shopping for a new GPU

[madcowscarnival]

Okay, so X10 basically rendered (<-not actually a pun) my home office computer obsolete.  I don't want to go through the hassle of a new build yet, so I'm going to take my main comp GPU and toss it in there (AMD FireProW4100).  Its only a 2GB card but runs X10 as far as I can tell.  The office computer will get a new GPU. 

 

At what size of modern, fast GPU am I throwing money away?  CA is the only graphics intensive program I have, and I don't play PC games.  Should an 8GB future proof me for another 5 years?  11GB are fairly pricey and seem like it wouldn't do much more.  I do use scans of client drawings as a background, and it slows the program down a bit when zooming.  Will a good GPU make that process more smooth or is that a matter of CA management of a large background file (1-2MB or more)?  This is also the case in AutoCad if I'm using a high-res file in the background. 

 

I'm semi-limited to a PCIe 2.0 x16, the mobo is fairly old at this point.

[DRAWZILLA]

If it were me, I'd just bite the bullet and get a new computer so all the parts work together correctly. Piece upgrading could cause choke points.  If this is your business, sometimes it just cost some money to be in business.

[Chopsaw]

Really happy with my recent upgrade to the gtx 1070 and the value it provides to my older system.  If you have a little more room in your budget they have a new 1070 Ti that is still quite reasonably priced.  Just be sure it is compatible before spending the money or go with Perry's theory if budget allows.

[cv2702]

If you look at my signature, my main system is not a beast, but not a slush either.  But I run PBR walkthroughs a lot.  Just ran one and average CPU usage by CA was 85% and 80% for the GPU - and it took 45 minutes to produce a 100 second walk.

 

What are your requirements?  Just enough for CA to run, now and the near future?  Have no patience waiting for things to finish?  Money is no object or every penny counts?  Do RT's or PBR's?

 

My perspective: investing 1 000$ for working on projects earning me 100 000$ over time is a small cost of doing business.  I've always had this strategy: I buy 80% of the maximum power (CPU or GPU) at 50% of the cost to own the the maximum power.  I revisit my configuration and requirements every 3-4 years.