Greg

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We are running AutoCAD and Revit. 3D and 2D stuff. I am wondering which
would be better? An NVIDIA Quadro FX700 w/128 meg of ram. or An Radeon
X800XL 256MB. Is the Radeon going to be able to keep up with the Quadro as
far as 3D? I don't know if more ram necessarily means faster in this case.
The Quadro is kind of the middle of the road graphics card (not to mention
one of the few AGP's out there).

Any suggestions? I really can't go above 375 to 400 dollars.
 
G

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

"Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
news:cJSdnfXWPISBnWffRVn-oA@arkansas.net...
> We are running AutoCAD and Revit. 3D and 2D stuff. I am wondering which
> would be better? An NVIDIA Quadro FX700 w/128 meg of ram. or An Radeon
> X800XL 256MB. Is the Radeon going to be able to keep up with the Quadro as
> far as 3D? I don't know if more ram necessarily means faster in this case.
> The Quadro is kind of the middle of the road graphics card (not to mention
> one of the few AGP's out there).
>
> Any suggestions? I really can't go above 375 to 400 dollars.
I actually have a preference for Quadro's when it comes to professional
applications, I've had bad experiences with gaming cards and the ATI FireGL
V3100 (Artefacts, z-buffer<sp?> rays?).
Professional video cards drivers are certified for the applications you are
running and the driver developers will ensure the stability of the card etc.

A plus is that the Quadro's will run other 'lunch-break' software nicely as
opposed to the 3DLabs.

--
Luc Monod
Patt-Technologies, Inc.
St-Eustache, QC
Canada
 

Greg

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

So can I use the drivers that Nvidia releases on this card?

"Luc Monod" <LMonod 'at' Patt-Technologies 'dot' com> wrote in message
news:42fa0dfc$1@usenet.ugs.com...
>
> "Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
> news:cJSdnfXWPISBnWffRVn-oA@arkansas.net...
>> We are running AutoCAD and Revit. 3D and 2D stuff. I am wondering which
>> would be better? An NVIDIA Quadro FX700 w/128 meg of ram. or An Radeon
>> X800XL 256MB. Is the Radeon going to be able to keep up with the Quadro
>> as far as 3D? I don't know if more ram necessarily means faster in this
>> case. The Quadro is kind of the middle of the road graphics card (not to
>> mention one of the few AGP's out there).
>>
>> Any suggestions? I really can't go above 375 to 400 dollars.
> I actually have a preference for Quadro's when it comes to professional
> applications, I've had bad experiences with gaming cards and the ATI
> FireGL
> V3100 (Artefacts, z-buffer<sp?> rays?).
> Professional video cards drivers are certified for the applications you
> are
> running and the driver developers will ensure the stability of the card
> etc.
>
> A plus is that the Quadro's will run other 'lunch-break' software nicely
> as
> opposed to the 3DLabs.
>
> --
> Luc Monod
> Patt-Technologies, Inc.
> St-Eustache, QC
> Canada
>
>
 
G

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

"Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
news:9pGdnadwD7zslWffRVn-jQ@arkansas.net...
> So can I use the drivers that Nvidia releases on this card?

Yes, and I'd actually suggest that you do, instead of MS update. Always
keep a copy of the previous stable version though, just in case.

Also, don't forget to update Windows, your workstation's BIOS and chipset
software to reduce some compatibility issues.


--
Luc Monod
Patt-Technologies, Inc.
St-Eustache, QC
Canada
 

Greg

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Much thanks. I will get the Quadro. I pretty much knew that was the better
of the two. Right now we have powerhouse systems. But the graphics cards are
worthless. GeForce FX 5200 and 5500 series. Basically bottom end gaming
cards. Not ideal for Architectural Desktop or Revit 8.


"Luc Monod" <LMonod 'at' Patt-Technologies 'dot' com> wrote in message
news:42fa1320$1@usenet.ugs.com...
> "Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
> news:9pGdnadwD7zslWffRVn-jQ@arkansas.net...
>> So can I use the drivers that Nvidia releases on this card?
>
> Yes, and I'd actually suggest that you do, instead of MS update. Always
> keep a copy of the previous stable version though, just in case.
>
> Also, don't forget to update Windows, your workstation's BIOS and chipset
> software to reduce some compatibility issues.
>
>
> --
> Luc Monod
> Patt-Technologies, Inc.
> St-Eustache, QC
> Canada
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

"Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
news:trudnSj3I7Sxj2ffRVn-iw@arkansas.net...
> Much thanks. I will get the Quadro. I pretty much knew that was the better
> of the two. Right now we have powerhouse systems. But the graphics cards
> are worthless. GeForce FX 5200 and 5500 series. Basically bottom end
> gaming cards. Not ideal for Architectural Desktop or Revit 8.

You'd love the systems I spec'ed for work (I'm so fortunate to have a very
understanding boss):
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.4GHz HT EM64T 2MB L2
4x 512MB, 533MHz (PC2-4300) ECC SDRAM DDR2
OS, Soft (c:) WD Raptor 7.4GB 10,000rpm SATA
Swap, temp, etc. (d:) RAID 0 2x WD Raptor 7.4GB 10,000rpm SATA
nVIDIA Quadro FX 3400 - PCI Express x16 256MB
NIC Broadcom NetXtreme 57XX Gigabit controller
Dual Dell 1905FP LCDs

--
Luc Monod
Patt-Technologies, Inc.
St-Eustache, QC
Canada
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Greg wrote:

> We are running AutoCAD and Revit. 3D and 2D stuff. I am wondering
> which would be better? An NVIDIA Quadro FX700 w/128 meg of ram. or An
> Radeon X800XL 256MB. Is the Radeon going to be able to keep up with
> the Quadro as far as 3D?

Performance-wise yes, the Radeon will smoke the FX700. However, the
Radeon is a consumer GPU that lacks several functions that might be
necessary for You (like AA lines)...

The problem with ATI is that their OpenGL drivers have much room for
improvement while Nvidias OpenGL is extremely good. But ATI got much
better during the last years...

> I don't know if more ram necessarily means
> faster in this case. The Quadro is kind of the middle of the road
> graphics card (not to mention one of the few AGP's out there).
>
> Any suggestions? I really can't go above 375 to 400 dollars.

I wonder why You compare a professional Nvidia card with a consumer ATI
card? ATI also makes professional gfx cards (FireGL series) which are
almost as good and also much cheaper than their Nvidia counterparts...

Benjamin
 

Greg

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

So maybe the FireGL X1-128 instead?

"Benjamin Gawert" <bgawert@gmx.de> wrote in message
news:3lukroF14jd47U1@individual.net...
> Greg wrote:
>
>> We are running AutoCAD and Revit. 3D and 2D stuff. I am wondering
>> which would be better? An NVIDIA Quadro FX700 w/128 meg of ram. or An
>> Radeon X800XL 256MB. Is the Radeon going to be able to keep up with
>> the Quadro as far as 3D?
>
> Performance-wise yes, the Radeon will smoke the FX700. However, the
> Radeon is a consumer GPU that lacks several functions that might be
> necessary for You (like AA lines)...
>
> The problem with ATI is that their OpenGL drivers have much room for
> improvement while Nvidias OpenGL is extremely good. But ATI got much
> better during the last years...
>
>> I don't know if more ram necessarily means
>> faster in this case. The Quadro is kind of the middle of the road
>> graphics card (not to mention one of the few AGP's out there).
>>
>> Any suggestions? I really can't go above 375 to 400 dollars.
>
> I wonder why You compare a professional Nvidia card with a consumer ATI
> card? ATI also makes professional gfx cards (FireGL series) which are
> almost as good and also much cheaper than their Nvidia counterparts...
>
> Benjamin
>
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

whats in the powerhouse? :)
just wondering how much it would differ from a graphics "digital imaging"
workstation

Henrik - who also went with Quadro's fx 3400


"Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
news:trudnSj3I7Sxj2ffRVn-iw@arkansas.net...
> Much thanks. I will get the Quadro. I pretty much knew that was the better
> of the two. Right now we have powerhouse systems. But the graphics cards
> are worthless. GeForce FX 5200 and 5500 series. Basically bottom end
> gaming cards. Not ideal for Architectural Desktop or Revit 8.
>
>
> "Luc Monod" <LMonod 'at' Patt-Technologies 'dot' com> wrote in message
> news:42fa1320$1@usenet.ugs.com...
>> "Greg" <greg@vc.net> wrote in message
>> news:9pGdnadwD7zslWffRVn-jQ@arkansas.net...
>>> So can I use the drivers that Nvidia releases on this card?
>>
>> Yes, and I'd actually suggest that you do, instead of MS update. Always
>> keep a copy of the previous stable version though, just in case.
>>
>> Also, don't forget to update Windows, your workstation's BIOS and chipset
>> software to reduce some compatibility issues.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Luc Monod
>> Patt-Technologies, Inc.
>> St-Eustache, QC
>> Canada
>>
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Greg wrote:

> So maybe the FireGL X1-128 instead?

The FireGL X1 is quite old now (basically a Radeon 9700PRO). But still
a good card, until recently I had a X1-256p that besides for MCAD I
also used for games...

But today I'd look at least on a X2 (Radeon 9800PRO class) or a X3
(X800 class)...

Benjamin