HELP! finding an affordable graphicsCard for AutoCAD & GraphicsDesign

[Goose77]

im building a workstation for my uncle and needed some help finding a good graphics card for AutoCAD and other architech type of programs. im looking to spend in the range of $200-400 USD. if someone could point me in a direction where i might be able to find something like this, i would appreciate it.

jimbo

 

[Mingon]

The geforce 4 card will be an excellent choice and will run acad without a hitch.

 

[Goose77]

cool.... but is there a professional card such as the ATI Fire GL 8800 or something of that sort... im looking for a mid-range to lowend graphics card. this GL is just out of my reach. thanks for all the help

 

[jm0ris0n]

You really need to check out the 3dlabs Wildcat VP.

How many versions of the Wildcat VP technology are being offered?
There are three Wildcat VP boards: the Wildcat VP 760 which is ideally suited for 2D and 3D CAD applications; the Wildcat VP 870 which is an excellent choice for DCC and higher-end CAD applications; and the Wildcat VP 970 which is aimed at the CAD, DCC or visual simulation user who seeks extra performance or who wants to drive the highest resolution digital flat panel displays.

What are the differences among the 3 Wildcat VP products?
The primary differences are: chip clock speed, amount of memory, and display support. The Wildcat VP 760 is equipped with 64 MB of DDR memory. The Wildcat VP 870 comes with a faster core clock speed and 128 MB of DDR memory; the Wildcat VP 970 has the fastest core clock speed among the boards, 128 MB of DDR memory and offers Dual-link DVI display output to drive very high-resolution flat panel monitors.

http://www.3dlabs.com/product/wildcatvp/faq.htm

What are the estimated street prices (ESP) for the Wildcat VP products?
All prices are estimated street prices in US only - and may vary in other countries

Wildcat VP 970 ESP is $1199
Wildcat VP 870 ESP is $599
Wildcat VP 760 ESP is $449

http://www.3dlabs.com/product/wildcatvp/index.htm

For 449.00 You can own a 3dlabs wildcat! It'll blow all other competition out of the water

 

[jbond04]

Originally posted by: Goose77
cool.... but is there a professional card such as the ATI Fire GL 8800 or something of that sort... im looking for a mid-range to lowend graphics card. this GL is just out of my reach. thanks for all the help

What exactly does your uncle do that requires such a high powered graphics card? I use a GF3 at home in ACAD 2002 to do both mechanical drafting, architectural drafting, and 3D animation. At work, I have an integrated i810 graphics chip, where I do architectural drafting and 3D animation. And at school, I have a TNT2, where I do the same stuff as I do at home.

I find the largest limiting factor in CAD performance is not the graphics card, but rather the CPU/RAM combo. Unless you are working with incredibly large CAD files or 3D models (200,000+ polys), your CPU and RAM still don't have that great of a bearing on performance. I think that most people are fooled into thinking that professional 3D cards offer a large performance boost over what they currently have in their system. If you switched me between my home, work, and school workstations in AutoCAD, without telling me which one is which, I honestly don't think I could tell the difference...and I use at least one of these systems every day!

Spending $400 on a professional graphics card is not the best place to improve performance in CAD/architectural work. Instead, I would recommend more RAM (unless he already has at least 512MB) and a faster CPU. I think that a larger performance boost would be realized through an upgrade of that sort.

Hope this helps!

-Scott Fehringer
-2002 Roseburg High School graduate
-Draftsman, Paul L. Bentley Architect, AIA PC
-Second Place Winner, Technical CAD Drafting, 2002 National SkillUSA/VICA Championships