Graphics acceleration vs. CPU

Randy Diddel

Hello Flexers,

I am using a Intel NUC (google it) with an Intel dual core i3, 256 SSD and 8GB of RAM.  According to SSDR, I *AM* utilizing Graphics acceleration but I am thinking that I am not getting the performance out of the Inel built-on video card. 

So, with that in mind I am thinking about building a dedicated desktop for SSDR/Shack purposes.  I will be getting a minimum of 16GB of RAM, probably a 256 or 512 SSD.  The quandary I have is the following:  exactly how much does SSDR utilize a GPU?  In other words, is more better AND when do you reach the point of diminishing returns?  For example, will throwing more money at the GPU yield the best return and/or what are reasonable specs?

I am not a gamer and I am not really up on my video card-fu.I just want to put the most money where it counts most.

73 and Happy New Year!

de K5RHD

/randy

K6OZY

SSDR does use a GPU but you just need any discrete GPU of the modern generation.  I am using gaming cards, such as the Nvidia 980Ti and Titan X, but I have built many for friends using the cheap Nvidia GTX 950 and 960 and they work great too.   The integrated intel GPU is not able to run 30fps on many pan adapters at high resolution.

Neal_K3NC

Randy, it uses a lot of the GPU which you can tell if you ever run SSDR on a system with an unqualified video card and it has to revert to the CPU. You will see major CPU Utilization. You do not need a tremendous video card for it, I would guess anything that cost over 50 bucks would get you going!

Randy Diddel

That is kinda what I was thinking.  Sometimes the panadaptor stutters and freezes even with the system CPU is barely at 10-15% utilization and system RAM is @ 20% or less. I will check those cards out and work something into my budget.

73

/randy

DrTeeth

My 6300 (2 panadaptors) runs FB with my laptop's integrated Intel 3000 HD chip. I choose to run it on the discreet nVidia card as more graphics configuration is possible. It does not seem to make any difference though. I doubt that a cutting edge GPU would be needed.

Stan VA7NF

I run on an Intel NUC (i5 version) with no difficulties.  Check your BIOS settings to see if you are reserving sufficient memory for the graphics.  Mine is set at 256MB.

K6OZY

You can use the integrated GPU on the CPU, but you aren't getting 30fps on anything over 1080p with two pan adapters.   I recommend the lowest GTX 950 or 960 GPU.  It has 4 outputs to connect a plethora of monitors to and will run a 6700 with 8 pans at 30fps verified.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487156

Frank WA3NHK

Randy, Take a look at this flex help desk article. https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/202118528-What-is-important-in-choosing-a-Video-Graphics-Card- Btw, Elmer is right about the GTX 950. I just used the EVGA GeForce GTX 950 from newegg in a fresh win 10 build on an i5-6500 and it works great. Stable as a big, flat rock, too. 73. Frank

K6OZY

Elmer is my forum title.  Chris is my name.  

Frank WA3NHK

Oops. Sri Chris. I didn't have my glasses on when I typed that.

EA4GLI

From now on I am going to call Chris Elmer.... Lol. Just kidding.

Kevin Va3KGS

Morning Randy

I Wanted to run Power SDR and Smart SDR out of the same desk top computer at the same time.  To handle all of the processing required I purchased a desktop that has the following; 64Bit i7 4790KCPU@4gHz, 16Ghz Ram, 250SSD.  Use an NVIDIA GTX750-TI as it has 4 video outputs, (2-HDMI, 1 DVI-I, 1-DVI-D). http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-750-ti/specifications Running Windows 7,and I do not do emails out of this box!!  100% dedicated to radio. Everything has been working just fine for me. And no plans to upgrade to Win 10, until I'm forced to do so.

Good luck in your selections

Kevin, Va3KGS

DrTeeth

I was just illustrating what could be done using limited graphic chip power as the OP did not indicate which Flex rig he has/ will be buying or which monitors he has/will have. 30 fps is perfectly fluid to the human eye - it is a higher fps than the cinema. He also said "I *AM* utilizing Graphics acceleration but I am thinking that I am not getting the performance out of the Inel built-on video card" without letting us know how he comes to this decision. His integrated chip is several generations ahead of mine, so the best advice would be to try to optimise what he has and then get him to splash out more $s only if needed - and we are not sure of that as yet.

From what I read on these forums, many people buy more powerful PCs than they will need...SSDR is not an advanced PC game and is amazingly frugal with resources. I run SSDR on a several generations old i5 laptop without issue with my 6300.

Randy Diddel

FYI, I have a 6300, two 24" monitors (going to add a third).  I ran the test linked from the Help Desk article above after altering my reserved system RAM to 256MB in the BIOS on my NUC and still only scored a 482 in graphics section.  A score of 1000 or better is recommended by Flex so that confirms wheat I suspected which is that my GPU performance is waaaaay under spec. I am probably going with the GTX 750 card-it is a good balance between cost and performance, scores well above the 1000 point benchmark, and will run two and eventually three monitors.  I am going to get a Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 bare bones box with 8GB of RAM to start with from Amazon, and 2 Crucial 512GB SSDs (I already own them) that I will configure for mirrored RAID for redundancy. I will come in just under $500.00.  Thanks for the insight, experience, and advice!

73

/randy

Simon Lewis

Randy Diddel

Hi Simon,

I went back and looked up the specs on the NUC I am using and it has the following has the following specs

• 4th Generation Intel Core i3-4010U processor @1.7ghz
  
• Intel HD Graphics 4400
• Dual channel SODIMM DDR3L 1333/1600 MHz, 1.35V
• Internal support for mSata SSD
• mini HDMI 1.4a with audio support Mini DisplayPort 1.2 with audio support
• Intel WiDi Supported 4 USB3.0 Ports

I have had the NUC up for 23 days and some hours connected to the 6300.  ZERO Packet loss and latency is >1ms most of the time. It is connected directly to the 6300 via the NIC on my NUC (See what I did there?).

I run log4OM for logging, DDUtil so my SteppIR controller knows what I am up to (hate that I have to run a third party app to do only that-but that is another discussion for another day), WSJT-X or FLDIGI, and I have a web browser open sometimes to look up pages on QRZ.com

Things that also bug me about the NUC:  Not enough USB ports, I have to kludge a bunch of adapters to my DVI cables to my displays for that to work Sometimes I have to restart-unplug-replug-restart-stand-stand-on-my-head to get both displays to come on properly and extend my desktop.  I am considering adding a third display and cannot with the NUC's provided single HDMI and single DP.

So basically going back to my original question, yes I got the answer I am looking for.  I need to focus on my GPU rather than my CPU for SSDR performance.  The GTX 750TI is ~125 USD out the door and that is fine with me.

We really do not have a clear picture of the performance demands of SSDR 2.x-my guess is that the GTX 750 will be fine for any code FRS throws at us.  If my current NUC is struggling now, I bet it would be worse off after future releases of SSDR 2.x

I am going to relegate my NUC to service as an XBMC client on my HD TV so it will not be going too far.

Thanks again for the advice.

/randy

K6OZY

I understand what you were trying to say. I just hear too many other people say, "I use an integrated GPU and get 30FPS just fine."

Any intel GPU prior to the current SkyLake HD5*0 series cannot achieve 30FPS with two pan adapters at 1080P. You can slide the slider to 30FPS, but you are not seeing 30FPS. There are a handful of FPS overlay utilities I use while testing that shows me the FPS a DirectX app is really able to run. I've tested this on many, many computers with both integrated and discrete GPUs in SmartSDR and none of the integrated ones hit 30FPS even on a 6300 with two pan adapters and WF rate 100. They are close, but not 30 fps, and they fluctuate up and down too. A discrete GTX950+ is 60FPS with 8 Pans at 60FPS , WF at Rate 100 solid. There is an undocumented way of tuning the FPS above 30 fps for Alpha Load Testing. I test at 30 and 60 to verify how much headroom a specific card has in SSDR.