what makes a CAD graphics card differ from 7800gt?

[faye]

I am looking for a very cheap video card that can handle CAD and 3d Max.

I don't know if I should get a gaming video card.
I know nowadays 7800gt is a very decent card for gaming, and it cost quite a bit too.

My priority is to get a videocard that will do CAD and 3dmax, any suggestion? or a simple card will do?

Actually i have no knowledge between gaming and graphics..

 

[michal1980]

price and accuracy&stability

cad cards need to render there 3d more acuratly, plas can't ever crash

 

[BenSkywalker]

Are you looking for educational, recreational or proffessional purposes?

If it is either of the first two then pretty much any higher end nV card will suit you well. If it is the latter then you will want to look for options such as the Quadro and FireGL line from nV and ATi. The pro boards have specialized drivers for all of the popular viz and CAD packages that improve performance a decent amount and they also tend to be built with no compromise components. There are also certain features disabled on the consumer parts, normally via drivers/BIOS, such as accelerated line AA. If you were working with wireframe a lot, then that is something that may be a big issue for you.

Also- expect to pay significantly more money for a pro level board- even when compared to a 7800GTX. I assume that this isn't in a pro capacity yet as you make mention of the GTX costing quite a bit- it is actually considerably cheaper then current pro level boards and a fraction of the cost of applications such as 3DSM.

 

[flynnsk]

software certification ... thats why Quadros = $2000.00 + where GF = 1/10-1/5th of Quadro. There are usually some physical differences, mainly for stereo output and sometimes other proprietary connectors.

 

[Geomagick]

The higher end professional cards will have things like dual dual link DVI whereas consumer cards will not.

 

[Keeir]

Okay, for CAD/FEA engineering software you can use anything that supports OpenGL well. I say this because the majority of this type software uses OpenGL. Don't know what 3d Max uses...

The real question would be what kind of performance do you need?

Even a "cheap" Nvidia NVS 285 (~200) can provide 6-7 times the performance level of an integrated solution. A Quadro FX 1400 (~300-400) on the other hand only provides 9-10 times the performance of an integrated solution.

There are actually quite a few differences between a Gamer card and a Quadro card. This includes a better QA for the chips and better software certification... but there are other things as well. Nvidia has a good ( albeit marketing) article on some of the fine differences.

My advice would be to go with a lower end Nvidia NVS/Quadro card line because you can expect better support from the CAD software companies and right now ATi has a significant performance gap in OpenGL (yes this affects CAD programs as well).

 

[CP5670]

I believe some of the 6800 cards can be softmodded into Quadros (as far as the extra features go) using Rivatuner. That might be something worth looking into.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Originally posted by: Keeir
Okay, for CAD/FEA engineering software you can use anything that supports OpenGL well. I say this because the majority of this type software uses OpenGL. Don't know what 3d Max uses...

The real question would be what kind of performance do you need?

Even a "cheap" Nvidia NVS 285 (~200) can provide 6-7 times the performance level of an integrated solution. A Quadro FX 1400 (~300-400) on the other hand only provides 9-10 times the performance of an integrated solution.

There are actually quite a few differences between a Gamer card and a Quadro card. This includes a better QA for the chips and better software certification... but there are other things as well. Nvidia has a good ( albeit marketing) article on some of the fine differences.

My advice would be to go with a lower end Nvidia NVS/Quadro card line because you can expect better support from the CAD software companies and right now ATi has a significant performance gap in OpenGL (yes this affects CAD programs as well).

quadro nvs cards are meant for 2d applications, not 3d.

a 6800 ot 7800 gaming card work find for professional opengl apps. the only limit is on how many accelerated windows you can open at once.

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze

quadro nvs cards are meant for 2d applications, not 3d.

a 6800 ot 7800 gaming card work find for professional opengl apps. the only limit is on how many accelerated windows you can open at once.

I don't know that much about the Quadro cards, but I cannot believe this.
What's the point of having 24 pixel pipelines for 2d apps?

 

[Keeir]

Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze


quadro nvs cards are meant for 2d applications, not 3d.

a 6800 ot 7800 gaming card work find for professional opengl apps. the only limit is on how many accelerated windows you can open at once.

Thats more marketing segmentation rather than actual limitation.

NVS's are not the greatest for 3D work, but they will do work well with OpenGL. Its a question of how much improvement is needed. There are cards with Quadro Support that don't cost more than 500 if the user only needs a certain level of performance...

Checking Newegg, a NVS 285 is <200 and provides around 70% of the performance (in CAD/FEA software) of the FX 1400 at >700. (Yes, this is for single window performance)

I think this is due mainly to CPU limitations or potentially just un-optimized UIs.

At good place for direct public benchmarks is
SPECviewperf

Unfortunately, for CAD engineering programs throwing more money into higher end Quadro cards rarely involves a similar increase in performance (or even a significant increase in performance)

 

[lifeguard1999]

Originally posted by: Keeir
Okay, for CAD/FEA engineering software you can use anything that supports OpenGL well. I say this because the majority of this type software uses OpenGL. Don't know what 3d Max uses...

3D Studio Max uses either OpenGL or DirectX. It is your choice. From personal experience, I would advise to use DirectX. It runs much better for some reason.

 

[pkme2]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=45&threadid=1716347

Here's my card and it can handle any graphic program with ease. Make sure this is the one for you by checking the specs. Good hunting!

 

[faye]

actually the graphics card is for interior design of use.
the graphics of course needs to be accurate. But how accurate... it all depends the price.

If i get a 128mb of 6600gt (this line) of video card, will i get a pretty short load time because of the 128mb of ram?

 

[Eureka]

128mb of ram is not a lot...

Norm

 

[CorCentral]

I told you guys already, GET A FLOWBEE !
HERE

 

[BenSkywalker]

actually the graphics card is for interior design of use.

Go with a consumer nV part- and try and pick one up with as much RAM as possible. 512MB would be much better then 256MB. Working with interior design the higher levels of RAM will allow you to use much higher resolution textures for better presentation purposes.