proCRASStinator

I was wondering if some you have insight into the distinction between nvidia consumer end (GeForce) and workstation (Quadro) GPUs. I understand that the demands of gaming and productive digital content creation are different but forum threads, and even a somewhat dated technical article, lead me to believe its more in the driver/software.

As someone who is non-gamer seeking high performance out of Open-GL software I stumbled upon this forum. Do any of you know of "alternate" driver sets that can exploit consumer end cards to make them viable workplace options?

Basically, I would rather spend $300 on a GPU than $2000, but I am so far not really impressed with the 8800GTS I have. As I do more complicated modeling, light rendering, animation, etc. I will have a better idea.

Aaroman

The Quadro GPU's have Driver optimization for OpenGL/CAD software. In other words the only difference between a Quadro and a Geforce Equivalent is the drivers. Although it is near imposible to flash a GeForce with Quadro Drivers do to a Hardware Wall.

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Coma

Something to consider is many times, the final render is done on a CPU farm instead of the workstation GPU... so it shouldn't matter anyway.

I guess it depends on who you work for though.

reezin14

Have you taken a look at the Quadro FX 560 ? Around $300 but I'm sure you could find it for less with a little research.
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_...?story_id=3994

The cheapest I could find.
http://www.google.com/products/catal...ult#ps-sellers

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Skullzaflare

there is actually hardware difference in the 2 now a days, they used to be just drivers, but now theres some hardware differences that make a huge difference

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Quote:

Originally Posted by lemans81 No. Your going to continue to produce the same amount of heat whether or not your fans suck it all out. What that means is that your computer runs hotter, and that you will leak the hot air out more slowly. If you producing the heat it won't matter if you trap it in your case or exhaust it. Eventually its going to get out, your case isn't air tight.

darksideleader

thats good to know... and what are the hardware differences exacally?

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Skullzaflare

i myself do not know, ive never messed with a quadro
all i know is there is a hardware diference as i did some research on it a year or so ago

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Quote:

Originally Posted by lemans81 No. Your going to continue to produce the same amount of heat whether or not your fans suck it all out. What that means is that your computer runs hotter, and that you will leak the hot air out more slowly. If you producing the heat it won't matter if you trap it in your case or exhaust it. Eventually its going to get out, your case isn't air tight.

Greg121986

I talked to someone who works for a government project and he says there is no need for Quadro cards. It could be just his personal experience, but he says the people he works with and the computers he works on, and even a workstation he is going to use for himself just use GeForce cards like the GTX 280.

mortimersnerd

The majority of the time they are higher binned versions (the processors) and also have more memory.

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trueg50

I remember it was some things that prevented BIOS flashing.

Quadro's are higher-binned, and in such thing such as Maya, a mid-range quadro card will beat any Geforce card (even 280GTX).

If he means workstation as in regular desktop,then there is no difference. If he means using workstation cards on workstations, then there is a massive difference.

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