ctclothbagco Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I'm currently building a new pc to run the latest Autodesk products. I'm looking at graphics cards but I'm not exactly sure about which is best, although with experience I'm going for Nvidia not ATi. I've done various searches on the web etc. but it all seems to be people running 1 or 2 programs like Autocad or Inventor. I'm looking to run Inventor Professional, Alias studio, 3DS Max, Maya, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical etc, all on one pc. Currently I'm running Inventor Professional Suit 2009 and 3DS Max Design 2009 on an old HP Vectra, used to have a Quadro 380 card but it didn't run the programs very well and now running with a 4/8x AGP Gainward Nvidia GeForce FX5500 card and it works amazingly considering, the only downside is the limited RAM which makes it slow up after a while. But I've looked through the system requirements on the web for the new product sand they all recommend Quadro cards, but that 3DS Max will work on GeForce cards but not recommended. I'm considering a Quadro 4000 or a GeForce GTX 580, but I'm getting a bit confused and not entirely sure which to go for, as from past experience I've found a GeForce to be better than a Quadro. Any help would be greatfull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Are you going to be buying a new computer? I'm currently using a nVidia Quadro 4000 in my work computer and I like it for what I do. Unfortunately I only use AutoCAD so I cannot tell you how well it might work with 3ds Max or Maya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cad64 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I have always used GeForce cards, for years, and never had any issues. But with the newer versions of Studio Max I'm starting to see problems. Display issues and difficulty navigating large scenes. The next time I upgrade I will be going with a Quadro card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctclothbagco Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 No not buying, building a new one myself. I've got a new Intel DH67CL motherboard, and going to get an i7. As for the graphics I've found a GeForce GTX 580 3GB for half the price of and twice the memory of a Quadro 4000, so I think I'll go for the GeForce. Thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 You should go Quadro. The newer Autodesk drivers do not support the GeForce cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Honestly your 2 original cards are not that different in performance. http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=487&card2=158 Coming from an AGP based system to a PCIe system you should see noticeable difference. Here is a link comparing the differences in a gaming card to a professional card. http://www.cgarchitect.com/news/Reviews/Review076_1.asp I think your choice is a good one myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I'll back f700es up - go with the GeForce card. The performance gap is extremely close, but the Quadro card is way more in dollar amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 My onboard ATI HD4200 in my new home machine so far has done well with AutoCAD 2012, Revit Arch, Inventor Fusion, 123d and SketchUp. No big files yet but so far it performs as good as my Quadro FX580 at work (at least as far as I can tell). Now I am sure there are areas where the Quadro is better but so far it's been fine. I do plan on adding a new nVidia card later on. Something that is OpenGL 4.0 and DirectX 11 capable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_O'neill Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I use a geforce, never had any problems with it. this is an older machine though, but at the time it was the hottest thing going. I bought the best i could afford, and naturally the very next week they put better ones on sale for a few pennies more than I paid. compare all the specs, see what you can afford, then go hock something and buy the next step up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I haven't really kept up on this topic - but from what I have read I think game cards are fine since Autodesk went to Direct X. The CAD cards are no longer worth the extra cost - put that money elsewhere. If needed, I can search out some past threads by someone from Autodesk (I think Norbet is the name if you care to do the Google search). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raudel Solis Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 as long as it has CUDA Cores for 3ds Max Iray Rendering if its an i7 cpu, make sure to by the second generation series if you have no budget get a xeon or the 3xxx Intel I series Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_Taylor Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I am currently running an nVidia GT 250 (overclockled of course , which is an older version the card your looking at, although im buying a new computer tonight or tomorrow). I have never had issues running any Autodesk software (Inventor 2012, Revit 2006 and AutoCAD 2012). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 nVidia GT430 fermi here and all my CAD/3D software works well too. If I used it 8 hours a day I would have gotten a higher end GTX based card but this budget one works fine for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 GeForce drivers are not certified by AutoCAD/Autodesk. Most complaints on here graphics related are users of non-certified drivers, there have been two this week alone with GeForce. IMHO, if your chosen profession uses this software, you should pay a few extra dollars for a certified card. My Quadro 600 was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Roy Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 We have the following cards (among others) in our office. My personal ratings when using Revit 2012 on these various machines are as follows: Quadro 2000 > QuadroFX > GTX580 > ATI FireGL > Radeon (yes, we had a Radeon...) I'd love to have Q4000's for everyone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Mather Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/107050 Click View All in lower right corner. Happy reading. http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Inventor/Benchmark-for-Autodesk-Inventor-2012/td-p/3213542 http://www.mcadforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12719 http://www.mcadforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9473&highlight=opengl http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Inventor/Direct3D-or-OpenGL/m-p/1621669 Keep in mind that some of this stuff goes way back and is more of a history of progression. Look for the latest recommendations. http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/cert?siteID=123112&id=16391880 http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=16318759 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittle Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Any thoughts on using a GTX 580 with civil 3d? I've come to the point where my work Quadro FX1800 is not handling Mudbox very well where as my home GTX580 is fine. The GTX also runs Max perfectly well so far. I've not tried CAD packages though at home and certainly don't have any complex Civil 3D data at home to really push it. Can anyone share their experiencse? As I'm thinking of requesting a new card at work - and potentially a GTX 580. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The GTX 580 should rock the pants off the FX1800. The GTX has way more performance horsepower, and 3-4 years newer if I'm not mistaken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f700es Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I agree, I think any advantage the Quadro would have in C3D would be diminished by the newer card's specs and performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittle Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The company I work for is putting a 3000M into the latest spec computers, although they're laptops. Has 2GB itself so pretty decent spec. Doh, back to the old debate. I guess I can sty and install Mudbox on one of the laptops and see how it handles. Hey Stykface - are you still using MEP? Started a new job 8 months ago and have not touched it since though not done a great deal of mechanical work. We've got access to pretty much any Autodesk software - if you were in that situation, would you still use MEP? Or go plant 3d? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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