video card for rendering

[aluigi]

Hi guys

I need your professional help.

I have just build a quite powerfull computer:

3ghz processor-2 gb 3200 corsair ram- raid

etc. etc.

I use mainly autocad/lightscape and photoshop

(and alo viz4)

Question: Should i buy a fx5900-128mb/256mb (game card- is it also good for 3d appz?)

or should i look for the quadro cards like the

quadro4 or the fx version?

Your quick help really appreciated.

[bigcahunak]

Hi luigi

"They" would say "if you got the money to spend - get the quadro" - I wouldn't... but then I'm not one of "them"...

[ch83575]

If you do mostly cad then there is no need for the big guns card (unless you work with very large detailed models and expect them to rotate quickly). If you do a lot of textureing in lightwave then I dont know how you can live without a quadro4. I use maya for all of my 3d stuff, and when i put in my new quadro4 500 it was like night and day (over the descent ATI card i had previusly). Also don't even try to do any hardware rendering with a games card, it just wont happen.

 

My two cents: go with the quadro! Next to a graphics tablet it is the most important part of the cg artist tools. And even the botom of the line quadro will blow the pants of any games card when using openGL programs.

[LukeC]

bigcahunak is right, "They", rather "we" are going to say go with the quattros. Fact of the matter is not everyone is a millionaire and i respect that.

 

I started off in your situation too and I bought an ATI 9800 Pro and it was a great card over the older card I had previously. It did what had to be done, but took longer and as my models slowly got more complex, the higher my frustration levels got with the fact that everything was so slow.

 

I then moved onto an Quattro FX 500 which was head and shoulders above the gaming card and now i've moved onto a Quattro FX 3500.

 

I do however have to mention that both the fx cards are company owned and i didnt have to dish out the cash to get them, and I probably wouldnt have been able to pay for them myself.

 

Anyway what im getting at is that the more you pay the better the card and its evident in your work. I mean you gotta work it out, is it worth spending a bit extra for the less hastles and getting your work done quicker. Will it pay off in the long run? i spose it really depends on your work your doing.

 

The other thing i should mention is that Quattros arent necessarily the only other option, ive read the FireGL's v5100 and v7100's are very good competitors for a fraction of the cost. Though I should note they are PCIe cards, so that mightnt be possable depended on your hardware.

 

Anyway, have a look around at some reviews. Try http://www.tomshardware.com, its proven useful to me a few times before

[xelan]

The only difference between Quadro series and some good gaming card is hardware rendering. Other aspects are pretty much the same. So if h/w rendering is not important, I'd go for some good gaming card.

[Chris Lee]

Hi,

 

You might want to look into modifying (soft/hard) a game card into a professional one.. ie. ATI 9800 -> Fire GL

 

Its a cheaper way, but its almost impossible to get the full feature of the pro. grade cards. If you are serious about your work, then go for the pro. grade cards definitly!

 

HTH!