote:
> In article <sogabs$du3$1@dont-email.me>, ithinkiam@gmail.com says...
>>
>> Philip Herlihy <thiswillbounceback@you.com> wrote:
>>> In article <sofsro$dll$1@dont-email.me>, ithinkiam@gmail.com says...
>>>>
>>>> Philip Herlihy <thiswillbounceback@you.com> wrote:
>>>>> In article <MPG.3c0edf37d091abe5989988@news.eternal-september.org>,
>>>>> thiswillbounceback@you.com says...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In article <aPf*+7iAy@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>,
>>>>>> theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk says...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Philip Herlihy <thiswillbounceback@you.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Thanks everyone, once again. The gist of replies is that the 1030 is a bit
>>>>>>>> weedy for any significant rendering - which is not what I'd hoped to hear. The
>>>>>>>> 1050Ti is almost £200, and I think that money would be better put towards a new
>>>>>>>> machine in a couple of years, given that the 2020 version of the software runs
>>>>>>>> fine on my existing GT 640. I've had a response from customer service (I'd
>>>>>>>> floated the idea of a refund) and they want me to talk to support (Monday now)
>>>>>>>> so I'll follow that up and see what they suggest. They've offered to add the
>>>>>>>> 2021 version to my 'Key' to see if that runs, and I might try that.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sounds fair. One thing you could do is seek out forums for this particular
>>>>>>> software and see what users recommend in real life. The specs they quote
>>>>>>> seem somewhat excessive for what it seems the program actually does.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I see they're recommending RTX cards for the realtime ray tracing features,
>>>>>>> which is fair enough, but it's quite possible you can still make use of the
>>>>>>> program by just skipping a few of the whizzy features, downscaling the
>>>>>>> resolution or running renders overnight. Especially if you're not an
>>>>>>> architect using the program all day for professional purposes, for whom time
>>>>>>> is money and spending a few hundred on hardware is nothing.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Theo
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Certainly performance hasn't been an issue on the earlier version of the
>>>>>> software. I'll check the user forums - thanks for the reminder.
>>>>>
>>>>> There wasn't much on the user forums, surprisingly (before my update tonight).
>>>>> Support were helpful, though. Apparently it's a major upgrade in terms of 3D
>>>>> rendering, and the minimum spec is DirectX 12, Shader Model 6, and 2 GB
>>>>> graphics memory, or the 3D rendering is simply disabled. That is likely to hit
>>>>> a lot of people purchasing or upgrading, I figure. They said the 1030 card
>>>>> will just about do it, but with rapidly deteriorating performance as you add
>>>>> more twiddles to your design. So I've just ordered a GTX 1050 Ti at £215 from
>>>>> Amazon. Prices are clearly soaring (even for a relatively old card like this)
>>>>> and availability is very, very thin.
>>>>
>>>> Good luck with it. I've been waiting over a year for a £200 card to improve
>>>> on my current 1060...
>>>>
>>>>> No excuses now, I have to design that extension...
>>>>
>>>> Can you do mine as well please? ;)
>>>
>>> As far as I can see the 1050Ti may be a better card than the 1060? The former
>>> has only 3GB of RAM compared with 4GB for the 1050Ti, but I'm no expert in
>>> these things!
>>
>> It may be, but not enough to warrant the expense. I had my eye on a 1660
>> card last year, but thought it too expensive at ~£250...
>>
>>> I rather think I'd find doing yours easier than doing mine! (Too much at
>>> stake!). One thing I would say is that getting expert advice (architect) made
>>> a *vast* difference. Our original contractor (high-end interior designer with
>>> a stable of preferred trades) did a "design" for us which we thought clearly
>>> inadequate - it used only a fraction of the space, and the positioning of the
>>> staircase was highly questionable. Much to his chagrin, we brought in
>>> 'specialist' loft conversion contractors to quote, but even they seemed to want
>>> to drop standard solutions onto what's quite a big roof space. Eventually we
>>> went to a local architect, and the difference was worth every penny - a really
>>> striking, imaginative design. But of course that was what led to the battles
>>> with the planners...
>>
>> Not even there yet. We're still at the agreeing with SO regarding plans
>> stage.
>>
>>> By the way, this thread surely can't be OT if the group is called "homebuilt"!
>>
>> heh
>
> I checked the Home Designer website, and they don't seem to be offering older
> versions (2021 was the last one which would run on my 12-year-old Dell with a
> GT 640). That may be a marketing mistake. Otherwise, I'd encourage you to
> give it a try (you can still play with a trial download, but you won't get 3D
> rendering without a 2GB DirectX12 graphics card). Otherwise, for getting ideas
> these shows around the UK are very useful, and you can get good advice from the
> one-to-one adviser sessions.
> https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/homebuilding-and-renovating-show

Thanks for the tip. Sadly they're not coming north of the border until
2023!

On 4 Dec 2021 at 14:28:57 GMT, "Philip Herlihy"
<thiswillbounceback@you.com> wrote:

> As far as I can see the 1050Ti may be a better card than the 1060? The former
> has only 3GB of RAM compared with 4GB for the 1050Ti, but I'm no expert in
> these things!

Given you're doing this to avoid potential costly mistakes in building
work that's going to run you many many thousands of pounds, why not just
reframe the costs as putting 0.5% of your budget into prep? I bet you're
putting much more into other less necessary things.

Cheers - Jaimie

--
"The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean
by infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity."
-- Voltaire

In article <j16i99F6aa3U1@mid.individual.net>, jaimie@usually.sessile.org
says...
>
> On 4 Dec 2021 at 14:28:57 GMT, "Philip Herlihy"
> <thiswillbounceback@you.com> wrote:
>
> > As far as I can see the 1050Ti may be a better card than the 1060? The former
> > has only 3GB of RAM compared with 4GB for the 1050Ti, but I'm no expert in
> > these things!
>
> Given you're doing this to avoid potential costly mistakes in building
> work that's going to run you many many thousands of pounds, why not just
> reframe the costs as putting 0.5% of your budget into prep? I bet you're
> putting much more into other less necessary things.
>
> Cheers - Jaimie

Just how I saw it in the end. The 1050 Ti arrived yesterday, and I'll fit it
tomorrow.

--

Phil, London