Graphics Card for 3D design

[PC peace]

Hi,

I need a GPU which will get well involved with contributing processing power when using 3d design, along with autocad, illustrator and photoshop. I understand that the best card for this is one with nVidia CUDA technology and is put in nVidia 'Quadro' cards. I also would like at least 2 'Display Port' outputs, or 1 'Display Port' and 1 'DVI'

To my dismay, the only fan-free graphics card with CUDA techology are old ones: The Quadro NVS 295 or the Quadro NVS 450. The newer versions, which will, I assume, have more capability to help the CPU with graphic design processing, are the Quadro 400 and Quadro 600, both of which have nasty looking little fans on them. I don't understand this as they are only 32w and 40w respectively.

So, on the basis that I have understood the current situation correctly, I have a couple of questions if anyone can help:

1. Has anyone experienced the noise level the Quadro 600 puts out when under load? Is it annoying - or is it inaudible?

2. Does anyone know if I am right in assuming that the Quadro 600 will be noticeably faster in processing graphics - or am I assuming incorrectly and there are other issues than speed which this newer card? If there is not that much difference then I might aswell just buy an older NVS 450.

Any help will be very much appreciated.

Andrew.

[mczak]

Not sure which of these apps really support cuda, but I'm quite sure if they benefit from it you don't want NVS cards. These are essentially 2d cards. It's not so much that they are older but both of them only have 8 shader units (ok the NVS 450 2x8 it's just 2 lowest-end chips on one board) - that's way below today's entry level consumer 3d cards and slower than even current IGPs.
In terms of pure performance the Quadro 400 would also be quite crappy (though much faster than the NVS cards - 48 shader units though similar bottom-of-the-barrel memory bandwidth).
Also, I'm not sure if those apps you listed specifically would benefit from the pro line of cards. If not (and you don't need certification) you can easily save a lot of money and just get a consumer card. A GT430 is pretty much the same as a Quadro 600, and there's probably a lot more variation there, zotac for instance makes a passively cooled one with both DVI and display port.

[PC peace]

Not sure which of these apps really support cuda, but I'm quite sure if they benefit from it you don't want NVS cards.

Adobe state that their current versions (CS5) support 64 bit and CUDA, as do Solid Works and Autocad, so it seems that there would be much to gain by using a graphics card that can do graphic design (photo processing and 3d engineering design) rather than a gaming graphics card which can't contribute to the processing of any graphics except computer games.

Thanks very much for your reply. From what you say it appears that the NVS cards are for multiple 2d display situations like stock brokers with share prices or some sort of multiple display requirement at a marketing event or whatever.

This leaves just the Quadro 600 I suppose, because all other CUDA cards look like they are noisy (higher wattage requirements and serious fans mounted).

With regard to the "F word" with the Quadro 600: Does anyone know whether or not the Quadro 600 and its small fan are noisy in practice when in use for 3d design? OR >> Can the little fan on the 600 be removed and replaced with a larger but slower RPM fan?

[mczak]

I could be wrong, but afaik adobe cs5 can use any gpu for acceleration (as it uses OpenGL not CUDA). The only thing requiring cuda is their mercury playback engine which is used in Premiere Pro. This officially only supports some Quadros indeed, but you can enable it for other nvidia cards easily enough.
I don't know what the story with the other apps is - but if they use cuda, there's no reason it has to be restricted to Quadros (though cad apps at least in the past used to run much better on such cards at least if they used OpenGL, not least since the consumer cards were artificially stripped of their accelerated antialiased lines support).
Can't say anything on fan noise though - haven't seen reviews of quadros for ages. At least on first sight, despite the heatsink being rather small the fan at least looks decently sized so there may be some hope.

[lodestar]

There are, for example, reportedly a number of known (and unresolved) problems with some 3d design software and nVidia 4xx series cards. So it can't be assumed that a mainstream gaming card will work as well as a Quadro. So the Quadro 600 is a better choice because it is unlikely to have these issues. The cooling fan may not be a problem because the Quadro is unlikely to be stressed to the same level as a gaming card.

[ame]

Not sure which of these apps really support cuda, but I'm quite sure if they benefit from it you don't want NVS cards.

Adobe state that their current versions (CS5) support 64 bit and CUDA, as do Solid Works and Autocad, so it seems that there would be much to gain by using a graphics card that can do graphic design (photo processing and 3d engineering design) rather than a gaming graphics card which can't contribute to the processing of any graphics except computer games.

Thanks very much for your reply. From what you say it appears that the NVS cards are for multiple 2d display situations like stock brokers with share prices or some sort of multiple display requirement at a marketing event or whatever.

This leaves just the Quadro 600 I suppose, because all other CUDA cards look like they are noisy (higher wattage requirements and serious fans mounted).

With regard to the "F word" with the Quadro 600: Does anyone know whether or not the Quadro 600 and its small fan are noisy in practice when in use for 3d design? OR >> Can the little fan on the 600 be removed and replaced with a larger but slower RPM fan?

Quadro 600 is a good choice for an entry level workstation. Its fairly quiet IMO, practically inaudible during normal workload in a P182/3 case. I wouldn't go swapping the fan or heatsink on a quadro card. I honestly never had a complaint on any Quadro card being too noisy even on builds using quadro 3800 or 4000 and I never swaped the heatsink.

The 600 is a bit weak (entry level) when it comes to 3D. Huge sceans will likely feel sluggish on the realtime preview window. Its good enough for small sceans or product design. If you do very complex work I encourage you to try the 2000 or even 4000 ($$$$).

The main advantage of quadro series is the driver. Quadro works much smoother and faster on autocad and 3DS when compared to Geforce cards that use the geforce driver. Despite being the GPU equivalent of GT430 the driver will make it work ~on par with a GTX460 in 3DS or autocad yet it uses much less power and overall experianmce is smoother (more compatible). If you are planning a workstation for 3D - Quadro cards are the way to go.

When it comes to Adobe CS5 apps each APP is different. Premiere uses CUDA (but needs some tweaks to get it's real time features to work with cards that are not on its supported list -check Adobe's website). Aftereffects also use CUDA AFAIK. Photoshop uses openGL (I think?).

The performance gains you speak of are relative. Depending on your work flow, it could mean better rendered real time preview in Autocad, or real time rendered effects in Adobe CS5. Regardless CUDA is typically used by apps to accelerate work flow. Eventually for your final product you'll want to render it all and that is CPU limited.

[ame]

The cooling fan may not be a problem because the Quadro is unlikely to be stressed to the same level as a gaming card.

Yup. Power heat and clock speeds are lower.

[PC peace]

I have to thank everyone who replied, it is realy appreciated and has been most helpful.


Internet forums have to have been one of the most significant advancements Homo sapiens sapiens has ever made.

[ame]

Internet forums have to have been one of the most significant advancements Homo sapiens sapiens has ever made.

... Since the invention of the wheel

LOL