Need recommandation on video card for 3D auto cad.

[vandy2000]

I need an expert opinion on what video card should I buy to run with 3D auto cad. I am putting a new PC together with the following spec. any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks.

1.4GHz TB
MSI K7T266Pro DDR Board
512MB DDR Memory (Crucial)
20GB HDD ATA100 7200
😎

 

[Workin']

You don't need anything special, that's for sure. All AutoCad stations at the engineering firm where I work have Matrox G400MAX cards, hardly cutting edge. And they work perfectly well. Any current-model graphics card should be fine.

 

[dullard]

What is your budget? Here is what CAD users at Cadalyst found (higher is better):

3dLabs Wildcat II 5110: Best performance of any card currently available at $2000,
ATI Fire GL2: 52.6 at $1200,
ELSA GLoria III: 38.4 at $1200,
Oxygen GVX420: 29.1 at $2500,
Oxygen GVX210: 28.2 at $2000 (old price),
3dLabs Wildcat 4110: 26.7 at $2200 (old price),
ELSA GLoria II: 24.9 at $700 (old price),
ATI Fire GL1: 23.8 at $700 (old price),
E&S Tornado 3000: 19.2 at $1300 (old price),
ATI Radeon32: 17.9 at $279,
Matrox G400: 15.6 at $210 (old price).

Ok, some of the prices are out of date, but this should help you with your choice. The ATI Fire GL2 will render over 3 times as fast as the Martox, but you need to fork over $1000 more. If you are paying employees $50000/year, $1000 is one week of work. If you feel a card that is 3 times as fast will save you more than one week of work, then it is actullay cheaper to buy the better card.

 

[Helznicht]

"Any current-model graphics card should be fine."

Ditto.....

 

[Workin']

<< If you feel a card that is 3 times as fast... >>

As long as ALL you do is 3D rendering (not drawing using wireframes or non-rendered drawings). My CAD techs don't spend even 5 percent of their time doing renderings.

 

[dullard]

<< As long as ALL you do is 3D rendering (not drawing using wireframes or non-rendered drawings). My CAD techs don't spend even 5 percent of their time doing renderings. >>



Most people would only spend a small percent of the time waiting for renders, I agree. Almost any card purchased now will work, I also agree.

If vandy2000 will be spending lots of time waiting (s/he never mentioned what specific work will be done) then it may be worth the money for a more expensive card. I personally run into cases where my old card (ELSA GLoria) took 25 minutes to render some of my work (I rendered several times per day). That was unacceptable performance. So I purchased the ATI Fire GL2 and the same thing is completed in about 2 minutes. Thus I save about an hour per day. If my time is worth $100/day, the card pays for itself in two weeks. I realize that my work (computational fluid dynamics) is not typical of Cad work so other people may never see positive returns on the investment, especially if they aren't currently spending much time waiting.

Yes, any card will work. And yes, some cards cost quite a bit. However, computer costs are quite small compared to human labor costs. Some people will find that upgrading is worth the money, others won't. That is the reason I listed all the cards that Cadalyst tested (to give a large range of price and performance).

 

[Workin']

dullard, I appreciate the info, and I didn't mean to knock what you said. Just wanted to point out that in many cases you don't need to drop a wad of cash OR lose productivity. The important thing is to get the right tool for the job, at the lowest possible cost (which includes incremental labor costs, as you pointed out).