Can someone explain the Quadro Line to me?

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K

Kenazo

Lifer
Sep 15, 2000
10,429
1
81
Did a search at my fav computer retailer and get a list of Quadros half a mile long. The card will be used for running Autocad Inventor. Which one should I use?

PCI-E is preferred, but AGP will do, it'll just change the Mobo req's.

I see Quadro4 FX3000's, Quadro FX540, Quadro 4 100NVS, etc, etc I know the consumer lines well, but not this stuff.


So, what's the Hierarchy of Quadro's?

Help please. :)

Each project has usually 2000+ parts if that makes a difference for your recommendation.
 
Soccerman06

Soccerman06

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2004
5,830
5
81
The hierarchy is pritty much like every other thing made, the higher the #, the better and more expensive it is, but base it on price right now. I have no idea which one to buy, but pci-e would be more ideal just because of the upgrade factor.

Also dont forget ATI's FireGL.

Ill try to find a review, but there arent that many websites that review these.
 
K

Kenazo

Lifer
Sep 15, 2000
10,429
1
81
I found a few reviews @ Tom's, but the problem is they only review current gen cards. I'd love to see a complete hierarchy of actual speed. For example a Geforce 5900ultra is faster than a Geforce 6200, but there's no way of knowing that if the review doesn't compare them. :)

ATI's FireGL 5100 looks like a good buy. how does it compare to the Fire GL X2-256 though? (I think this is another of those cross generational questions)
 
M

MercenaryForHire

Lifer
Jan 31, 2002
40,819
2
0
RojakPot Consumer GPU Guide
RojakPot Workstation GPU Guide

You should be able to draw enough comparision there with the information given (cores, clock speeds, pipelines, etc). The Quadro line gets extra OpenGL features (double-sided lighting, line AA) and "Certified Quadro Drivers" that make sure that your CAD drawings/renders/etc look true to form. Consumer line gets biased to speed over quality (optimizations, etc) and workstation the other way. They also tend to get better multimonitor (dual DVI vs DVI+VGA, quad DVI on the NVS400) and nifty features (SLI NV3x chips on the Quadro FX 1400 PCIe).

So, yeah. Information overload. :)

I know there's a list somewhere of what cards match up to their respective consumer siblings, but I'm overdue for sleep - and I'm not alone tonight. ;)

- M4H
 
MDE

MDE

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
13,199
1
81
I'd love to see a list of which workstation cards are based off of which desktop cards (like the Quadro version of the 6800GT\Ultra, etc.).
 
M

MercenaryForHire

Lifer
Jan 31, 2002
40,819
2
0
Originally posted by: MDE
I'd love to see a list of which workstation cards are based off of which desktop cards (like the Quadro version of the 6800GT\Ultra, etc.).
Click to expand...

If I've got some spare time at work, I'll do that. For now, check the workstation chart, and play "match the chip" to the consumer-side. Example - NV25GL is obviously the NV25 derivative, which is the geForce4 Ti series.

The big name right now would be the Quadro FX 4500, which is the workstation 7800GTX.

- M4H
 
MDE

MDE

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
13,199
1
81
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Originally posted by: MDE
I'd love to see a list of which workstation cards are based off of which desktop cards (like the Quadro version of the 6800GT\Ultra, etc.).
Click to expand...

If I've got some spare time at work, I'll do that. For now, check the workstation chart, and play "match the chip" to the consumer-side. Example - NV25GL is obviously the NV25 derivative, which is the geForce4 Ti series.

The big name right now would be the Quadro FX 4500, which is the workstation 7800GTX.

- M4H
Click to expand...

I'm pretty familiar with the Nvidia side, but I've got almost no clue on the codenames for ATI's chips.
 
secretanchitman

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
9,352
23
91
i'd get the 6600GT version of the quadro. its performance its pretty good. or at least the FX5900 version of it.

theres also ATI too...but i dont know much about it.
 
Soccerman06

Soccerman06

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2004
5,830
5
81
My dad uses a FireGL in his laptop, no idea which one it is, but uses some EE program, but he likes it.
 
K

Kenazo

Lifer
Sep 15, 2000
10,429
1
81
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
RojakPot Consumer GPU Guide
RojakPot Workstation GPU Guide

You should be able to draw enough comparision there with the information given (cores, clock speeds, pipelines, etc). The Quadro line gets extra OpenGL features (double-sided lighting, line AA) and "Certified Quadro Drivers" that make sure that your CAD drawings/renders/etc look true to form. Consumer line gets biased to speed over quality (optimizations, etc) and workstation the other way. They also tend to get better multimonitor (dual DVI vs DVI+VGA, quad DVI on the NVS400) and nifty features (SLI NV3x chips on the Quadro FX 1400 PCIe).

So, yeah. Information overload. :)

I know there's a list somewhere of what cards match up to their respective consumer siblings, but I'm overdue for sleep - and I'm not alone tonight. ;)

- M4H
Click to expand...


Thanks, that helps a lot. :)

I've been doing some more reading and it looks like pretty much the best bang for the buck is going to be the FireGL V5100. They want to go PCIe, and that card seems to kick butt, especially for its price.
 
J

JonnyBlaze

Diamond Member
May 24, 2001
3,114
1
0
Originally posted by: xtknight
Are you using 2D or 3D in Autocad Inventor?
Click to expand...

inventor is 3d modeling program.

kenazo, do you know how big the models they are going to be working with are??

unless they are huge, you dont need the high end quadros.

 
K

Kenazo

Lifer
Sep 15, 2000
10,429
1
81
Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze
Originally posted by: xtknight
Are you using 2D or 3D in Autocad Inventor?
Click to expand...

inventor is 3d modeling program.

kenazo, do you know how big the models they are going to be working with are??

unless they are huge, you dont need the high end quadros.
Click to expand...

probably between 2000 and 5000 parts. They make canvas hoop buildings (like this one) and their draftsman draws in every screw, so it all ads up. They currently are running:

A64-3200 (s754)
2 gig's ram
Quadro 750XGL
120gig SATA hdd
WinXP Pro

It just doesn't seem to have the nuts to render their bigger buildings. It freezes up on the huge buildings and if it can do them, it's a little too slow. For the smaller buildings it's fine.

What I proposed to them:
A64x2-4200
4 gig's ram
Some PCIe based mobo

This seems to be the best bang for the buck. Going Opteron adds a freaking lot of $ to the price. s939's can run ECC ram, right?

 
J

JonnyBlaze

Diamond Member
May 24, 2001
3,114
1
0
Originally posted by: Kenazo
Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze
Originally posted by: xtknight
Are you using 2D or 3D in Autocad Inventor?
Click to expand...

inventor is 3d modeling program.

kenazo, do you know how big the models they are going to be working with are??

unless they are huge, you dont need the high end quadros.
Click to expand...

probably between 2000 and 5000 parts. They make canvas hoop buildings (like this one) and their draftsman draws in every screw, so it all ads up. They currently are running:

A64-3200 (s754)
2 gig's ram
Quadro 750XGL
120gig SATA hdd
WinXP Pro

It just doesn't seem to have the nuts to render their bigger buildings. It freezes up on the huge buildings and if it can do them, it's a little too slow. For the smaller buildings it's fine.

What I proposed to them:
A64x2-4200
4 gig's ram
Some PCIe based mobo

This seems to be the best bang for the buck. Going Opteron adds a freaking lot of $ to the price. s939's can run ECC ram, right?
Click to expand...

thats looks taxing on inventor. i would go with the biggest quadro they can afford. the 4 gigs sounds right, tell them to look into the /3gb switch so iv can take advantage of the extra ram.

inventor doesnt support dual cpu's but i still recommend it because the computer wont be tied up while its regenerating an idw.

 
D

Dubb

Platinum Member
Mar 25, 2003
2,495
0
0
Originally posted by: MDE
Originally posted by: Kenazo
Originally posted by: MDE
No ECC on Socket 939.
Click to expand...

I thought they did ECC just not registered.
Click to expand...

When was the last time you saw ECC RAM that wasn't registered?
Click to expand...

the last time I looked in both my workstation and fileserver. ECC DDR 400. check crucial.com
 
K

Kenazo

Lifer
Sep 15, 2000
10,429
1
81
So I ended up going w/ the following for the build:

ATI FireGL v5100
A64 x2 4200
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
4 gigs dual channel OCZ EL
200gb Seagate SATA
Antec Sonata II case w/450w Antec PSU
 
I

Ineptitude

Member
Apr 19, 2003
25
0
0
I've got to agree with JonnyBlaze. I've had many problems with ati cards and inventor.

I just upgraded to inventor V10 and it won't run on my 6800GT. I'm seriously bummed. Now I have to fork out the cash for a quadro or fireGL card.

Does anyone have any experiance running games (unreal, hl2, etc) on these cards?
 
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