Video Card Recommendations

[Bill Tillman]

Okay gang, I've been given the green light on a new project and it means I finally get to work from home instead of commuting. So I'm finally going to break down and buy a barebones kit with the following specs:

 

CPU = Intel i7 Quad Core 920

 

Memory = 8 GB, maybe 12 GB if there's enough cash left

 

Video Card = EVGA GeForce 9500 GT Video Card - 1GB DDR2, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Support, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, VGA Support

 

I'm concerned about the video card. Does anyone know if this one is listed as AutoCAD compatible. Where can I find a list of AutoCAD tested video cards?

[kencaz]

I would go with a Quadro Card like the FX 580. Even the low end Quadro cards will do better then the GeForce (Gaming cards), for cad applications.

 

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_580_us.html

 

 

KC

[ReMark]

Graphics hardware list (recommended by AutoDesk). Start with this...

 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/hc?siteID=123112&id=6711853&linkID=9240618

[SuperCAD]

I second the Quadro cards. We have Quadro 3500 cards at work and it's been a major improvement with renderings and such.

[JamFam]

Hi. I too am looking for a video card that I can put inside my new MSI 790FX-GD70 Motherboard along with its AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black cpu and 4 gigs of DDR3 ram. I have been looking at the HIS Radeon HD5750 video card but now I'm seeing others posting that an Nvidia card is preferred. Why is the Nvidia card preferred over others? and what should I be looking for in a graphics card to deal with AutoCAD 2007 both 2D & 3D. I can't afford anything over $200.00. I did visit the link ReMark posted and used some of its references to do some browsing over the internet. I would appreciate some of you sharing your real life experiences about video cards to help me decide on which brand to spend my last $200.00 on.

Thanks In advance

[ReMark]

nVidia and ATI have been sharing the top two spots for graphic cards preferred by CAD users for the last several years. Before that Matrox was a top contender. If you stick to a card that has support for OpenGL (even though AutoDesk says it prefers DirectX 10) then you'll do fine.

[Glen Smith]

I just found this review/comparison of mobile graphics cards this morning. It is based on gaming, but at least helped me to compare where the card that is in the laptop I requested from the PTB stands relative to other cards.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=302231

 

 

the last edit date:

12-13-2009 at 02:58 PM. Reason: updated entire guide

So it should be current.

 

Glen

[f700es]

When in doubt compare...

http://www.gpureview.com

I like quadros as well but the new GTX line from nVidia looks very nice.

[makdak2010]

Hello, i am also about to buy a new system so i'd like your opinion.

I work with Autocad and i don't use 3-D at all, only 2-D. And besides that, i only use MS Office programs and watch some movies from time to time, no gaming or 3-D stuff like that. So, do quadro/fire cards perform better on 2-D too? Or should i go for a low-end regular video card? I also consider buying a motherboard with on board graphics or the new intel i3 with integrated graphics chip.. What should i go for? Money is always an issue

[ReMark]

I would NOT buy a computer that relied solely upon an onboard GPU (graphics processing unit). When overtaxed graphically the system will resort to stealing resources from main memory thus slowly your system down. Do yourself a favor and get a dedicated graphics card. It's worth the price.

 

As for what card to get I'd recommend you forego buying a Quadro or FireGL card as I don't think you'll get much benefit from it and the cards tend to be pricer. A nVidia GeForce card, medium price range, should suffice quite nicely.

[lionman]

If you use Autocad 2010 then there is no point spending more on Quadro. It is a massive waste of money.

 

Autocad are moving away from openGL and now support DirectX. This means that a good gaming card will perform very well with the newer version of Autodesk products.

 

If you use an older version of CAD then maybe it's worth going for an openGL optimised card but even then it would be debatable. I have heard many stories of people with a workstation card at work and a gaming card at home and can't tell the difference in performance.

 

Also, the Nvidia GTX line is probably not worth considering (not until GTX470/480). In my part of the world at least they are very rare new as they have been out of production for a while now. The ATI 5000 series would be the best bet, at least until Fermi hits the shelves.

[f700es]

I could not disagree more. Back at last job I had a quadro FX 3450 and I did use AutoCAD 2010 and now I don't have a a quadro and I can tell a difference. It is just not as responsive. The last PC was a 2.1 Core2 Duo and this one is a AMD 64X2 5200+ and yet the older one with the quadro seemed faster. This one has a GF8600GT and I can just feel a difference. Hard to explain.

[lionman]

I could not disagree more. Back at last job I had a quadro FX 3450 and I did use AutoCAD 2010 and now I don't have a a quadro and I can tell a difference. It is just not as responsive. The last PC was a 2.1 Core2 Duo and this one is a AMD 64X2 5200+ and yet the older one with the quadro seemed faster. This one has a GF8600GT and I can just feel a difference. Hard to explain.

 

This could have been due to the Core 2 Duo being a much faster CPU than an Athlon 5200. I would reccomend a C2D CPU as minimum for Autocad work. You could only make a comparison between the two situations if it was only the video card that was changed rather than the whole system.

[f700es]

If it was a new Core2 against this new AMDX2 I would agree but this was a 1st gen C2D and this is a new AMDx2 so they are pretty even in performance. Again I can only go by my "seat of my pants" test