Intel Xeon Pro graphics?

therealnickdanger

Senior member
Oct 26, 2005
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I'm planning out a mITX CAD workstation built around 1151 Skylake and a P530 IGP. Does anyone have experience with Intel's performance in AutoCAD? I don't want to buy a Quadro/FireGL if I don't have to - I don't need bleeding edge power. Most of my drawings aren't super complex, but I need accuracy. Intel claims that its Pro drivers are certified with 15+ applications. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.
 

therealnickdanger

Senior member
Oct 26, 2005
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Thanks, but I guess I didn't present my question clearly enough. Just like how a Quadro card with certified pro drivers will decimate a GeForce card using gaming drivers when it comes to CAD applications, Intel offers certified pro drivers with its Xeon IGP, that should offer substantial improvements in performance and image quality under those specific applications. So, I already know how the consumer-oriented HD Graphics perform, but I specifically want to know how the Pro Graphics perform.

The Skylake GT4e seems like a very exciting SKU, but I think it's only coming to the upcoming mobile Xeons... at a price I'm not willing to pay for this simple system. LOL
 

Snafuh

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Mar 16, 2015
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I think professional cards are usually not worth the money. The performance is better compared to the same chip in a gaming card but you could just get a higher tier gaming card for the same money.
3ds Max has graphical glitches all the time even with certified drivers (it might be the software, 3ds Max is a mess).
A gaming card should be fine for you although I have no experience in AutoCAD.
 

therealnickdanger

Senior member
Oct 26, 2005
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GT4e Skylake is for desktop C and Xeons too.
Oops, I was confusing Skylake with Broadwell, which tops out at GT3e (P6300). I'll definitely keep my eyes open for Skylake GT4e.
I think professional cards are usually not worth the money. The performance is better compared to the same chip in a gaming card but you could just get a higher tier gaming card for the same money.
3ds Max has graphical glitches all the time even with certified drivers (it might be the software, 3ds Max is a mess).
A gaming card should be fine for you although I have no experience in AutoCAD.
I must respectfully disagree 1,000%. Speaking from much experience, gaming cards are pretty much garbage in professional applications. It's really not even close. I've used a lot of gaming cards, pro cards, and even softmodded gaming cards into pro variants, but ultimately the image quality (most important) and performance just can't be equaled. You gotta pay to play. I hate it, but that's life.

I found that, but you may have already seen it?
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servle...4205&id=18844534&product=128&os=131072&hw=357
You can always pop in a video card later if P530 doesn't cut it.
Yes I did see that, but thanks anyway. That's probably what I'll end up doing. That's normally what I would do, but I want to make this system as small and quiet as I can... while keeping the cost reasonable. I was hoping for some feedback from actual users/owners of Intel Pro Graphics, but I suspect that most people just slap in a Quadro/Fire and call it a day. When I search YouTube, I can only find people testing games on them. LOL
 

Snafuh

Member
Mar 16, 2015
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I must respectfully disagree 1,000%. Speaking from much experience, gaming cards are pretty much garbage in professional applications. It's really not even close. I've used a lot of gaming cards, pro cards, and even softmodded gaming cards into pro variants, but ultimately the image quality (most important) and performance just can't be equaled. You gotta pay to play. I hate it, but that's life.

What software do you use? I haven't seen any advantages in the software I use (content creation, 3ds Max, Photoshop, Zbrush, Substance). Zbrush doesn't even use the GPU without disabling the iGPU.
There might be an advantage in other software, especially CAD.
 

therealnickdanger

Senior member
Oct 26, 2005
987
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What software do you use? I haven't seen any advantages in the software I use (content creation, 3ds Max, Photoshop, Zbrush, Substance). Zbrush doesn't even use the GPU without disabling the iGPU.
There might be an advantage in other software, especially CAD.

I primarily use ArchiCAD and its features and plugins like BIMx, CineRender, etc. Sometimes Sketchup, Lightwave, or Artlantis, depending upon the project. In addition to that I've got some older Autodesk software that I sometimes use, but I mostly mentioned that because it's very popular (cast a large net...).

The single greatest benefit I see is the quality of 2D, wireframe, and renders. Every non-pro card I've used results in muddy, jaggy blobs (slight hyperbole). Sometimes there is also a speed boost, but not always. I probably won't be using this machine for heavy 3D modeling or video in Pr/AE, but I'll certainly have to test it out once I actually build it. At the end of the day, if I don't get the benefit I want from the Xeon IGP, then I'll just track down a cheap, low-profile pro GPU and get what I need. Until then, I guess I have more research to conduct.

Thanks, all.
 

Timmah!

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2010
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I primarily use ArchiCAD and its features and plugins like BIMx, CineRender, etc. Sometimes Sketchup, Lightwave, or Artlantis, depending upon the project. In addition to that I've got some older Autodesk software that I sometimes use, but I mostly mentioned that because it's very popular (cast a large net...).

The single greatest benefit I see is the quality of 2D, wireframe, and renders. Every non-pro card I've used results in muddy, jaggy blobs (slight hyperbole). Sometimes there is also a speed boost, but not always. I probably won't be using this machine for heavy 3D modeling or video in Pr/AE, but I'll certainly have to test it out once I actually build it. At the end of the day, if I don't get the benefit I want from the Xeon IGP, then I'll just track down a cheap, low-profile pro GPU and get what I need. Until then, I guess I have more research to conduct.

Thanks, all.

3dsMAX has the unpleasant feature of showing jaggy black faces all over your model (probably inverted normals) on non-professional cards. But one can live with that, the worst part is the performance, the moment you turn on edges or switch to wireframe, it goes to hell. Even on relatively new and powerful GPUs like GTX780Ti it sucks big time and to work with it is annoying as f. I swear it runs equally bad with 780 as with 580. At least thats my own experience over the past 15 years.

I dont have experience with Quadro cards. I totally wonder how those little Quadros (the NVS line) in the 100-300 EUR price range would run it. If it actually runs better than high-end gaming chips with 10x more CUDA cores.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
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3dsMAX has the unpleasant feature of showing jaggy black faces all over your model (probably inverted normals) on non-professional cards. But one can live with that, the worst part is the performance, the moment you turn on edges or switch to wireframe, it goes to hell. Even on relatively new and powerful GPUs like GTX780Ti it sucks big time and to work with it is annoying as f. I swear it runs equally bad with 780 as with 580. At least thats my own experience over the past 15 years.

I dont have experience with Quadro cards. I totally wonder how those little Quadros (the NVS line) in the 100-300 EUR price range would run it. If it actually runs better than high-end gaming chips with 10x more CUDA cores.

Not surprising- sounds like a CPU bottleneck in the graphics driver, struggling to push that much geometry. If you are CPU limited, a bigger GPU won't help one bit. Only solution is to pay for the better drivers.