CAD video card, good buy?
CAD video card, good buy?
(OP)
The company i'm working for has a fast rig, but the videocard is an NVS piece of garbage. I'm tired of having seizures trying to select edges in solidworks, so I'm going to ask them to buy a new video card.
htt p://www.ne wegg.com/P roduct/Pro duct.aspx? Item=N82E1 6814195045
I've found the FireGL V3350, its listed on the solidworks approved videocards site, but I don't know how it is performance wise. Is it worth buying a more expensive card? 100 dollars might be an easy sell to the big boss, so I hesitates to just pick a more expensive card off the bat.
Thoughts?
htt
I've found the FireGL V3350, its listed on the solidworks approved videocards site, but I don't know how it is performance wise. Is it worth buying a more expensive card? 100 dollars might be an easy sell to the big boss, so I hesitates to just pick a more expensive card off the bat.
Thoughts?






RE: CAD video card, good buy?
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people who value security over freedom will soon find they have neither.
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
Personally I would stay far away from them and go to Nvidia.
Regards,
Scott Baugh, CSWP![[pc2] pc2](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/pc2.gif)
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RE: CAD video card, good buy?
there is also this low priced quadro, does anyone know of any resources to compared workstation cards? I have no idea what the performance difference between these 100 dollar cards and 400 dollar cards are.
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html
Cheers,
Anna Wood
SW2008 SP4.0, Windows Vista SP1
IBM ThinkPad T61p, T7800, FX570M, 4 gigs of RAM
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/solidmuse
http://www.phxswug.com
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
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SolidWorks from the 2007 benchmark scores does not seem like it is making the best use of additional graphics horsepower. Other CAD packages seem to, but not SolidWorks. I am sure its complicated.
Pete
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
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RE: CAD video card, good buy?
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
The three things I've come across that have me leaning this way are here:
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No particular passage; it is relating to other software, but it should be a similar "problem."
secondly here:
http:
Specifically this excerpt: "The situation has changed: the top gaming graphics accelerator we took as n[sic] example this time – GeForce 9800 GTX – was completely defeated by its professional opponents only in one synthetic SPECviewperf testing suite working with an OpenGL driver. In real applications the systems equipped with this card performed very well. Moreover, in some tasks such as SolidWorks 2008 and AutoCAD, it worked even faster than 100-dollare[sic] professional solutions."
I had also read some disdain for the SPECviewperf earlier as a means for benchmarking 3d performance but cannot substantiate the claim.
Lastly from a forum:
"Video cards... yeah. We have some boxes with ATI FireGl 7300 cards, some with Quaddro cards, and some with 8800GTX gaming cards. THE CARDS DON'T SEEM TO MAKE A DISTINGUISHABLE DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE. In fact, running video from the on-board VGA motherboard graphics with no card was almost the same as the high-end workstation cards."
Now I do know from personal experience that my home machine that had a RADEON 9800 Pro did a very poor job with the standard drivers, but I'm wondering if that was an outlier since the machine at work has an older MX4000 that runs SW2k6 adequately (not great--but nothing I fault it for since the computer is ancient).
I'm loathe to spec out a quadro given their prices, and obviously the money could be well spent with RAM and processor speed. Does anyone have the panacea for this question?
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
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RE: CAD video card, good buy?
How much do you risk throwing away chasing a problem if you use an unsupported card?
Use a gaming card if you're so inclined, but in my opinion the risk/reward ratio is too high to justify the use of an unsupported card, especially if part of the justification includes "softmodding" the card to behave like a supported one. It comes down to a business case that everyone must make individually. For me personally, I use an approved card and the correct drivers.
I don't often have reason to contact technical support, but if and when I do the last thing I want to have happen is to have what might very well be a legitimate issue get brushed aside because I willfully ignored the recommended hardware configuration. I'm more than happy to let SWX recommend hardware; I'll stick to designing parts.
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
I am almost certain a gaming card would be capable for what I work with, however:
dgowans--you make a very apt point, though were it my money (and time) on the line I might try the gaming card first--simply because from that side you can pay half the cost of one of the lowest workstation cards for oozing edge (not quite bleeding anymore) gaming hardware. Then the worst case is you take the depreciation hit on re-sale. However, since it would be for work I agree that perhaps it's not worth the risk of having problems that will be ignored.
I appreciate the insight/guidance.
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
I think in terms of raw performance, you wont see much difference between a gaming or workstation card, because they are essentially the same hardware. However, go with the workstation card because its what supported and tested, and when you're using ridiculously expensive software to begin with, the price difference on a workstation card is a drop in the bucket.
If you're a kid at home who plays with solidworks inbetween counterstrike matches, then sure, get the gaming card. Just don't try to argue that everyone else should.
RE: CAD video card, good buy?
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the best use of these Forums?