Graphics Cards

[A_Moore]

I recently purchased Pro and got the video card error on startup. Graphics cards are crazy expensive right now. Is the Direct X12, shader 6 a minimum requirement? 

[A_Moore]

Seems it IS a requirement. Stay clear of any card that isn't capable of shader 6 or higher. Just leaving advice here for anyone wondering about this. I bought a GeForce GT 730, 4GB card to fit my sff and it will not work. Now I'm having to return it at Amazon.

[PhilipHerlihy]

I'm dealing with a similar problem after upgrading HD Architectural from 2020 to 2022, but I have determined that it's not the DirectX 12 or Shader 6 requirement that's the issue.  My existing graphics card is a GT 640 (about 12 years old!) and it does meet those requirements.  What it doesn't meet is the requirement for 2GB GPU memory.  I'm looking into alternative cards:  a 1050Ti is supposedly a decent upgrade, and I've seen it referenced in a screenshot on the Support site, but it's almost £200 here, and I think that money would be better put towards an eventual new PC, as my (perfectly brisk) PC won't be upgradeable to W11.  Even a 1030 card is almost £100, and that has much less bang for those bucks.

[PhilipHerlihy]

I started wondering where it was that I got the idea that my GT 640 card did have DirectX 12 and Shader Model 6.5.

 

Aha!  I guess that settles it!

 

[PhilipHerlihy]

Update:  I've been agonising over whether to upgrade my zippy but actually elderly PC (see above).  Would the 2022 upgrade deliver any real benefit - especially if a hardware update was necessary?  I've looked at the GT 1030 cards (around £100, on top of the sale-price £75 software upgrade from 2020), while the GTX 1050 Ti was over double that (actually £215).  Yet I've zero interest in gaming, and it seems to me that the only heavy processing is when the 3D views are being "compiled":  on my elderly, entirely adequate system this only took a few moments with the 2020 version, so what am I getting for all this cash?  Even the 1050 Ti is a good few years old now.

 

Well, I sought advice from support, and they sent back this very helpful response:

 

1) Changes to 3D rendering:

With the release of Home Designer 2022, we completely changed and revamped the rendering engine. The software now uses DirectX 12 instead of OpenGL which was used in Home Designer 2021 and prior versions. With this new rendering engine came improvements in 3D rendering, most notably in lighting, but these improvements also meant that older less powerful graphics cards, such as your GT 640 card, no longer meet the minimum requirements to produce 3D renderings.

2) GT 1030 vs. GTX 1050 TI

Based on what I've read about the GT 1030, it appears that it at least meets the minimum requirements to produce 3D renderings in Home Designer 2022. However, the GT 1030 meets the bare minimum of the requirements, which means you are likely to see slowness in 3D renderings as you add more and more detail to them. I would recommend getting the GTX 1050 TI instead because it is going to have double the speed of the GT 1030 and give you much better performance. If you would like to see a more detailed comparison of these two graphics cards, I recommend taking a look at their benchmarks, here:
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti-vs-Nvidia-GT-1030/3649vsm283726

3) Surface Pro 8

Similar to the GT 1030 graphics card, the Windows Surface Pro 8 meets the minimum requirements to do 3D renderings, but you are likely to see slower performance as you add more detail to your plans. Furthermore, we have noticed driver issues with the Intel Iris XE graphics card that seems to cause some customers' 3D renderings to produce pixelation. This is something that we are working closely with Intel on at the moment, but you may want to avoid purchasing computers that only use that graphics card for the time-being.

 

(I'd toyed with the idea of splashing out on a Surface Pro 8 tablet - one day.)

 

So that did it for me - and I turned to the web to find a GTX 1050 Ti.  Prices are clearly rising, and availability thin - this evening a few became available on Amazon at £215, and I chose the MSI over the Palit (I've heard of MSI, vaguely).  I've also gone for a single, large fan model as I read that the twin small fan versions are a bit noisy, though that was only one reviewer.

 

So, I'm nearly £300 down.  For that I should get fancier shading, with acceptable performance (and it's possible my web-cam might work better too).  I also have the advantage of being on the latest version, which can be handy for a beginner likely to ask for advice.  It arrives next week, and I'll report back on how I get on with it.

 

We know there's a world-wide silicon supply-chain shortage, and we know that graphics cards are being diverted to Crytpo-mining, which translates to huge demand from people with deep pockets.  This must be a problem for Chief Architect, as there will be an awful lot of basic desktop machines out there which would run HD up to 2021 acceptably but which won't run 2022 (not if you want 3D rendering anyway).  I've had good response from Support - they offered me a 2021 key as a workaround, and the reply above is helpful and detailed.  But I rather think they'd avoid disgruntled customers if they flagged up the system requirements more prominently, with plenty of detail available.  I'm surprised there aren't more posts about this issue in this forum.

[PhilipHerlihy]

For completeness, it's worth adding links to these two relevant Support articles.

• Message: You are using a video card that does not meet the software's minimum requirements

• Troubleshooting 3D Camera View Display Problems in Home Designer

[Donco15]

Thanks guys  for sharing this information. I have been wondering about this and if the software would work at all. I would love to upgrade to the new version.

[4ndrew]

FWIW - I'm not sure of the "graphics card situation" now, but I recently built a new computer with parts from Microcenter; they keep a certain level of inventory for "full system builds", whether they build it or you do. I don't know what qualifies as a "full system" but it was less components than I thought.

 

By doing this I got an RTX 3080 in a system better than what you might buy off the shelf, and a few hundred bucks less expensively.

[A_Moore]

4ndrew - Nice tip!

[PhilipHerlihy]

One reflection on all this - I think Chief Architect are making a marketing mistake over this.  I have my new graphics card; it runs the new version of HD Architectural, but I don't detect any difference whatever in the performance of any other software.  So they'll be placing a cost hurdle in front of a lot of people.  This is at a time when Microsoft have decided to challenge many millions of PC owners who are entirely satisfied with their machines to junk and replace them only to upgrade to the delights of Windows 11, or face being unsupported from 2025.  We know that lots of PCs still run Windows 7, when the upgrade to Windows 10 was generally easy and free.  I wonder how many machines will be doggedly running Windows 10 five years after support has ended.

Similarly, I wonder how many HD users will just stick at the 2021 version - or how many potential users will decide not to purchase HD because of the additional cost of an upgraded graphics card.  Anyone who's invested in Chief Architect will be using it in a business, and won't be troubled by platform costs.  Home Designer is for the DIY market - and for a lot of people will be a discretionary purchase.  I've already seen someone in an online group express interest, only to lose that interest when they realised their graphics card wouldn't hack it - on a machine they are in every other respect entirely satisfied with.  I want to see Home Designer thrive in the market, and I think this is a problem.

 

So what' the solution?  Maybe have the software load an alternative rendering module if the 2022 specs aren't met.  After all the 2021 version runs on a lot more machines than 2022 does.  So the user gets to enjoy the marvellous rendering we've experienced from earlier versions in the confidence that once they finally upgrade the benefits of the new advances will be waiting for them.  The alternative is to lose share of the market that might have bought Home Designer, I fear.  It was touch and go with me whether I upgraded - and I'm an appreciative existing user!