game card vs pro card

[ggw]

I searched around but was unable to find anything in a reasonable amount of time, sorry if this has been brought up before.


I am in the market for a new computer, but it "has" to be a Dell as I'm getting a super one time discount on it which I know can't be beat elsewhere.

That said I'm looking at the t3600 line. The AlienWare line up while nice, i feel isn't the best bang for the buck and I'm not sure if my 'deal' would extend to that line anyway... besides that its not the look I like, I'm not so young anymore. 8)


My question:


Are (either/or) the Quadro600 / ATI W4900 ok for gaming? I'm wondering if i'd be taking a big hit on performance due to the drivers, which typically focus on different things between the consumer and pro cards.

I was intending to order a pair of which ever one I go with, any thoughts on that? The machine will be used more for gaming than pro applications.

thanks for your time,

-g

 

[Arkadrel]

Intel Xeon E5-2667 (6x2.9GHz + HTT, Turbo to 3.5GHz, 32nm, 15MB L3, 130W)
4x2GB Hynix ECC DDR3-1333
NVIDIA Quadro 4000

2x Samsung HD256GM 256GB 10K-RPM SAS HDDs in RAID 0

Not a PC for gameing.


To quote others:
"Can I game on a Quadro 4000 2GB Card?"
http://www.overclock.net/t/1206221/can-i-game-on-a-quadro-4000-2gb-card

It would perform like a GTX 550 Ti with 2GB of Vram but that's it. Don't expect much.

^ you can game on it, but it would be a EPIC waste of money, for low performance.


You dont need slow ECC ram, running at 1333.
You dont need a Xeon CPU.
You dont need a professional graphics card, thats over priced and slow at gameing.

The machine will be used more for gaming than pro applications.

Let me save you a fortune of money, and get 3 times the performance or something for gameing.


Get this instead:

Intel 3770k + overclock it.
DDR3 2133
SSD hard disk (instead of 2x 10k RPM raid disks)
AMD 7970 + overclock it. (alternative: Nvidia 680)

 

[Midwayman]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/workstation-graphics-card-gaming,3425.html

Have fun. IMHO pro cards are a total waste of money if you're not using it almost exclusively for pro apps *and* making money off them.

 

[Arkadrel]

Quadro 4000 = 19 fps = costs ~800$

vs

AMD 7950 boost = 63,4 fps = costs ~290$

 

[Eureka]

Intel 3770k + overclock it.
DDR3 2133
SSD hard disk (instead of 2x 10k RPM raid disks)
AMD 7970 + overclock it. (alternative: Nvidia 680)

For saving money, you really aren't. For gaming, you won't really notice the difference between an i5 and a i7 (maybe in certain games like SC2 or BF3 MP). The jump from 1600 to 2133 is even less noticeable so unless the RAM has minimal price difference it's not worth it. Why a 7970 when a 7950 or 670 can be had for a good amount cheaper?

But yeah, to OP... that system definitely is not worth it. A post in "General Hardware" might set you in the right direction if you want to spec out a full system. You might be able to spec out a DIY system for whatever your budget is. Unless your system is going to be less than $600, it's probably more worthwhile to build your own still.

 

[Arkadrel]

@Eureka

Why not go for a 3770k? guy obviously has tons of money to spend without much care.
Why not get him a top of the line gameing system? It seems like thats gonna be his main use of his machine.

Isnt a 3770k cheaper than that Xeon model?
Isnt a 7970 cheaper than the Quadro 4000?
Isnt the DDR3 2133 cheaper than the ECC ram?
Isnt a SSD cheaper than 2x 10k RPM HDDs in raid?

^^ it should be cheaper overall by abit, and its performance would be
spectacular for gameing (compaired to the system he wanted to buy).

 

[ggw]

thanks for that link to the workstation vs game card review on toms, it was exactly what I was looking for.

to the others with the assumptions and advice on stuff outside of the scope.... thanks.

 

[fixbsod]

Like others have pointed out, DON'T get the Dell. Just because you have a tremendous discount doesn't mean jack. If you need a truck but can get an awesome deal on a car is that going to work? No a car does car stuff while a truck does truck stuff. Same thing here -- a pro station is not suited to be a gaming rig. Additionally, a pro station typically costs much more than a gaming rig, so EVEN with a nice discount a pro station might be about the same cost. But so what? It doesn't do what you need to do.

 

[3DVagabond]

I mostly echo what everyone else is saying. What pro apps are you going to use?

If you are going to be doing any cpu rendering then a 6 core 3930k would be worth the cost as it will cut your rendering time substantially. If you are going to be doing GPU rendering then you want to be sure the renderer is compatible with the card(s).