Upgrading Graphics, which card?

I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card as I currently run a GT 640 which isn't great. I am also doing more 3D work recently.

The rest of my specs are:

Win 7 64 bit

Core i7-3770

8 GB RAM

Standard 7200rpm Seagate 1TB HDD

I am unsure if I should get a Quadro or a GTX. People always say a Quadro will give you better performance in CAD but I remember upgrading a suite of computers in my last job to them and I didn't think they gave that much more performance (I was an IT tech back then so didn't look into it in detail).

I also remember reading this article on Toms Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493-6.html

This makes it look like the 'gaming' cards perform better and don't cost the earth in comparison.

The cards in my price range are either a GTX980 or a Quadro K2200. (=2953&cmp[]=2947"]Comparison)

I know these are only 3D mark benchmark results so will not correlate to CAD performance but the results are hard to ignore.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

This might be a good place to start.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?siteID=123112&id=18844534&results=1&stype=graphic&product_group=3&release=2015&os=8192&manuf=all&opt=0

Are you buying or is work buying? I talked my office into buying me a AMD FirePro W8000 for my Windows 7 Desktop

This might be a good place to start.

 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?siteID=123112&id=18844534&results=1&stype=graphic&product_group=3&release=2015&os=8192&manuf=all&opt=0

I did start there Mark. It doesn't mention the GTX 980 isn't listed but the 6 year old GTX 280 and K2200 is. It doesn't really help other than letting you know they have tested it.

Are you buying or is work buying? I talked my office into buying me a AMD FirePro W8000 for my Windows 7 Desktop

Work will be buying, but I work for my family business so I obviously don't want to go mad when I wouldn't see a benefit. The card I have now runs a lot better than expected but 2 years on and with acad 2015 its starting to slow down.

Has anyone used both a low end Quardo and a high end GTX to compare?

Sort of, I've used a mid range of both and the Geforce is better for the money.

A GT 640 isn't necessarily "bad". I can use that card no problem and I'm brutal to CAD. I'm just worried you may go spend $1,000 on a video card and not notice much difference at all. An i7-3770 is what.... 2-3 years old now?

Best bet is to wait it out another year or two and get a new rig altogether. High end SSD, new gaming card (GTX 900 series or whatever is out at that time) and new Intel i7 with 32GB RAM. Then you'll be set.

A $110 GTX660 will out perform that K2200 in AutoCAD. Spend your money wisely

A GT 640 isn't necessarily "bad". I can use that card no problem and I'm brutal to CAD. I'm just worried you may go spend $1,000 on a video card and not notice much difference at all. An i7-3770 is what.... 2-3 years old now?

 

Best bet is to wait it out another year or two and get a new rig altogether. High end SSD, new gaming card (GTX 900 series or whatever is out at that time) and new Intel i7 with 32GB RAM. Then you'll be set.

Hmm, that's not a bad idea. I'll have a think about it over the next few days.

Thanks.

I have 2 cards. a GTX-660ti and a Quadro K4000.

I do a little 3D and I feel there is a difference between the 2.

A lot are on the GTX-??? bandwagon.

It is a lot less money for very good performace.

Something else to consider, the GTX card will take advantage of a 3.0 PCI slot where only the Quadro K6000 and K5200 only use it.

It seems if the card were faster then the 3.0 slot would be a requirement.

If you are adding the card be aware of the power requirements. If not you might be getting a new power supply. These higher end gaming cards need power and cooling.

Good luck with either card type.

It's not necessarily a GTX bandwagon, it's just the cost-to-performance ratio bandwagon. There's certainly differences between the two, but to what degree is the question, especially considering the price tag.

Bingo! If you are doing AutoCAD, Revit and Inventor it just seems that a GTX based card is a better price-per-performance option. Why spend 6 to 7 times the money for the same performance?

I have 2 cards. a GTX-660ti and a Quadro K4000.

I do a little 3D and I feel there is a difference between the 2.

A lot are on the GTX-??? bandwagon.

It is a lot less money for very good performace.

Something else to consider, the GTX card will take advantage of a 3.0 PCI slot where only the Quadro K6000 and K5200 only use it.

It seems if the card were faster then the 3.0 slot would be a requirement.

If you are adding the card be aware of the power requirements. If not you might be getting a new power supply. These higher end gaming cards need power and cooling.

 

Good luck with either card type.

Thanks for your input. I hadn't thought about power consumption - I will have to have a look into it. It's a Dell system at the moment so doubt there will be enough capacity to support a 980. I also doubt it has a PCI 3.0 slot. Is there anyway of finding out though any software?

I'm happy jumping on a bandwagon, there is obviously a good reason for it and when you have a limited budget you want to the best performance for your money as others have stated.

You never know. Just post up the Dell system model and you can search the specs on it. PSU would probably need to be a 650W or higher, and need to confirm the motherboard has the correct slot.

Be warned Dells cannot just use any power supply. Most of their cases do not have the slot for the rocker switch on the back of the PS unit (my main gripe with Dells). You'll have to make sure you order the PS without the rocker switch on the back (or cut the case!).

I have a GTX 860M installed in Laptop and AutoCAD 2014 runs butter smooth. It is not a certified card from Autodesk, but over all it performs like a champ.

You never know. Just post up the Dell system model and you can search the specs on it. PSU would probably need to be a 650W or higher, and need to confirm the motherboard has the correct slot.

I have a Dell Vostro 470. Can't find out if it has PCIe 3.0 or not and I think I will have to look inside to see what wattage the PSU is.

Be warned Dells cannot just use any power supply. Most of their cases do not have the slot for the rocker switch on the back of the PS unit (my main gripe with Dells). You'll have to make sure you order the PS without the rocker switch on the back (or cut the case!).

Thanks for the warning. I will probably just cut the case if I need to.

The power supply is listed as being 350 watts. Had you gotten your Vostro with a dedicated graphics card then the power supply might have been bumped to 460 watts.

Hmmm, that came with a 3rd gen core i5 cpu. If I was a betting man I would say that has either a PCIe 1.0 or at max 2.0 slot.

The O.P. did mention a Core i7-3770.

350WPSU? Yeeeeah, gonna have to upgrade that if you want to rock a 900 series GTX for sure.

*EDIT*

Okay, the Vostro is a mini-tower. This computer isn't going to work at all. It'll have to be a new tower altogether IMHO.

A Vostro is what you get when a bean counter buys a "CAD" computer. Bean counters should, by law, be prohibited from buying any computer that will be used for doing CAD work. That also goes for many IT departments.