what "serious" video card suggested?

hi all.
i'm planning to buy some new cad workstations to be used with swx
2004. i'm checking suggested hardware list on swx.com but i'm finding
a huge list of video cards including both recent ones and very old
ones. i'm not too keen on hardware anymore, then i need some advices
from you.
considering i may be able to buy the new pc's by the end of this year,
what video card would you suggest me? at a reasonable price, i mean...
our assemblies rarely include more than 500 parts and seldom we have
more than 5 levels of subassemblies, but i'd like to buy video cards
being able to last at least a few years.
at the moment, we're still working with our compaq ap200 workstations,
with oxygen gvx1 video cards. the video cards probably would still be
ok for our work --rendering and rotating our assemblis is still
decent--, but cpu and memory aren't enough anymore, then i decided to
change the whole computers.

from what i've read on the group, quadro 4 xgl 750 seems to be one of
the best choices. can you confirm it? or what would you suggest me
instead of it?

tia.

regards.

 

ATI FireGLT T2-128.
Here is a link to Tomshardware Open GL workstation cards. This card had the
best bang for the buck rating.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030916/index.html

 

SW partnered with NVIDIA. Chances are that a card with an NVIDIA chip set
will work better. (ie real view graphics settings...where you keep materials
attached to the models.) Get an ATI card and yeah it will work but hey your
choice.

 

thank you for both your suggestions.
i'll keep in mind them when i'll place the order.

regards.

 

If you would like to take advantage of "realview" technology in the
new SolidWorks 2004 you will want to look at Nvidea cards. Being a
solidWorks customer PNY will offer you a discount on the cards. You
can find details on the SolidWorks website.

 

We have had good success using the Nvidia Quatro 750XGL and the Quatro
980XGL. The 980 card utilizes the imporoved performance from an 8X AGP
slot on the motherboard (I'm not sure, maybe the 750 is an 8X card
also). If you are getting new machines, you may want to spec in an 8X
AGP motherboard. Both these cards also allow dual monitors (really
nice to have). I'm not sure of the current cost of these cards. The
980's are probably available on the internet for under $800. Reatail
will be around $1200 I think.

Don

 

dont buy ati cards. i have read lots of problems with swx and ati
cards. also ati is known for being slow at releasing drivers for there
cards. n-vidia is the only way to go with swx.

 

When you get a new computer you will probably be forced to replace your GVX1
cards. We were happy with our GVX1 cards but our computers were getting too
slow. We bought new computers with AGP4X slots and discovered that the GVX1
(which is AGP or AGP 2X) didn't go in the new slot. We bought Quadro 4
750XGL cards and have been happy with them, but we didn't notice any big
boost in video performance. From the benchmarks that I've seen on the web,
the higher end cards (980 and such) don't give much improvement for the big
bucks you spend, but other folks rave about how great they are. Different
strokes for different folks.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems

 

i thank all of you.

i'll have a look at the different nvidia products, from 550 on and
will let you know the --awful-- italian prices for those cards.

regards.

 

You guys knocking ATI make me think that you are marketing stringers for
NVIDIA! Can you back up your statements that ATI workstation cards are
detrimental in any way?

Here is my personal experience.

At work I have an older Elsa Gloria II. This was the original Nvidia quadro
video card. Now I know that this card is quite a bit behind the latest
performance but I don't notice any particular problems in normal usage.
Screen refreshes seem to be quick and rotation of the model is fairly
smooth. The cpu is a P4 2.0 and I have 1gb ram.

At home I have an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro. This card was universally recognized
as the top performing GAME card until the Radeon 9800 came out. The cpu is
an Athlon 2.2 and I have 512mb ram.

I don't do much work at home (actually I try to do NO work at home!) but I
have tried the new dynamic sectioning function in SWX 2004 using a custom
hydraulic cylinder. This cylinder has 12 small springs as part of a
sophisticated cushion design. At work the graphics are so slow as to be
almost unusable. The sliding action during the sectioning is extremely
jerky. At home, the action is SMOOOTH and fluid. A seat of the pants
estimate says there is an 8/1 performance difference on this one model.

Now, maybe the realview thing is important to some of you. My only
experience is what I can see on the web. I recall an engine model that
looked like the whole thing had been chrome plated like a Harley engine. I
sure don't want to be looking at something like that all day! I want to
define different colors so I can readily see the different parts in my
assemblies.

We are hoping for new workstations early next year at work and I think we
will use ATI based on my own experience and the benchmarks I have seen.

 

A Sapphire Radeon 9000 works fine for me on every program I have and
has good performance at a very reasonable price.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

actually i do own oxygen gvx1 in my office workstations and i have an
ati radeon 7200 --or 7[something]00, i can't remember-- at home.
while rotating, zooming, panning and working with relatively small
assemblies --even if they have lots of smooth surfaces-- my home video
card seems to be as fast as --if not faster than-- my office one.

if i open an assembly made of 150 parts and subassemblies, the
situation changes dramatically.

but i'll keep in mind your suggestion: i'll get an ati 9[something]00
at home and i'll try swx 2004 at home with that video card before
buying nvidia powered ones.

regards.

 

With the large (40 meg) files we deal with here some of the time, we see a
HUGE difference between the ATI Radeon 9500 pro cards and the nVIDIA Quadro4
900 XGL cards. The ATI cards just can't keep up, and this is with 2.8 gHz &
1 gb ram. They might be ok for smaller stuff, but we won't buy them again
for SW.

WT