Been tasked with buying aftermarket video processors on a budget

Good morning,

 

I have to upgrade three new desk tops with aftermarket graphics cards in a couple of days, with only a couple of dollars.

 

We are running three seats of AutoCad LT 2016 SP1 Win 10 compatible on one HP, one Dell, and one Lenovo. They are all eye 5 or better, 64 bit with pci-e slots available, less than one year old. The Lenovo is still in the box, and it will be the only Win 10 machine.

 

They are looking at the NVIDIA Quadro K620. It is only 2 gig, and seems a little small in my opinion.

 

We run with huge pdfs attached and need more video memory than the on board processors seem to have at hand.

 

Will adding a 2 gig graphics card to these boxes get us anything, especially with the Lenovo? The Lenovo comes with 2 gig dedicated video memory on board according to the outside of the box. It is an H50-50 model and I was not involved in the purchase of it.

I got a 2 gig card for my home machine years ago. I would go with 4 gigs.

Wow! You've been given a budget of less than $200 per video card to improve performance? I think the bean counters just threw the old dog a bone to see if he'll quiet down. They probably spent more on the chairs they sit in.

 

If you like nVidia and want a Quadro card then look at the K1200 which can be purchased from Newegg for $295. Comes with 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 ram. It's a mid-range card not an entry level card like the K620.

 

Just curious...how much RAM installed in each of the three computers?

Wow! You've been given a budget of less than $200 per video card to improve performance? I think the bean counters just threw the old dog a bone to see if he'll quiet down. They probably spent more on the chairs they sit in.

 

If you like nVidia and want a Quadro card then look at the K1200 which can be purchased from Newegg for $295. Comes with 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 ram. It's a mid-range card not an entry level card like the K620.

 

Just curious...how much RAM installed in each of the three computers?

I am overstating or is it understating my budget a bit. I have some leeway, but I simply am not as up to speed on the cards as I should be.

 

I do prefer Nvidia. I have had a lot of good performance from a couple of them. They seem to be issue free.

 

We are running two 8 gig machines, and the new Lenovo is a twelver.

This is difficult. I left my computer glasses at work and I cannot even clearly see the keyboard. I may not check back in until Monday. Aaaaannnd, I expected to log some OT at home too. That may be in the bucket. Crap. I'd go get them, but I don't have keys to the building.

We went 16Gb as minimum on our new Pc's it may be a combination of both more Ram and Video. 8Gb is not a lot these days.

 

Can you borrow the 8Gb making 16Gb and do a test etc.

The Boss took drafting out of the shopping loop without telling us, and just dropped two Nvidia quadro k4200's on my desk. Oh well. I guess the issue is solved.

Do not buy a Quadro card to use with LT. You could not have a bigger waste of money. Newegg had GTX750 2gb cards for $100. All you'd ever need for LT.

Send them back if you can.

Do not buy a Quadro card to use with LT. You could not have a bigger waste of money. Newegg had GTX750 2gb cards for $100. All you'd ever need for LT.

Send them back if you can.

Too late, the other guy already installed one of them. We are not just dealing with LT. We run LT with massive amounts of attached images and vector pdf's. One of our brand new machines came with a 2 gig nvidia installed and it is only fair. The two that we needed to upgrade came only with the intel HD on board processor.

Biggest thing to look for when getting more powerful GPU is the size of the Power Supply.

Size doesn't matter.

Biggest thing to look for when getting more powerful GPU is the size of the Power Supply.

 

Yep, good call.

Too late, the other guy already installed one of them. We are not just dealing with LT. We run LT with massive amounts of attached images and vector pdf's. One of our brand new machines came with a 2 gig nvidia installed and it is only fair. The two that we needed to upgrade came only with the intel HD on board processor.

 

I understand. I be interested to know how these work out for you.

Biggest thing to look for when getting more powerful GPU is the size of the Power Supply.

 

Is that just to make sure that your "current" one will be able to handle the additional load or is there something more to it?

Connectors wasn't mentioned, size was. I agree though, I needed to upgrade my power supply for a new GPU. I didn't see any that didn't have the necessary connectors. There is also some debate as to those power ratings on the GPUs. What it comes down to is what you are doing. Unless you are doing some intense rendering, or similar, you probably won't come close to the high end of power needs on the GPU. The ratings are usually a worst case scenario but it is always best to be prepared.

Biggest thing to look for when getting more powerful GPU is the size of the Power Supply.

That we did account for. thx.

I got a 2 gig card for my home machine years ago. I would go with 4 gigs.

As a matter of fact, they are Nvidia Quadro K2200 with 4 gig GPU. (not 4200) I mis-remembered what the box said on it.

 

The one installed seems to be functioning much better than the on board.

Size doesn't matter.

Thanks, that made me laugh coffee out my nose.

Is that just to make sure that your "current" one will be able to handle the additional load or is there something more to it?

 

The load, some computers (even newer ones) with onboard GPU will sometimes have a too small PSU for much of an upgrade. GPU manufacturers will give the recommended minimum PSU needed as well as the draw of the GPU.

It's that minimum rating that was in question when I was looking into it. It's got a huge fudge factor in most cases, unless you are really taxing the overall performance of the card on a regular basis. PSUs also have a huge fudge factor, too. So, you have leeway on both ends. This may have nothing to do with Dana's situation really, but if he were going to say a 12 gig card and only really needed a 4, his power requirement wouldn't reach the max of the 12 gig card and could therefore could stay with a lesser power supply. That's what the theory was anyway and being in the engineering field I tended to believe it.

 

Personally, I would recommend staying within recommended numbers, but in a pinch, wouldn't be afraid to push the limits. Just sayin'.