Hello,
 
I've been looking into buying a custom laptop from SCAN computers during a chat with one of their advisors Graphics cards came up and he informed me that CUDA cards by nVidia could be accessed by plugins for faster processing but he couldn't find out if X3 Producer utilised this technology or GPGPU. As I want get the most out my running X3 Producer on this new laptop can anyone tell me which tech X3 uses? I'll also be working with video a lot so a card that good at processing video would be a huge bonus.
 
Thanks
 
Liam

No. But Windows does. In that it can use the GPU directly as games do. It does not use CUDA though. The application needs to be CUDA aware to use CUDA. For example Vegas Pro uses CUDA if you have the right graphics card. Some of the plugins for it can use it too. I believe with Sonar there may be a few plugins that can use CUDA. But don't ask me which ones.   

I use Windows, so X3 doesn't use either CUDA or GPGPU for processing? What does use? How do you know what it uses?
 
Thanks
 
Liam

liamflanagan
I use Windows, so X3 doesn't use either CUDA or GPGPU for processing? What does use? How do you know what it uses?
 
Thanks
 
Liam

It uses your CPU. GPU based DSP and audio processing has not caught on because of competing API's and technical issues. GPU architecture is designed for multiple simultaneous threads being run in parallel. Since DAW's and audio processing in general require a lot of serial data flow,  it's not the easiest thing to implement. 
 
There's also significant latency issues, though these seem to be diminishing as Virtual Reality is becoming a 'reality' in the market and low latency rendering is required for accurate non-sickness inducing experiences. 

So would be worth having an nVidia graphics card in my custom laptop? Or would it be worth it in the future?

From what I can see at work: scientists try to use CUDA (and other GPU based calculations), it is "modern". But the result is normally disappointing, either the cards are overheated or the results are incorrect. GPU was not build to deliver precise accurate results, who will notice that left rear weal on some car you see in 200 meters is drown incorrectly for 1/80 of second? Game "profis" really are, in Internet you can find many comparisons between reference picture (CPU generated) and accelerated (GPU generated) with discussion about "artifacts" (the difference between them). For video it is almost the same, if some pixel was rendered wrong, no one notice that. But are you ready to accept such "artifacts" in your music?
 
I have also seen many notebooks burned by GPU cards under continuous full load.
 
In case you want hardware accelerated audio processing, there are specialized solutions. For example http://www.uaudio.com/uad-plug-ins/uad-2-satellite.html
 

Ok, this all good info guys.
 
Here's the laptop I'm thinking of buying:
 
http://3xs.scan.co.uk/configurator/3xs-scan-performance-15-audio-laptop-with-firewire
It has a choice between an nVidia graphics card or an AMD graphics card. What do you guys think? Which would be better for making music for media? I need something that going to be stable and powerful.

Graphics card shouldn't be your main priority, spend that money on the interface, memory and CPU.

Having said that I tend to buy a graphics card for other reasons like multi-monitor (external) support/better resolutions.... and better video editing in other apps.
 
Ta

liamflanagan
I've been looking into buying a custom laptop from SCAN computers....

Say hello to them from me, they sold me a dud AMD PC about 17 years ago that kept freezing up (long story), nope I still haven't forgotten but at least I learnt a lesson.

@CakeAlexS Sorry to hear about your bad experience with them. I'm going to getting an external extra monitor most graphics cards can handle an extra monitor, can't they?