I have a few questions about which video card to get

Hello all, I have been looking at video cards, and e-mailing both nVIDIA, and ATI asking questions about there cards, and I know more about what I want now then I did before. But I still don't know what video card I should try. I was thinking of buying a proffessional workstation graphics card so that it would last a while longer then a consumer graphics card. I have looked at the nVIDIA Quadro FX 1000, 2000, and ATI FIRE GL X1. All I know about them is that the Quadro 2000 is 1,349 dollars, it takes up an AGP slot, and the PCI slot below it, and it only has 128 MB video ram. The Quadro 1000 only takes up the one AGP slot, is about 900 dollars, and has the same 128 MB video ram. The ATI FIRE GL X1 is only 849 dollars, has 256 MB video ram, and requires an AGP 8X slot. This is all the information I have on these cards that I understand. I am begining to wander if buying a high end card will be worth it? I mean will it really be a great video card long enough to be worth the money? I just need a few more suggestions on this matter. Thanks for any and all help!

o my o my, sit down please...this could take a while.

Dont assume that because they cost a grand that they will run good.

You cant run games on those cards, if your doing CAD work and can afford it...hey go for it.

But i dont think thats your thing...

I have to recomend a 9700 pro, dont ask questions, just accept that as the fact that it is the best card on the market

OMG! NO, NO, NO! Please don't assume that a workstation graphics card is going to work better for games than a card designed for gaming graphics!

Since $$$ obviously isn't a concern, I would get a Tyan or Hercules version of the 9700pro right now and upgrade to the best whenever the next generation cards come out.

P.S. based on your system sig, I would recommend upgrading to a platform utilizing DDR or RDRAM instead if you are willing to spend $1300 for a new video card!

I do use 3D studio max, and I have autocad, I just havn't learned how to use it yet. Oh yeah, and workstation graphics cards will run games great, I made sure to include gaming as something I would be using it for when I asked both nVIDIA and ATI. They both said they would not be any better for games then consumer products, but would run them just as well. So they will run games fine, I just am wandering if the consumer cards will perform well with 3D studio max, and autocad? I know the workstation cards will, but if the consumer cards will run almost just as good I might as well spend half that money and get a 9700 pro. Oh yeah, and I am going to upgrade to a DDR board also. I am just waiting for AMD to release there Opteron processor. Either that or an Intel Itainium, or Xenon processor. I am really confused about those, but that's another story. Anyway, If a consumer video card will still perform well in 3D studio max, and autocad, then I can save some money.

soundfx4 has not said whether he was looking for a gaming card or a card to do CAD/CAM work but since he said:

I was thinking of buying a proffessional workstation graphics card so that it would last a while longer then a consumer graphics card.

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It looks like he is thinking about getting a workstation graphics card instead of a gaming card for gaming.

You know, if soundfx4 is going to spend $1000+ on a workstation graphics card and is going to try playing games with it, he is bound to be disappointed BIG time!

soundfx4, *IF* you are looking to buy a workstation graphics card, buy a GeForce FX Quadro 2000. It is the best card right now which is relatively cheap for its capabilities. You can read the article on Tomshardware about this card. Here it is: http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030305/index.html

This card blows every other card out of the water in terms of CAD/CAM work but if you read the review, you won't find any gaming benchmarks.

*IF* you want a card for gaming and money to burn (sounds like it from your post), we got the *PERFECT* graphics card for you! Yes, there is an ATI Radeon 9800 pro 256mb card that is coming out next month which will be the best performing gaming card on the market and it will probably be priced at around $599. If you have to have the best of the best and need a card that will last a LONG time, then get this 9800 pro 256mb card.

"say Nvidia, does your $1000 card play vidoe games"

"yea it plays games"

mmm what else would you expect them to say

Black_Paladin said:

soundfx4 has not said whether he was looking for a gaming card or a card to do CAD/CAM work but since he said:



It looks like he is thinking about getting a workstation graphics card instead of a gaming card for gaming.

You know, if soundfx4 is going to spend $1000+ on a workstation graphics card and is going to try playing games with it, he is bound to be disappointed BIG time!

soundfx4, *IF* you are looking to buy a workstation graphics card, buy a GeForce FX Quadro 2000. It is the best card right now which is relatively cheap for its capabilities. You can read the article on Tomshardware about this card. Here it is: http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030305/index.html

This card blows every other card out of the water in terms of CAD/CAM work but if you read the review, you won't find any gaming benchmarks.

*IF* you want a card for gaming and money to burn (sounds like it from your post), we got the *PERFECT* graphics card for you! Yes, there is an ATI Radeon 9800 pro 256mb card that is coming out next month which will be the best performing gaming card on the market and it will probably be priced at around $599. If you have to have the best of the best and need a card that will last a LONG time, then get this 9800 pro 256mb card.

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I will be using the card for DCC, CAD, AND gaming. I know there are no benchmarks for those cards using games, but I asked the companies themselves and they said the would run games just as well as the high end consumer cards. And I seriously dought I would be dissapointed at anything considering right now I am running a Geforce2 MX 400 PCI lol If I were just going to use it for gaming, I would get a 9800 pro without a second thought. But I am also going to be using the card for 3D Stuido max, and autocad. So if the 9800 pro will run this applications well enough, then there would be no reason for me to get a workstation graphics card.

timmyqwest said:

"say Nvidia, does your $1000 card play vidoe games"

"yea it plays games"

mmm what else would you expect them to say

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....ummmm....that isn't what I asked. And they would have said they don't play games well if they didn't, because they still have the Geforce lineup for that!

Most consumer (gaming) graphics cards aren't up to serious workstation work so if that is your main concern, I would definitely go with a dedicated workstation card. Can't help you much beyond that, I'm just a gamer.

Wangster said:

Most consumer (gaming) graphics cards aren't up to serious workstation work so if that is your main concern, I would definitely go with a dedicated workstation card. Can't help you much beyond that, I'm just a gamer.

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That's what I thought Well, I guess spending 1399 on a graphics card isn't that bad...I just wanted to make sure that the workstation cards would play games also, because I also do that Well before I spend that much on a card I do want to make sure that it can pay for itself. I will probably go with the FireGL X1 because it is cheaper and made by ATI. So I know that it is good. Although I will have to look at the quadro fxs specs vs the Firegl x1 before I make up my mind. Well thanks for the suggestions everyone. I may end up buying an ATI 9800 pro actually because my Geforce 2 card seams to be doing ok with 3dstudio max and AUtocad, so an ATI 9800 can only be better. Anyway, thanks again!

Man, you'd have to be doing some SERIOUS 3DStudio Max and Autocad to be pushing the limits of even a ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.

"Geforce 2 card seems to be doing ok"

Dare I say more?

The newer FireGL drivers are considerably faster then the ones in that review (ie: two or three times faster in some tests).

But I think you'd be better off with a 9700 or 9800, and throwing the money you save into the rest of your system. An XP1600+ on the KT133A will be your slowdown with that class of video card.

And you can run the FireGL drivers on a 9700/9800 and make it into a 128mb FireGL card anyways.

The only reason I could see to get a workstation class card would be if #1, you need two DVI outputs, or #2, if you need 256mb of video memory.

- JW

I would get the 9700 Pro, they are great for gaming. Also they can be modded to the workstation card, if you do a bit of searching you'll find how. Hell you could buy 2 of them and set your system up for dual boot. Depending if you wanted to game or work, just pop in the right card and boot to the needed OS. You'd come out money ahead. I think the 9700 Pro would meet your needs unmodded though, unless you are heavily into rendering, which it doesn't sound like.

peace.
unloaded

I like the 9700 Pro...although I'm stuck with onboard

Actually, assembly drawings in ACAD take tons of juice.

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking for a CAD card that's decent in games. From what I've read so far, the Quadro FX2000 will run the UT2003 benchmark at 169fps whereas the 9700 Pro will run it at around 190fps (Not sure if I remembered this right). The 9700 Pro has a memory bandwidth of like 22.6 Gb/s whereas the Quadro FX2000 has something around 14Gb/s? The FX1000, having a GPU and memory clock slower than the 2000 will run games slower. It's been mentionned before that the FX chip greatly favors DCC and CAD and is lacking much in terms of games.

What I'm interested to know is how the ATI Fire GL X1 will run games seeing as how it's based on the 9700 Pro and doesn't seem to be modified too much, as 9700 Pros can be modded into Fire GLs. Maybe that one would be better all around.

Another thing about the Quadros and maybe the Fire GLs is that image quality will be, hands down, superior.

timmyqwest said:

"say Nvidia, does your $1000 card play vidoe games"

"yea it plays games"

mmm what else would you expect them to say

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"yea, it gets mad FPS in hearts"

O BTW, the $1400 will take you a lot further in consumer cards. that's enough to buy 4-5 top of the line cards. upgrade lets say every year or so, and that $1400 will last you almost half a decade.