Video card dilemma...

[chotto69]

I'm building my new PC which will be based on E6600 Dual Core, Asus PW5 DH, 2 Gb Corsair. As for the video card i am not sure whether to get a Quadro FX (1500, 3500 or even 4500 since on eBay often you can get them quite "cheaply") or a high end gamer card such as nvidia 7900, 7950 or ati 1950XT. I'm not into games (even though i might enjoy a game occasionally) and i'm using my pc mainly for video editing (Premiere Pro 2), after production effects (After Effects 7 and Combustion 4) and i just started getting into 3D with Lightwave.
I have a dual monitor configuration but i'm running both at 1600x1200 (i know that Quadro cards can do twice that resolution).
Do you think that i'd see a major improvement in performance (mainly speed) using a Quadro FX card instead of a high end consumer 7900gtx? I can get a 1500 at the same price of a 7950 (or ATI 1900) while 3500 or 4500 ar quite pricey though.
Thank you for any advice you can give me!
Alessandro Manciani

[dave87]

I would say that the reason that the Quadro cards carry a price premium is due to their guarenteed reliability - so if its a Business PC, then it may be worth it (especially if you can't work without your PC). If not, then a 7900gtx or x1900xts would be perfectly adequate

Dave

[shaithis]

Not sure if it still holds true but your used to be able to mod standard GeForce cards into Quatros pretty easily.

I beleive that the firmwares differ in what they are optimised for.

See this thread to see what each card mods into, further into the thread (page 3+) shows the newer cards.

[uchiha_itachi]

I too am very interested in this subject. I mainly use my computer for CAD/3D modelling/Rendering work. I occassionaly play the odd game. I too have been wondering what the performance difference is between a high end geforce 79xx card and an equivalent quadro card.

I am going to upgrade soon to core 2 duo setup, and my main dilemma has been what graphics card to choose. I am currently using a 5950 ultra, and am just getting by with regards to 3d modelling.

Major slow down is when I am trying to do two different things, (one on each monitor). Things get very jerky then.

[chotto69]

I too am very interested in this subject. I mainly use my computer for CAD/3D modelling/Rendering work. I occassionaly play the odd game. I too have been wondering what the performance difference is between a high end geforce 79xx card and an equivalent quadro card.

I am going to upgrade soon to core 2 duo setup, and my main dilemma has been what graphics card to choose. I am currently using a 5950 ultra, and am just getting by with regards to 3d modelling.

Major slow down is when I am trying to do two different things, (one on each monitor). Things get very jerky then.

I'm glad that i'm not the only one struggling to decide uchiha_itachi
Actually in other forums most people suggested me to forget the quadro (i'm no professional) and get instead a high end nvidia or ati and i think i'll do that. I think i don't do enough 3D to justify an expensive quadro card...
My next dilemma is now: nvidia 7900gtx or ati x1950xtx (here in Japan i can get both exactly at the same price). The features of the ati card are really impressive and it seems to be the one with little more lifespan ahead. However Adobe recommends the nvidia cards over the ati and also people around seem to agree that forceware drivers are more reliable than catalyst. I wonder if anybody has any comments about this...

[s_kinton]

Well in my opinion, the ati is the better card, but as mentioned their driver support is not quite as good as nvidias.

As for the quadro dilemma. Quadro cards have extra extensions that the geforce series dont have, allowing them to perform better in rendering programs. It is possible to mod some, but not all geforce cards the be recognised as quadros.

You'll need rivatuner to mod the card, its pretty straight forward. Head over the www.guru3d.com and post there in the rivatuner section. The program author 'Unwinder' will be able to answer your questons as he is a regular over there.

[uchiha_itachi]

I'm glad that i'm not the only one struggling to decide uchiha_itachi
Actually in other forums most people suggested me to forget the quadro (i'm no professional) and get instead a high end nvidia or ati and i think i'll do that. I think i don't do enough 3D to justify an expensive quadro card...
My next dilemma is now: nvidia 7900gtx or ati x1950xtx (here in Japan i can get both exactly at the same price). The features of the ati card are really impressive and it seems to be the one with little more lifespan ahead. However Adobe recommends the nvidia cards over the ati and also people around seem to agree that forceware drivers are more reliable than catalyst. I wonder if anybody has any comments about this...

I have always been under the impression that nvidia cards always performed better when it came to 3d modelling/rendering and general CAD operations. This was due to the nvidia cards use of openGL. However after reading the link which shaithis posted, it seems programs like 3dstudio max and maya are starting to rely on direct3d. If these are the programs you will be using maybe an ATI card would suit you better, (due to the general concensus that ati cards perform better at direct3d). However if you are going to be using pieces of software such as autodesk inventor, i-deas, catia, pro-engineer etc it maybe better to with nvidia as they are still openGL based. I'm still yet to make my decision, however I think I may get a geforce 7900gs.

Either way I need to make my mind up fast as my 2nd year of uni is starting and my course director has told me we will be using solidedge. alias studiotools and nx4 intensely this year. I'll maybe try and get some advise off him as to which graphics card would be best to get after a quadro.

[chotto69]

I have always been under the impression that nvidia cards always performed better when it came to 3d modelling/rendering and general CAD operations. This was due to the nvidia cards use of openGL. However after reading the link which shaithis posted, it seems programs like 3dstudio max and maya are starting to rely on direct3d. If these are the programs you will be using maybe an ATI card would suit you better, (due to the general concensus that ati cards perform better at direct3d). However if you are going to be using pieces of software such as autodesk inventor, i-deas, catia, pro-engineer etc it maybe better to with nvidia as they are still openGL based. I'm still yet to make my decision, however I think I may get a geforce 7900gs.

Either way I need to make my mind up fast as my 2nd year of uni is starting and my course director has told me we will be using solidedge. alias studiotools and nx4 intensely this year. I'll maybe try and get some advise off him as to which graphics card would be best to get after a quadro.

As for 3D, i'll be using (for the moment) only Lightwave 8.5. Other applications i use all the time that require OpenGL are Adobe AE 7 and Autodesk Combustion 4 (maybe a little Adobe Premiere too).
I definetely abandoned the idea to get a quadro as it'd be a waste of money for what i do. Also i don't feel confortable to try modding a regular geforce, so i think i'll stick to a high end 7900gtx.
Even though trying the new ATI beast was very appealing: after all i just "betrayed" AMD for the new Intel E6600 and after owning many nvidia cards another betrayal was very tempting...

[s_kinton]

Also i don't feel confortable to try modding a regular geforce, so i think i'll stick to a high end 7900gtx.

Just wanted to point out that the mod is a soft mod, not a hard mod i.e. its a few clicks in rivatuner and its recognised as a quadro, its completely reversible and requires no flashing, soldering or anything or that nature. In other words its fool proof

[chotto69]

I've just learned that many 7900's cards from all manufacturers are plagued by lockup issues and need to be send back for replacement (several times!!).
I've also found out that ati's catalyst needs .net framework in order to be installed: i hate .net as it slows down the boot and adds the login procedure when xp starts that i absolutely don't need!
I'm back to square one to choose my new card!

[uchiha_itachi]

I've just learned that many 7900's cards from all manufacturers are plagued by lockup issues and need to be send back for replacement (several times!!).

I'm fairly certain that this issue only plagued the 7900gt cards. Maybe someone could ellaborate further on that. I have not heard of any problems with the 7900gtx cards. Or you could go for either of the 2 new cards, 7900gs, (very good value) and the 7950gt. Considering nvidia know about the problems with the 7900gt cards, these new cards would have been designed to ensure the same problems do not occur. I believe the problem was based around the memory on the factory overclocked gt cards.

[chotto69]

I'm fairly certain that this issue only plagued the 7900gt cards. Maybe someone could ellaborate further on that. I have not heard of any problems with the 7900gtx cards.

Sadly the problem affected particularly 7900GT AND GTX as they are the ones with higher memory clocks...