Still looking for an answer about CAD

[msangler]

Maybe I worded my question wrong. It seems that CAD may require CPU or GPU power. So if I am not gaming, which card is good for this application? I do not understand whether I want more memory (from 256mg to 1 gig) or faster bit rate (lots of those). I did find one site that says I should use Quadro but many listed are for work stations.

Finally, when I do a search for "CAD" on the forum, even where I have posted, I get no hits. Something I am forgetting?

Thanks in advance

Michael

[The Wise Monkey]

I don't have any experience with CAD, so the only real advice I would give you is to search Google for CAD related forums, as they will usuall have some kind of recommended hardware thread/section.

[msangler]

Thank you for that lead. I found a few forums and went through their advice. Seems to be a lot on that side doing their own builds, too. So gamers may have it easier than I thought. A good to great card can be over 1000.00! But some research revealed these two and I was wondering what the reputation and thoughts are.

PNY VCQFX1700-PCIE-PB Quadro FX1700 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card. It runs 400+ US

or

ATI 100-505507 FireGL V3600 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card . This one is 150.00. Both have good reviews.

Thanks for all you do!

MS

[The Wise Monkey]

My advice would be to get the cheaper ATI card and use the extra money to upgrade your CPU/RAM, as this would probably offer the best performance - not just for CAD, but for general use as well.

[zburns]

Been away a while so this is a late reply. I do not use CAD but have some familarity. CAD in simpler forms is three dimensional black and white or with some color for differentiation purposes; in simplier forms it is not as "video heavy" regards the requirements for "streaming" processors.

In more complicated apps such as spacecraft, large airplane design, large buildings ( I am guessing here ), the main requirement would be on the CPU total processing capability which would include corresponding large memory. Video card processing emphasizes "streaming procesors" to rapidly process color variations, rapid movement or screen images, etc..

The data in CAD for a particular view is fixed rather than continously changing until the operator wants a different view of the same object or pulls in additional data for the same view.

In CAD, the more complicated the view, the greater the requirement for processing speed.

So I do not see a large video card requirement. Anyone see this different than what I am describing, please say so! Thanks.