I don't know much about workstation graphic cards and I'm hoping someone here does. Will a top notch workstation card smoke a top notch gaming card when it comes to running a program like solidworks, rhino, alias, 3ds max etc...? Vice versa, how well does workstation card perform with gaming situations?
![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Gaming vs Workstation Cards?
- Thread starter deep22
- Start date
A workstation card will out perform a gaming card in.. solidworks, rhino, alias, 3ds max
A gaming card will out perform a workstation card in.. doom, bf2, frycry, ext..
A gaming card concentrates on seoftware rendering vs a workstation that is hardware rending.... i belive don't quote me on this though..
A gaming card will out perform a workstation card in.. doom, bf2, frycry, ext..
A gaming card concentrates on seoftware rendering vs a workstation that is hardware rending.... i belive don't quote me on this though..
Gaming card is good for gaming. Workstation card is good for rendering.
It's down to the architecture. I don't know enough about it to explain it to you. But also, workstation cards usually have more memory because they have to process textures and render in real-time.
It's down to the architecture. I don't know enough about it to explain it to you. But also, workstation cards usually have more memory because they have to process textures and render in real-time.
This is pretty much what I suspected... I use a plain 6800 right now which manages to run most games decently. Recently I've had a lot of school assignments requiring computer modeled designs and renders. The performance of my machine with these programs is pretty weak. Guess I need a separate rig for gaming and 3d modeling?
Oh yeah... my system specs:
MSI K8N neo platinum
AMD 3800+ clawhammer skt 754
2x 512 pc 3200 corsair xms ram
eVGA 6800 video card (AGP)
2x 36.7gb WD raptor HD
80gb WD caviar HD
Oh yeah... my system specs:
MSI K8N neo platinum
AMD 3800+ clawhammer skt 754
2x 512 pc 3200 corsair xms ram
eVGA 6800 video card (AGP)
2x 36.7gb WD raptor HD
80gb WD caviar HD
tshontikidis
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2004
- Messages
- 168
I am in a simular situation. My company just started doing graphic design sort projects and right now we are using a POS laptop and about to buy a Dell XPS. What would be a good workstation card for this. We do not do anything to hardcore yet, a little bit of video and photoshoping.
MrGuvernment
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2004
- Messages
- 21,912
eno-on said:
Exactly workstations cards and apps like 3d studio / Maya etc use OpenGL plugin that let you use the Video card's power for real time rendering and such
look for an OpenGl haack for your 6800
if your system is lagging behihnd using PS - you need more RAM - move your scratch disk to a sperate PHYSICAL harddrive but seperate from the program drive adobe is on as well as your VM drive.
PS loves 2g of ram.
Actually, architecturarely, workstation and gaming cards are very similar - to the point that flashing a gaming card with the bios from a workstation card based off the same card would more or less convert it from one to the other (was a popular way to make workstation cards out of the GeForce FX series iirc). I wouldnt try it with a newer card though - nVidia and ATI most likely anticipate people trying to get a $1000 workstation card by flashing a $300 gaming card, and I doubt they'd make it easy to pull off successfully.Bona Fide said:
The main difference between workstation and gaming cards is in the driver. I seem to remember reading that it was possible to force a gaming card to use a workstation card's driver with RivaTuner, but I dont know the details of how to accomplish this, or exactly how effective it would be. If it works, could be a good way to save money on a workstation card though
same question here. so similiarly constructed cards, wkstation vs gaming, have the same capabilities, either card can be used for either task, usage warrants type?
I have been looking for a dual dvi card and the difference between my choices is a 100.00, the wkstation card Quadro FX 1000 128MB Dual DVI cost more but is not necessarily better than a XFX GeForce 6600?
I have been looking for a dual dvi card and the difference between my choices is a 100.00, the wkstation card Quadro FX 1000 128MB Dual DVI cost more but is not necessarily better than a XFX GeForce 6600?
Aaaaggh yes, RivaTuner is a good bet for that. It allows you to unlock the professional capabilities of the card (OpenGL mainly, I believe) by changing the driver and some of the registry settings as well. I don't know if they do anything to the hardware, but by using RivaTuner you can get some of the performance optimisations of the Quadro series. Give it a go, you may just find that it improves the performance in those applications.RavenD said:Actually, architecturarely, workstation and gaming cards are very similar - to the point that flashing a gaming card with the bios from a workstation card based off the same card would more or less convert it from one to the other (was a popular way to make workstation cards out of the GeForce FX series iirc). I wouldnt try it with a newer card though - nVidia and ATI most likely anticipate people trying to get a $1000 workstation card by flashing a $300 gaming card, and I doubt they'd make it easy to pull off successfully.
The main difference between workstation and gaming cards is in the driver. I seem to remember reading that it was possible to force a gaming card to use a workstation card's driver with RivaTuner, but I dont know the details of how to accomplish this, or exactly how effective it would be. If it works, could be a good way to save money on a workstation card though
I have built a number of CAD systems for people in the last few years and this is what I have found:
1. Get the most Powerful CPU you can afford. I have also found that Solidworks likes Intel better than AMD. Seems to run better on the P4 Architecture.
2. RAM, lots and Lots of RAM. Get as much as you can afford. You have 1 gig now, get 2 Gig, CAD and Graphics LOVE RAM.
3. Use the Quadro cards. I have found them better performers than the FireGL cards. Personal observation and preference. Also for a good Quadro, don't expect to pay less than $400.00. They are expensive but they do the job.
4. As one of the other posters said, a disk just for the swap area, the bigger the better.
These are all things I have found in the last few years of building these kind of systems. You can use a game card, the friend I started building these systems for used game cards for years because he was too cheap to buy a good workstation card. I got him a low end Quadro with 64MB of RAM on it and he was in heaven. It worked smoother than a 128MB game card.
The bottom line is that you can use a Game card if the system is going to be dual use but if you can afford it, build or buy a purpose built system for CAD.
Just as a thought or pie in the sky wish. With the SLI boards coming out now, Imagine having two Quadro cards in SLI! Or even better, have a Game card in one slot and a workstation card in the other and be able to switch between the two. That would be slick, probably unrealistic but slick.
1. Get the most Powerful CPU you can afford. I have also found that Solidworks likes Intel better than AMD. Seems to run better on the P4 Architecture.
2. RAM, lots and Lots of RAM. Get as much as you can afford. You have 1 gig now, get 2 Gig, CAD and Graphics LOVE RAM.
3. Use the Quadro cards. I have found them better performers than the FireGL cards. Personal observation and preference. Also for a good Quadro, don't expect to pay less than $400.00. They are expensive but they do the job.
4. As one of the other posters said, a disk just for the swap area, the bigger the better.
These are all things I have found in the last few years of building these kind of systems. You can use a game card, the friend I started building these systems for used game cards for years because he was too cheap to buy a good workstation card. I got him a low end Quadro with 64MB of RAM on it and he was in heaven. It worked smoother than a 128MB game card.
The bottom line is that you can use a Game card if the system is going to be dual use but if you can afford it, build or buy a purpose built system for CAD.
Just as a thought or pie in the sky wish. With the SLI boards coming out now, Imagine having two Quadro cards in SLI! Or even better, have a Game card in one slot and a workstation card in the other and be able to switch between the two. That would be slick, probably unrealistic but slick.