Hi Lucas,
I’ll add more information to what we colleagues wrote here before.
I was curious if Pix4D has the capability to use GPUs to assist with the processing functions?
As Timothy said, Pix4Dmapper is compatible with any GPU that is compatible with OpenGL 3.2 or above. This means that Pix4Dmapper should work with low performances Intel integrated graphics card HD 4000 and above. However, for faster processing, Pix4Dmapper also uses the processing power of GPUs that are compatible with Nvidia CUDA 9.1 and above (with the latest drivers installed). This allows increasing the performance in Pix4Dmapper especially during step 1 and with large projects. That is why we recommend using a GPU that is compatible with CUDA. Any Nvidia GPU: GTX, Mobile, Tesla, Titan or Quadro, that is compatible with the CUDA version 9.1 and with the latest drivers will be used during the processing. We recommend using GeForce GPU because they are usually cheaper with regards to the performances in comparison with other graphics cards such as Quadro for example. As Timothy mentioned, Nvidia 1080 Ti is suitable for processing purposes.
In other words, if I put together a computer that had 6 GPUs (basically 6 graphics cards) could Pix4D use those GPUs to process the photos?
NVIDIA developed SLI. The Scalable Link Interface is a brand name for a multi-GPU technology for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output. SLI is an algorithm of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics.) SLI is compatible but will not have an impact, activating or not activating SLI, the results are the same more or less. Using SLI is possible. However, using for example 2 graphics cards connected the with SLI has the following effect:
For Processing:
It will make no change in terms of processing. Let’s say that you have 2 cards and each of them has 2GB of RAM. Using the SLI connections does not mean that you will have 1 card with 4GB of RAM, it will still be 2 GB of RAM. So, practically, it will not help the processing.
For Visualization
In the rayCloud: It could indeed help the visualisation of objects in rayCloud for big projects. If you already have a good card and you see things smoothly and nicely in the rayCloud, then maybe it will not make any difference. If you have problems with the visualization of the outputs in the rayCloud (for big projects), then using SLI (Dual Graphic card) technology could help.
Another option, where you would actually get benefits from having two cards for processing would be to have the two cards but not connect them using SLI. This allows you to more or less always have a free GPU (one that is not connected to the screen) and avoid the RAM duplication done when using SLI. There is not a special condition for using SLI technology. If the PC has such technology, the software will detect it automatically.
From our practice, just one good GPU will be enough even with big projects. Read more in Computer requirements.
If so, does it matter which type of video card I get? (NVIDIA / AMD)
We don’t support OpenCL. Therefore, you won’t be able to use the AMD card for computation as you can do with NVIDIA.
I hope we covered all your questions. If not please contact us again.
Best!