ROI for video cards

phreaq · Nov 11, 2005

Hey Folks,

I'm preparing some info, in hopes my company moves from the ATI cards to the Nvidia, since they just seem to work better in SW.

The problem being, I need to justify the extra costs. I know for a $500 - $600 card its only about 25 cents an hour over a year, but I still need something.

Has anyone seen or got strong evidence for ROI on video cards?

Thanks in advance,

phreaq
Has anyone seen my brain today? (^_^)

http://www.phreaq.net

Theophilus · Nov 11, 2005

ROI should be simple to estimate--if your system crashes X number of times per day using an inferior card--and if you estimate that number could be reduced to zero or Y per day by upgrading, how much time/money is saved by avoiding this over the life of the card (2-4 years)? It would seem to be a no-brainer if you are suffering performance hits with ATI.

Another resource I rely on is Cadalyst for their reviews. Current graphics card review:

http://management.cadalyst.com/cadman/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=186989

Seriously, the graphics card is the most important element in a good workstation for making or breaking your performance. This is never something to skimp with. I use an FX-500 and am only recently coming to its limits within larger assemblies. My system VERY rarely crashes, so I lose no time in rebooting/restarting SW/clearing the TEMP and starting everything back up again to figure out where I left off.

The question remains how bad do you have it with ATI's solution?

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reality is no respecter of good intentions.

phreaq · Nov 11, 2005

Hey Jeff,

That Cadalyst article actually spawned this.

We're not exactly having crashes with the ATIs, they just have poor performance compared to my Nvidia for the same drawing. So it's not a matter of "My computer is down 1 hour a day", its more like "I keep rotating, and it eventually catches up", a little harder to relate to tangible numbers.

phreaq
Has anyone seen my brain today? (^_^)

http://www.phreaq.net

Theophilus · Nov 11, 2005

Right--good point. I'm facing similar issues with my FX-500 now, but plan to roll in the upgrade with a new box early next year.

That's going to be a tough trick--convincing a boss that you need a new card. You may want to refer to the Cadalyst review, but without "hard" data such as crashes to point to, you may have a difficult time.

Good luck.

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reality is no respecter of good intentions.