Long time lurker first time poster here
I'm looking to put together a system for a fella that uses SW 2010 and all is well until it comes to the video card. I have used the FX 4500 512MB couple years back and they were great but not sure how they compete with the FX 580 or FX 1800. My budget is fairly low $300 ~ $400 this time around.
I can get a 4500 512MB of fleabay for ~$300 same with the FX 1800 so I'm kind of stuck here.
Please help me decide which one to go for.
Thank you.
Unless you plan on working with large assemblies I would say the newer 580/1800 would be much better. Remember that even though the 4500 may seem like its better, it may not be due to its age and previous technology. The newer cars will run much better with newer systems and newer versions of SolidWorks. You may also have trouble finding certified drivers for such an older card (4500).
Hope this helps.
Chris
Why not get the ATI FirePro V4800 from Newegg for $163? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195096
I would chose it over all 3 cards listed above by nVidia.
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
The Quadro FX 4500 is a few years old now. It won't be long before drivers start becoming scarce and SolidWorks drops support for this card.
The Quadro FX 1800 is a superior card to the 580, 768MB memory vs. 512MB, 192-bit memory interface vs. 128-bit.
My opinion, for the cards mentioned, go for the FX1800 and don't look back.
Regards,
JPD
RE:ATI FirePro V4800 from Newegg for $163?
The Display Port fubar, from newwegg review
Cons: Only 1 dual link DVI output - come with one 'single link' DVI adapter for the two displayport outputs. To covert displayport to Dual link DVI requires an adapter from the 'ATI approved' list. These adapters go for over $100 and reviews report mixed results, much like the displayport to HDMI or DVI adapters for mac minis, of which I personally have experience.
Devon Sowell
Hey thanks for all the suggestions guys.
There are any a couple assemblies that he uses that are larger, the rest are not too bad.
Charles thanks for the ATI suggestion. I'm having a hard time finding stuff on the net about it though. I mean posts from actual solid works users.
I have always been more of an Nvidia guy myself
Chico cocos wrote:
Hey thanks for all the suggestions guys.
There are any a couple assemblies that he uses that are larger, the rest are not too bad.
Charles thanks for the ATI suggestion. I'm having a hard time finding stuff on the net about it though. I mean posts from actual solid works users.
I have always been more of an Nvidia guy myself
"a couple assemblies"
- tells me that a 580 is enough. As mentioned, do not get the older 4500.
"finding stuff on the net about it" "posts from actual solidworks users"
- There are a few dozen posts about the FX 580, FX 1800 and ATI V4800 on this forum, and we are all actual solidworks users.
You may be an "nVidia Guy", but both nVidia and ATI have recently been developing cards over the past few years that have had plenty of issues recently. Neither is a "slam dunk" for quality. my nVidia Quadro FX 3450 was a huge pain in the butt for the first 2 years I had it, only recently have driver fixes made it tolerable.
Hey Charles, I meant reviews on the ATI V4800. I have seen plenty of the nvidia once though.
Thanks.
Brian Hoerner is a system admin, and he bought some V8800's early on and gave them a positive review: https://forum.solidworks.com/message/166493#166493
Wayne posted this thread before he bought his: https://forum.solidworks.com/message/162800#162800
And then he had problems: https://forum.solidworks.com/message/179953#179953
You mentioned that you have read this forum for the issues with the nVidia FX 1800, so I will assume you are aware of those. They are older, and much more prolific, so there are, as expected, quite a few threads about all the errors people have been having with those. It's still murky waters.
Well damn, Devon.
I looked into this a bit further and it looks like ATI's entire lineup of their new cards only have one DVI output. The V8800 I saw only has 4 HDMI outputs! I wonder if I can do more extensive research.
I just purchased a new 23" IPS monitor (better color than regular LCD TFTs) for at home. It is a "premium" monitor, but it has HDMI inputs. Maybe the industry is moving to just HDMI for everything? Still, people who want to keep their old monitors would still be out of luck, and that seems unreasonable.
I will do more research. Also, I want to start a thread dedicated to these ATI cards. At first people only had good things to say about them, but now we are seeing a few people with complaints. It would be nice to have this all in one place.
Dual Link DVI isn't an issue unless you are pushing your resolution above 1900 x 1200. I don't know of too many monitors less than 27" that will see this issue. If you are using a monitor that pushes the resolution above this threshold, then you will need the Dual Link DVI.
That is fair enough, but what if you just want to run dual monitors, and both of your monitors are only DVI input?
If you purchased the card from a retailer (and not packaged as part of a system), you can use the Dual Link DVI provided for one monitor and the Display Port to Single Link DVI-D adaptor that is provided in the box for the other.
If the card was packaged with the system, and they did not include this adaptor as part of the package, hit up Amazon or New Egg for this adaptor. They can be had for about $10.
Very good, thanks for the info.
"a couple assemblies"
- tells me that a 580 is enough. As mentioned, do not get the older 4500.
"finding stuff on the net about it" "posts from actual solidworks users"
- There are a few dozen posts about the FX 580, FX 1800 and ATI V4800 on this forum, and we are all actual solidworks users.
You may be an "nVidia Guy", but both nVidia and ATI have recently been developing cards over the past few years that have had plenty of issues recently. Neither is a "slam dunk" for quality. my nVidia Quadro FX 3450 was a huge pain in the butt for the first 2 years I had it, only recently have driver fixes made it tolerable.