help in graphic card

[alandandrew]

Hi.
I am looking to get a new graphics card with my new computer and I wanted advice on which ones are recommended for use with 3d software and not gaming.

[M-M]

That's a nice and general question.

Here is the simple answer: There are two types of graphics cards that are widely employed today, workstation oriented cards and gaming oriented or "standard" cards. For 3D work you will be much better off with a workstation card. While a Workstation card will play most games and a gaming card will do most 3D work, neither is very good at the others task. This is due to differences in the architecture of the cards themselves.

Ok,
for ATI
Fire series are the workstation cards
-Withing this series are FireMV, FireGL, FirePro, and FireStream cards. Look at either the FireGL or FirePro cards.
Raedon are the gaming cards

for Nvidia
Quadro are the workstation cards
Geforce are the gaming cards

At this point the performance level is almost completely based on how much you have to spend.
I like the Nvidia cards, but more recently, the ATI cards have gotten quite good. Depending on what exactly you are doing (which programs, etc.) one may be better than the other. Apart from that all I can say is that you should look at some of the Fire or Quadro cards in your price range and then start reading reviews of the cards to see which will be better for you.

Also, you shouldn't forget that a good gaming card(s) can still hold it's own in heavy 3D stuff. Sure it will be easily blown away by a much lesser workstation card but if you play any games at all, I feel, that it is well worth the trade off. Unless of course you are buying for a strictly workstation computer, then you should definitely go with a workstation card.

[Purple Puppy]

Ditto on what M-M said, except: the workstation cards and gaming cards frequently do NOT differ in "the architecture of the cards themselves." For example, the NVidia Quadro FX 5800 (the best Quadro currently) uses the same core as the gaming-oriented Geforce GTX 285. Why is the Quadro an order of magnitude more expensive, and also an order of magnitude better in 3D CAD work? Answer: The cards use different firmwares and drivers controlling them. The Quadro is more optimized for performance in OpenGL -- the system that 3D programs like Rhinoceros etc use to render viewports and so on. The Quadro also has more VRAM, the memory that allows it to store highly complex 3D models without lagging. Many other subtle things make the Quadro superior in 3D work. The Quadro FX 5800, compared to the Geforce GTX 285, performs similarly in video games (the Quadro is still noticeably worse), due to the same core. But because this Quadro is far more expensive, nobody uses it for gaming. Lower-end Quadros that are comparable in price to the Geforce GTX 285, obviously perform much worse in gaming, but still manage to beat the Geforce in 3D work. Also, workstation cards tend to be a lot more reliable.

[MeM]

Hi, i tell you by my personal experience and the experience of a teacher ... i've asked him the same question
I have an ati 4830 512MB card and have some problem with Maya: 2 times a day the prog freeze ... i can only end the task.
Because of that i'va asked to that professional some suggestion. The answer was: try to not buy ati cards for progrs like maya 3ds zbrush ... Better an entry level nvidia like the 250. If you can buy a card for workstation (FX series for Nvidia, FirePro/FireGL for Ati) stay away from the entry level. Start from the mid-range (like Fx1800). If you work whit SolidWorks, Inventor, Autocad and progs like that maybe ati is better. For progs like Maya 3ds zbrush and so on ... better Nvidia.
I know, it seems that generally nvidia is better for professionals and i always preferred ati, BUT now i repent buying it ...
Now my idea is sold out my ati for a 250/260 ...
Hope it's useful for you!

AND: sorry for the bad english

[nfsc]

yeah, for price and preformance, go witht he ATI FirePro v8700, or the v8750 if u want to spent another $700 on another GB of GDDR5 memory. nVidia's quadro's are way overpriced and in software like 3ds, they are close in performance. depends on if your willing to spend double the money on something that has the same performance.

EDIT: personally, i would wat and see if ati or nvidia bring a professional card out sometime soon. Afterall, ati and nvidia got new architectures.

[M-M]

personally, i would wat and see if ati or nvidia bring a professional card out sometime soon. Afterall, ati and nvidia got new architectures.

Definitely. When Nvidia releases Fermi in a month or two it will change everything and blow away everything that anybody else has. It will be great for both gaming and workstation type uses. I think that it will mainly do amazing things for the CG industry because of it's insane speed ups of the higher precision calculations, it's caches per SM, ECC support, and simply the fact that it has almost twice as many cores as the current largest single chip (from Nvidia).