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nVidia Video Card

nVidia Video Card

nVidia Video Card

(OP)
Hello All

 I would like to get a nVidia Video Card for my home computer.  I have a Gateway AMD 3800+ Dual Core, 3Gb of RAM and Windows XP Pro.  I was looking at the Quadro FX 1500 and Quadro FX 3450.  Any suggestions about a video card.  Thanks.

Cheers,

Ralph Wright, CSWP
SolidWorks 2005, SP5.0
P4, 2.53Ghz
1.5 Gb RAM
ATI Fire GL8800 Card
Windows 2000 Pro

RE: nVidia Video Card

I have the FX1400 on my work computer and it's a great mid-range MCAD V-Card.  Two things that are important to a MCAD machine RAM and V-Card.....go big!

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

RE: nVidia Video Card

Get the best Quadro FX card that your budget will afford.

cheers

RE: nVidia Video Card

I really must disagree, instead of buying a FX3450/3500 you should spend your money on a FX1500 and a CPU upgrade.
The FX3450/3500 cards need a faster cpu to reach their full potential (I came to this conclusion after benchmarking my FX1400 and FX3500 on several systems).

Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer

RE: nVidia Video Card

Only Quadro card not to get is the FX NVS - its not a CAD card  and its the only FX card that is not supported.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP pc2
www.scottjbaugh.com
FAQ731-376

RE: nVidia Video Card

Stefan - I would like to see the results of your benchmarking.  And how much faster than a AMD 3800 dual core?

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

RE: nVidia Video Card

I tend to agree with Stefan.  I went from one system to another--the first had an FX-500, the current has an FX-1400 (or 1440 "Express"--whatever).

I saw strange artifacts and things that wouldn't refresh right away on my old system, thinking I was running out of card power with the huge assemblies and complex geometry I was doing.  That stuff (for the most part) did NOT go away with the upgraded system and card.  It appears a certain amount of what I didn't like is actually endemic to SolidWorks.

Hence, I'd go for more processor power (and did) in a system on my next purchase as well.

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all.  And awe transcends reason.

RE: nVidia Video Card

I'll see if I can find more, for starters, here are some cinebench results:

CPU / MHz | Video card | Rendering 1 core | Rendering multiple cores | Shading CINEMA 4D | Shading software OpenGL | Shading hardware OpenGL
 1. C2D 3370          | FX3500OC     | 584 | 1097 | 677 | 2398 | 7971
 2. C2D 3240          | FX3500OC     | 562 | 1053 | 653 | 2310 | 7784
 3. C2D 3440          | FX1400OC     | 594 | 1126 | 697 | 2459 | 7654
 4. C2D 3440          | FX1400OC     | 603 | 1128 | 696 | 2453 | 7621
 5. C2D 2920          | FX3500         | 507 |  956 | 590 | 2082 | 6916
 6. C2D 3370          | FX3500         | 582 | 1098 | 680 | 2205 | 5179
 7. C2D 3440          | FX1400         | 603 | 1121 | 696 | 2221 | 4766
 8. Opty 175 2640   | FX3500OC     | 444 |  831 | 435 | 1799 | 4726
 9. Opty 175 2637   | FX3500          | 442 |  831 | 436 | 1798 | 4688
10. Opty 175 2637  | FX3500          | 442 |  825 | 436 | 1790 | 4669
11. C2D 3340         | FX3500          | 603 | 1120 | 695 | 2208 | 4572
12. HP 2085ea 1833| Geforce 7200 | 273 | 492 | 321 | 1261 | 1972

Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer

RE: nVidia Video Card

Thanks Stefan.  Then this opens up a new can of worms when building a MCAD system and should SWx recommend systems?  The reason why I ask is our IT guys, although good at what they do, have not the first clue what's important when it comes to building a MCAD system.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

RE: nVidia Video Card

(OP)
Thanks for all the comments from everyone.  I think I will go with nVidia Quad FX 1500.  I can one for $625 CDN. from Tigerdirect.  Again thanks for the help.

Cheers,

Ralph Wright, CSWP
SolidWorks 2005, SP5.0
P4, 2.53Ghz
1.5 Gb RAM
ATI Fire GL8800 Card
Windows 2000 Pro

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