I'm about to set up a new workstation with SolidWorks 2003. As graphic card I'm looking at the Matrox Parhelia 512 with 256 MB RAM. Is it one of the best for SolidWorks or should I look for a Nvidia card? The use of SolidWorks will be very intense at this workstation so it's important it's working very smothly!
Regards Jesper
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Ilkka Loponen
I don't what chip Matrox uses, but Nvidia and ATI are recommended to SW use. Both have "gaming" and "pro" versions, where the only difference is price and OpenGl-drivers. For example Nvidia's GeForce can be converted to Quadro with RivaTuner-software.
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Moe_Larry_Curly
SW website has a list of cards:
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I had a most unpleasant experience with ATI Radeon cards and discovered too late they aren't on the list.
Moe & the boys
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Jesper Kjeldsen
"Moe_Larry_Curly" skrev i en meddelelse news:BHBab.6048$ snipped-for-privacy@bignews5.bellsouth.net...
too
I have seen the list, but to me it look like it isn't very well updated - and there is no comments on which cards that have the best performance...
Regards Jesper
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daniel
Jesper,
Do a search of this newsgroup. There have been several discussions RE nvidia and others recently, and several links to recent graphic card reviews - inform yourself as it is an important choice!
I think these were the reviews of the high end cards:
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3Dchips.net (I think you will find the link to another review there...)
Good luck! Dan
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Jesper Kjeldsen
"daniel" skrev i en meddelelse news:BB90BB70.DAD8% snipped-for-privacy@gratiotdesign.com...
Thank you :-) At Toms Hardware there is a test of the graphic cards and their performance in SolidWorks 2003 - just what I needed.
Jesper
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daniel
Jesper Kjeldsen wrote on 19.9.2003 14:13
You're welcome. Have a look at the other site too (found it for you)
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Interesting thing in this review is that they also have a couple lower end gaming cards, and you can see the difference better to the high end cards.
I also have boon looking to upgrade from a Nvidia Ti4600 - which works fine... Except that these level of cards suffer from a major slowdown when you have more than 3 windows open (I think it is three...). When I switched to this card from an even lower end card, I was really happy. But now I really do notice this problem and am considering the Nvidia fx1000. Although, the fx500 is much cheaper, and looks good in all the tests (for SW). I also do a little animation work and the 1000 appears to be a little better for that.
In hindsight, I would say that is does not pay to skimp on the graphics card, as a lot of time spent rotating a model can be either fun or a major drag and time sink.
Cheers, Dan
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Markus Wankus
As much as I like Matrox - the Parhelia was a big disappointment for 3D stuff. I would do some careful research into current drivers, etc. before getting one. Personally, I would go with an Nvidia Quadro some-or-other, or a cheaper one that can be SoftQuadro'ed if you're on a budget.
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John Scott
Ilkka makes a good point.
My experience has been that the CAD or "workstation" video cards are market driven hype. I caution you, don't waste your money.
Starting out I used a $1500 Wildcat CAD marketed video card. That thing left trails all over the screen, what a piece of crap that was. Now, I use a low dollar GeForce MX2 at work ? no problems works great. At home I use a ATI Radean 9500 Pro ? no problems works great. These cards are (very) low priced compared to the marketed CAD versions and perform the same...or in my case better!
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Devlin
Not to sound like an ass but try searching the group first for relevant posts before posting your question. This subject is discussed on a very regular basis.
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pete
I tried the Nvidia quadro 2 MXR 32Mb and have had NO crashes since changing from a Oxygen 64Mb card,(lots of crashes!) . Cost? £21.00 brand new from ebay! Note this was for a HP 2000/4000 work station, but with a Compaq id number. Hope this helps
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Krister L
Also rember that the Nvida Quadros and I think a few more are supporting the new real view feature in SW 2004...just in case You have in mind to upgrade one of these daýs
Krister
Jesper Kjeldsen skrev i diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:3f6ab3e8$0$169$ snipped-for-privacy@dread11.news.tele.dk...
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Rudy Kube
I've tried several including the Raytheon and oxygen. Now I'm using the ATI fire gl 8700. It's not the newest one but it works great. I had to get one that would work with an LCD monitor. Rudy
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