FireGL v3300

[aposatsk]

Hello!

I'm trying to find a suitable video card for 3D cad work with SolidWorks, CATIA, etc.

My budget for the video card is <(~)450 (Canadian), although cheaper prices are welcome .

I've been considering the FireGL v3300, mainly because it's recommended by the SolidWorks website as a tested workstation card. However, I've been unable to find benchmarks for this card on tomshardware.com or anywhere else.

I'm also attracted to this card because it seems to be the only workstation card that I can afford! Furthermore, I'm afraid that a good gaming card won't be very good when using SoldWorks, which seems to be what the SolidWorks website says.

See the link here: http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/videocardtesting.html

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[Lord Banshee]

if you can get a little more money than the QuadroFX 1400 is A LOT better.

Other than that i rather get a QuadroFX560 which is based off the 6600 series Geforce and teh v3300 sounds like it is based off the x1300. I would take the FX560

FX560
Mem BW: 19.2 GB/s
Vertices/Sec: 120Mil Tri/Sec ~~ 140M*3/Sec = 420M/Sec... i think

v3300
Mem BW: 6.4 GB/s
Vertices/Sec: 300M/S

To me it seems solid to get the FX560, also the nVidia drivers tend to be better in CAD applications.

 

[bamacre]

I would also consider checking Ebay, as there are a lot of Dell-pulled workstation-class cards out there. Dell pays MUCH MUCH less than what others are paying via retail outlets.

I sold a V3400 last week for $130.

 

[aposatsk]

Well the FX560 is within my budget, so I would be willing to get it instead of the v3300.

Are there any benchmarks which compare these cards?

Also, is there really a benefit in using a workstation card like the fx560 or the v3300 instead of game oriented cards (the 6xxx series)?

 

[NatePo717]

I work for SolidWorks tech support and I recommend any of NVIDIA's Quadro FX line of cards. These are the cards we use in our systems here most of the time. I believe the FX 1400 is the most popular among our computers. I know my laptop here has an FX 1000 in it and my desktop in my office has an FX 1000 (got an AGP mobo and this is all we had for it). It all depends on the size and complexity of the things your working on. If your dealing with some 1000+ part assemblies your gonna want something pretty beefy (and plenty of memory).

The only ATI card I have experience with is the V5500 and it was much slower then what I'm using now. Then again my HP laptop had some issues which is why I have the dell now.....

The reason you want to go with a workstation card is for the drivers. The drivers are optimized for OpenGL applications (such as SolidWorks) and are very accurate with rendering. There really is no difference between the hardware, it's the drivers.

 

[aposatsk]

Unfortunately the 1400 is beyond my budget. Also, I could not find the FX 1000 anywhere! (I searched newegg, canadacomputers, and tigerdirect)

I'm actually considering the FX 560 now. Is this a good choice fort he money?

 

[NatePo717]

FX 1000 has not been produced in a while. Lowest of their mid range is the 1300 now, however you should be fine with the 560.

Here's a review of the FX series of cards:

Text

You'll have to scroll through it to find the benchmarks. They are in an Excel file.

Excel file


Few more benches comparing it to ATI cards:

Text

They may not be comparing it to the 3300 but the 3400 should be pretty close. In most apps the 560 tops the 3400.