Are "workstation" cards worth the extra money?

[VitrasSlade]

My dad has started working with some CAD software (I don't know the specifics as to what) for a business he is starting. He was thinking of getting a desktop after seeing me build and polish my first custom PC for a decent price. So following that line of thought I have been thinking of what parts he would need/use. The main thing is the graphics card.

Are the workstation graphics cards worth all of that money? I just upgraded from a GTX 960 to a 970, so I mean I could just use my old card, right? I looked on newegg to check the prices of some quadro cards and wow.

I also tried doing some research on here and youtube. Some videos I couldn't find trustworthy because the people discussing this sounded very snobby (kind of like the "stereotypical apple user"). And on the other side, Linus (LinusTechTips) made it sound like it was an elitist thing where they were optimized but were still basically the same cards.

So, would I be able to use my GTX 960 and work fine? Or would he have to spend big bucks on one of those specialized cards?

Thanks.

 

[cdabc123]

yes a gtx 960 should do great for this application. a workstation card is normally a heck of alot more expensive and you don't gain too much.

 

[getochkn]

If your dad is doing extreme space station type of designs, than the power to render 100,000,000 components and screws as well as the precision might come in handy. Otherwise, no.

Workstation cards are usually the same GPU as desktop cards, they just have validated drivers that get better support and more optimized for 3D work. In addition, they usually include ECC memory, which if you are designing something to 0.00001mm precision, rounding errors may come into play. In reality, for most users, they're not needed.

 

[VitrasSlade]

If your dad is doing extreme space station type of designs, than the power to render 100,000,000 components and screws as well as the precision might come in handy. Otherwise, no.

Workstation cards are usually the same GPU as desktop cards, they just have validated drivers that get better support and more optimized for 3D work. In addition, they usually include ECC memory, which if you are designing something to 0.00001mm precision, rounding errors may come into play. In reality, for most users, they're not needed.

He doesn't design anything on a grand scale really. The parts he designs are for snowmobiles, so nothing extreme. I'll have to double check with him though. On a side note, for VRAM, is the 2GB on the GTX 960 enough?

 

[cdabc123]

yea 2 gigs on a 960 will work very well for even complex parts

 

[azaran]

Depending on the program he's using, it can make a difference. Workstation cards are more than just the same card with different drivers. And depending on the program, you may only get to use some functions with a workstation card. Notable example is SolidWorks RealView, it needs an OpenGL workstation card to work. A DirextX gaming cards drivers throttle the Open GL performance in Solidworks. A high end gaming card will work worse than a low end workstation card in that and many other situations. It is possible to use DirectX cards for 3D CAD, however some features may not function properly (as noted) and you may experience slow frame rates as well as graphical glitches.

However not all CAD programs have an issue with it, Autodesks 2015 suite is fine with DirectX class cards.

So really, the very first thing you need to do is find out exactly what programs he's going to use and then build around that. If all he does is work in Autodesk products, you'll be fine. But if he's going after a Solidworks builder, you're going to need to address the workstation card issue.

 

[VitrasSlade]

Depending on the program he's using, it can make a difference. Workstation cards are more than just the same card with different drivers. And depending on the program, you may only get to use some functions with a workstation card. Notable example is SolidWorks RealView, it needs an OpenGL workstation card to work. A DirextX gaming cards drivers throttle the Open GL performance in Solidworks. A high end gaming card will work worse than a low end workstation card in that and many other situations. It is possible to use DirectX cards for 3D CAD, however some features may not function properly (as noted) and you may experience slow frame rates as well as graphical glitches.

However not all CAD programs have an issue with it, Autodesks 2015 suite is fine with DirectX class cards.

So really, the very first thing you need to do is find out exactly what programs he's going to use and then build around that. If all he does is work in Autodesk products, you'll be fine. But if he's going after a Solidworks builder, you're going to need to address the workstation card issue.

Okay, I just talked to him about it. He said he uses Creo Parametric by PTC.

 

[azaran]

OK so, did a bit of looking in to it.
First, here's PTC's hardware notes.
http://www.ptc.com/File%20Library/Product%20Families/Creo/ptc-creo-hardware-notes.pdf

Creo is a OpenGL based software, so if you're not using an OpenGL card (Nvidia Quadro, AMD Firepro) then the CPU is going to have to take up the slack on the processing. This isnt the end of the world but will take up more time to render things and there's a chance of it creating missing graphics artifacts in the process.

Quadros are certified, Geforce are not, so if problems do arise from video issues you likely wont get anything from the manufacture support beyond being referred to their list of certified graphics.

Once you get through the standard fare of people being fanboys to one camp or another the general consensus is "if you can forgive the odd error and do not need to rely on precise visual display quality (i.e. medical imagery, stereoscopic) then go with Geforce. If you need driver support to your application and tech support to driver issues, go Quadro."

Bottom line, if you dont want 100% driver support and dont mind running your own technical support when problems do come up then go with a normal video card. If you want manufacture support, better processing and assurance your stuff will work, go with a workstation level card.

 

[VitrasSlade]

OK so, did a bit of looking in to it.
First, here's PTC's hardware notes.
http://www.ptc.com/File%20Library/Product%20Families/Creo/ptc-creo-hardware-notes.pdf

Creo is a OpenGL based software, so if you're not using an OpenGL card (Nvidia Quadro, AMD Firepro) then the CPU is going to have to take up the slack on the processing. This isnt the end of the world but will take up more time to render things and there's a chance of it creating missing graphics artifacts in the process.

Quadros are certified, Geforce are not, so if problems do arise from video issues you likely wont get anything from the manufacture support beyond being referred to their list of certified graphics.

Once you get through the standard fare of people being fanboys to one camp or another the general consensus is "if you can forgive the odd error and do not need to rely on precise visual display quality (i.e. medical imagery, stereoscopic) then go with Geforce. If you need driver support to your application and tech support to driver issues, go Quadro."

Bottom line, if you dont want 100% driver support and dont mind running your own technical support when problems do come up then go with a normal video card. If you want manufacture support, better processing and assurance your stuff will work, go with a workstation level card.

All right, that's probably the best answer to explain it. If we decide to build a desktop for his work, we'll probably look for one that's a bit cheaper or use my old GTX card if we don't have any options. Thanks!