Graphics Workstation Card that can play games?

Greetings All,

So with the arrival of Conroe just around the corner I've been thinking about my new system. I previously had a PC for gaming and a second one as a workstation. I would prefer to only have one system this time around. However the deciding factor last time was the video card. I had the Nvidia QuadroFX on the workstation but it couldn't render out Far Cry to save it's life. So I built the gaming rig with a GeForce FX 5700 and all was perfect.

I've never had an ATI board except in a Mac, so I don't know to much about them. Does anyone have any knowledge on the newer workstation cards, and which ones can handle games. For example the FireGL's or the newer NVidia FX cards? The problem is some of the apps I use or plan on using require a qualified graphics card, which is usually the FireGL's or Quadro's.

Thanks!

Rich

 

I would seriously doubt that 3D performance for workstation cards has improved - they're for 2D work and that's that. Perhaps a fast card would be decent at 2D performance, it won't be as good as a Quadro or a FireGL by a long way, but it's worth a try. You could give it a try, and overclock its 2D settings to allow you to increase the performance.

 

On ATI FireGL cards, you always have the option of running modifed Catalyst drivers, so it performs the same as it's Radeon equivalent...
(I think the Omega drivers allow this)

Of course, you'd need to swap drivers and reboot every time, unless someone's found a better way since I last looked...?

 

nvidia's Quadro cards (the 3D ones) are nearly identical architecture to the gaming cards and perform as such in games.

 

Sorry to be a workstation card n00b, but is there really a noticeable difference when running a FireGL or Quadro card than its equivlant Radeon/Geforce? Is it noticeable at the >5 window level or only when running like 30 CAD windows at once and doing hardcore 3D modeling work?

 

Workstation cards are meant first to render perfectly straight lines, in OpenGL, and then to handle the other strange requests of CAD programs. Because of those requirements, the drivers are written differently. Most of them have to be certified by third party developers for their software, and in writing those drivers, most of the time the 3D performance is left right off.

You can make a Quadro a GeForce, or a GeForce a Quadro, with a registry hack and a driver change. In fact, there's even SoftGL hacks for ATi cards. The drivers are the difference, and there's a LOT of difference in those drivers. Finding one that acceptably gamed and was certified by the app you need is the needle in the haystack.

 

I see. Sounds like a real buisness-use device, not a home user's toy.

 

Basically, yup..

And to think of how much more they cost... ewwww.

 

Intresting,... i thought it would be Completely slow :S

 

You would think but sadly not always. Like I mentioned I originally had a QuadroFX500, certainly not a top performer but was the least expensive card with a Maya Qualification. However trying to play Far Cry on it, it wasn't even rendering out a viewable picture. Even on the lowest possible setting. Granted this was a few years back that I tried all of this. I would rather have one PC that can do it all instead of having two again.

Switching drivers for an ATI card would be a compromise, provided it wasn't and uninstall of one and install the other, every single time.

 

so true, I'm starting to lean towards a gaming card and blowing off 3D work at home and saving it for work.

bummer...I sometimes play games at work too...doh!

 

Well thats because the FX500 is, simply put, slooooow
Its based on the Geforce FX5200, which I expect would fall over with Far Cry as well.

Something like a 4500, while very expensive (especially seeing as it is nearly identical in hardware to a 7800), would game quite acceptably

 

I think I would rather buy the 7800, and save several hundred dollars.

 

Well let me ask this then, which one looks better for a sub $200 USD video card (for games of course).

an ATI x850XT with 256-bit memory interface, or Nvidia's 7600GT with 128-bit interface?

 

The 7600gt imo, and it has all the new features like HDR.