'best' workstation gfx card

[jackkoho]

Hey, I just don't know that much about professional graphics cards but I knew many people here would.

I just need to know some options for a good card from $300-$700 that will be able to handle autocad and other engineering programs. Obviously if you have any opinions on 'best bang for the buck' then let me know. Thanks.

jack

 

[RussSchultz]

If you're just going for Autocad, I think the GF2MX is plenty fine. Supposedly, you can even do some minor mods, driver tweaks, or something that transforms it into a quadro level performance.

Actually, probably any DX7 level card (HW T&L) will be "good enough".

 

[Pete]

ATi just halved the prices of their FireGL cards based on the R200, so I'd check benchmarks and reviews to see if they're better than a GF2-based Quadro (better signal quality, conxn options, etc). Still, I don't think AutoCAD requires a lot of 3D muscles, no?

 

[Nagorak]

Does AutoCAD require any 3D muscle?

 

[Pete]

AFAIR, no, but it may have changed. The pro cards' better drivers might be important, though.

 

[Tagrineth]

Try looking into a low-to-mid end 3DLabs Oxygen.

Or possibly a FireGL...

 

[Tahir2]

Or a Quadro of course
Cheap Wildcats?

 

[Tagrineth]

misae: There are no cheap Wildcats 's why I suggested an Oxygen

 

[3dcgi]

Does AutoCAD require any 3D muscle?

You can do 3D modeling in AutoCAD, but if you don't do any of this then the 3D performance doesn't matter. However, the question did mention other engineering programs so he might need good 3D too.

 

[muted]

a cheap oxygen card will perform slower than any gf4 ( including the mx )

a "pro" 3d CAD/CAM is overkill , at 3+ times the cost of other cards , i'd suggest these cards only to Professionals with money to spend

 

[Tagrineth]

a cheap oxygen card will perform slower than any gf4 ( including the mx )

a "pro" 3d CAD/CAM is overkill , at 3+ times the cost of other cards , i'd suggest these cards only to Professionals with money to spend

I doubt any Detonator could compare to 3DLabs' driver quality... esp. in compatibility/stability.

 

[ERP]

While I would have to agree that you are more likely to find a bug in the detonator drivers than a 3DLabs driver while running a CAD package or a 3D package.

IMO at least the difference in price doesn't really justify the marginally better stability.

We used to run Maya (which seems to be a land mine for 3D card drivers)on Geforce 2's without any major issues.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

3DLabs Wildcat VP870 w/128Mb DDR RAM is under $600

3DLabs Wildcat VP760 w/64Mb DDR RAM is under $450

Both are great workstation AutoCad video cards that are in your stated price range.

3DLabs Oxygen cards are very good too and have some good features you might need. Oxygen GVX210 64Mb SGRAM will run you about $240 (The GVX210 was almost $2000 when it was originally released like the Wildcat III cards are now)

IMO, 3DLabs are better workstation cards than the ones from nVidia and ATI.

 

[T2k]

I don't know much about Autocad but I am a sysadmin of a high-end 3D animation company and I've met a lot of workstation cards (our cards are Wildcats and FGLs).
IMHO if you wanna get something good but cheap, go with the Fire GL 8700. It's just 64 megs onboard - its really slight for us - but (based on my 8800 experience) should be perfect for you w/ ACAD, sure. Yeah, and it's only $200...

 

[T2k]

3DLabs Wildcat VP870 w/128Mb DDR RAM is under $600

3DLabs Wildcat VP760 w/64Mb DDR RAM is under $450

Both are great workstation AutoCad video cards that are in your stated price range.

3DLabs Oxygen cards are very good too and have some good features you might need. Oxygen GVX210 64Mb SGRAM will run you about $240 (The GVX210 was almost $2000 when it was originally released like the Wildcat III cards are now)

IMO, 3DLabs are better workstation cards than the ones from nVidia and ATI.

Yes, agreed, this is the next price step: the VPs. But if you've chosen this one, go with the 870...