$9000 system with a Quadro FX 4500 not for games?

[skahtul]

Just wanted to post a question, since I don't know much about current Nvidia cards. I have a HP xw9300 3D Work Station with the following hardware:

Dual (not dual core) AMD Operton 2.4GHz (italy core)
8 Gigs of RAM
360 SCSI High Performance HD
Nvidia Quadro FX4500

This system is running Linux but I thought it would be fun to put windows on it and run some benchmarks since as stated above this is a 9000.00 computer. I mean an Nvidia Quadro FX4500 is around 1800.00 just for the card?
Boy was I surprised. It only beat my system at home by 3000 points or so (and my system at home is just okay). The score for 3DMark03 was "15869".
Is something wrong or is this card not good for stuff like games? I realize that it is a special card but don't know much about it.
THANKS!

I wish I had this system at home, it even supports SLI, imagine if this had 2 7800's!

 

[TheGreySpectre]

quatros and firegls are optimized for rendering not games.
Also 2 CPUs wont help you in gaming

 

[skahtul]

quatros and firegls are optimized for rendering not games.

That is what I thought, thanks.

Guess I better run some rendering benchies to compare!

 

[Quailane]

The cards should still play games nearly exactly the same between the quadro and comparable geforce. In the end it is called a ripoff.

Pretty much the only thing you are comparing is the videocards because in the two systems nothing else is the bottleneck.

 

[futura2001]

Quadros are optimized for high-end 3D. They have the same cores as Geforce cards, but instead of running the core for DirectX optimization, they are factory set for OpenGL performance.
If you run a DirectX game on a quadro, it will generally run worse than it would on a Geforce. Whereas if you run an OpenGL program on a Quadro, it will perform better than it would on a Geforce.
No, a Quadro is not a ripoff. It is not a gaming card and should not be treated as such. If you want a gaming card and you buy a Quadro because "its more expensive so it must be better", enjoy somewhat lower performance and an empty wallet.

 

[Quailane]

Quadros are optimized for high-end 3D. They have the same cores as Geforce cards, but instead of running the core for DirectX optimization, they are factory set for OpenGL performance.
If you run a DirectX game on a quadro, it will generally run worse than it would on a Geforce. Whereas if you run an OpenGL program on a Quadro, it will perform better than it would on a Geforce.

Okay, that is just plain wrong. The difference is that the quadro supports a multitude of features that would only interest people running professional rendering software and to get a lot of different rendering effects. It also provides many optimizations that greatly increase performance in these apps.

No, a Quadro is not a ripoff. It is not a gaming card and should not be treated as such. If you want a gaming card and you buy a Quadro because "its more expensive so it must be better", enjoy somewhat lower performance and an empty wallet.

What I was saying was that $9000 for that rig is a ripoff. Quadro will provide slightly less gaming performance because of all the other optimizations made to it to run other programs.

 

[Bios24]

That rig is NOT for gaming. It's probably not a lot better than the systems we have for gaming. Joe-blow and gamer's aren't going to pay $9k for it. That'd be nuts.

That rig IS for high-end 3D rendering/etc and business workstation applications. I have no doubt it will own any of the computers we have around here in those applications.

 

[darksparkz]

Quadros aren't as good as GeForces in gaming. Mainly because Quadros render things with greater detail, which is required for workstation programs and all that, but Geforces render things faster. Because if your playing a game, you wouldn't need to notice the details, since you'd just run right past it.

 

[futura2001]

Okay, that is just plain wrong. The difference is that the quadro supports a multitude of features that would only interest people running professional rendering software and to get a lot of different rendering effects. It also provides many optimizations that greatly increase performance in these apps.

Rendering effects? Only realtime rendering is done on the graphics card. Final rendering is all processed by the CPU. Which is why the box has dual processors, 8 gigs of ram, and is running *nix.
Anyways, being able to display whatever is being worked on, be it ultradetailed CAD, 3D modeling, etc. is the focus of a professional graphics card: rendering the maximum amount of geometry onscreen, with a minimal amount of CPU usage.
As for software optimizations, those are performed through the drivers, not the hardware.

 

[Quailane]

As for software optimizations, those are performed through the drivers, not the hardware.

The hardware is the same. It is only the firmware and drivers that differ.

One thing is that the quadro's don't cut corners like the desktop cards do so that image quality is increased at the cost of a little performance, basically that causes the discrepancy.

 

[DeepScience]

Rendering effects? Only realtime rendering is done on the graphics card. Final rendering is all processed by the CPU.

Yes, rendering effects real time in OpenGL so you don't have to wait around to see previews. All rendering isn't final rendering you know.

 

[jcw122]

Also 2 CPUs wont help you in gaming

Yeah they will...

1 core for the game...
1 core for the OS and backround services.

 

[skahtul]

That rig is NOT for gaming. It's probably not a lot better than the systems we have for gaming. Joe-blow and gamer's aren't going to pay $9k for it. That'd be nuts.

That rig IS for high-end 3D rendering/etc and business workstation applications. I have no doubt it will own any of the computers we have around here in those applications.

You are 100% correct. I ran some 3d rendering benchmarks, WOW, that rig is amazing. I tried some of the same rendering on my system; it fell on its face and cried.
It is going to be used for a high end "3D Visualization Studio" complete with projectors and a bunch of other goodies, including up to 3 more of these! I work for a division of a local university, and they do geological research. Lots of 3d mapping/modeling and stuff.

Also thought I would mention my other 'project'. Even though I don't get to help set it up, I get to play a little with our new 32 computer Linux cluster. It is being used by one of the Geophysics to do calculations. So much fun!

 

[skahtul]

Only realtime rendering is done on the graphics card. Final rendering is all processed by the CPU. Which is why the box has dual processors, 8 gigs of ram, and is running *nix.

That is pretty much the conclusion I came too, but why Linux? All I know is it had to be the 64bit version of Linux, and let me tell you what a pain that was (this particular configuration is very new, had to go through a bunch of 'work arounds' as HP called them to get it to work!).

 

[5|*42]

That is pretty much the conclusion I came too, but why Linux? All I know is it had to be the 64bit version of Linux, and let me tell you what a pain that was (this particular configuration is very new, had to go through a bunch of 'work arounds' as HP called them to get it to work!).

With 8 gigs of RAM, you have to run a 64 bit OS, and I really doubt whoever built that would want the 9K system to run x64. Also with Linux you would be able to configure it much more, and get ride of all the stuff you don't need to make it render much better. What cooling does that use? Water, or liquid nitrogen, or what?

 

[skahtul]

What cooling does that use? Water, or liquid nitrogen, or what?

You know, I kind of expected a heavier duty cooling solution when I opened it up, but it was prertty basic. Has a 92mm fan in the front, 120mm in the back, and the PS has a fan (cant remember what size). The coolers for the optys are just a small heat pipe setup, though there is a special ducting system that almost completly covers them both and half the motherboard. The video card has two huge heat pipes with an 80 mm fan.