Nvidia Graphics Cards

[Eric]

I'm in the process of narrowing down the components for my new system. Can someone shed some light on the difference between these two cards?

 

Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra

Nvidia Quadro FX 1100

 

The 6800 Ultra is currently on Pricewatch for about $317. The FX1100 for $624.

 

As far as I can tell, the the 6800 Ultra is actually a faster card with more memory bandwidth 35.2 GB/sec verses 10.4 GB/sec, and a 256-bit memory interface verses the 1100's 128-bit interface.

 

The 6800 Ultra has a 6.4 billion texels/sec fill rate verses the 1100's 3.4 billion/sec.

 

Both have dual 400 MHz ramdacs

 

The 6800 has "Full OpenGL, including OpenGL 1.5", though I don't know if that's hardware support, or software.

 

Can anyone tell me why I should not just buy the cheaper Ultra? I do CAD, 3D, and Photoshop, and lunch time gaming!!

[Devin Johnston]

I have the FX 1100 it's a good card and I haven't had any problems with it but if they have come out with a card that is faster and cheaper then I would go with it!

[Eric]

Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about the 1100. It was on the top of my list for purchase options. My confusion is that the FX1100 is a pro/workstation card. The 6800 Ultra is a desktop/gamer card. If it's got hardware OpenGL, or even if it's capable as a decent workstation card by virtue of its speed alone, it's going to be an awesome card!

[tomankubik]

my advice is if you're not user of older Cinema 4d (v6 and older) go for 3dlabs...they are absolutely the best...and the older versions aren't that expensive

[blaz]

i used 3dlabs also, the old version, wildcat vp570, it's only 64mb but it works very good