User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 5:54:56 PM EDT
[#1]
tagola
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 5:56:14 PM EDT
[#2]
a dual head one
 |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 5:58:22 PM EDT
[#3]
NVIDIA Quadro series
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:00:13 PM EDT
[#4]
From what I understand, any newer Nvidia Quadro or ATI Fire card is designed to do this exactly, but workstation graphics were extremely pricey last time I checked.
I use AutoCad on occasion as well as Rhino3d and I run two Nvidia supeclocked 8800GT's. When I render 3D it is extremely fast, but I'm not talking about very complex renderings. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:03:29 PM EDT
[#5]
I'll throw out my experience.
I used a Matrox TripleHead2Go with 3 Samsung 915N LCDs. This was connected to an Nvidia 8800GTX with... um... 768mb I believe. I had no problem running 3DStudio Max spanning all monitors... or 3DSMax and other programs on different screens. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:17:11 PM EDT
[#6]
Seconded. When I had my 8800 Ultra, it would numbercruch and manage 2 million polygon scenes in 3D Studios Max without raising more than 3 degrees when I panned around the scene. IMHO workstation cards like the Quadro are overrated as only a few industry leaders like Pixar and Dreamworks would need more horsepower than found in most PC's, in a GPU. Sufficed to say, I've filled up 8 GB of ram with multi-million polygon scenes many times - But never ran into and video lag. That said, I think you woudl benefit from a high memory clock and high memory bus card like the 8800 GTX, 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX, 9800 GX2, or the newer 260/280 lineup (though Ive only read dissappointing reviews about the 9 series hardware). EVGA is a phenominal company... My first 8800 was compiled by BFG and I hated their service (especially with the extra %5 they charge just for their name). I then had an XFI (fuck them, seriousily). Since getting an EVGA mobo and EVGA 8800 Ultra and dealing with their all american customer service and outstanding patience, I'll never go to another chipset manufacturer. Not to mention, if for some wierd reason you find that an EVGA 8800 Ultra is not fast enough, you can use their step-up program to get a better card to replace yours for a much reduced price (rather than just having to get a new one full price and try to sell your old one). just some links to cards I would recommend, with the most expensive at the top: $369 nVidia 260 $230 8800GT w/ 1GB memory and 1800MHz mem clock and 256 bit bus Was hoping to find the EVGA 8800 Ultra, but I guess thats not on newegg anymore. Either one of those cards would work fantastically for a dual monitor setup. This all assumes you ahve PCI Express x16, of course 
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:18:49 PM EDT
[#7]
Well it's going to be an Nvidia or an ATI workstation/CAD card.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:19:56 PM EDT
[#8]
If you do buy an Nvidia based card definitely go EVGA. As Reiko said they are great, and if you find the card lacking they have a step up program for 90 days that lets you trade up for your full purchase price worth of credit.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:44:26 PM EDT
[#9]
Unless you are doing some truly absurd 3d surface modeling with AutoCAD (in which case you're either an idiot or insane), just about any card with two outputs made today will be perfectly adequate.
There's some myth out there that anything with the word CAD in it must require the latest and greatest equipment to run. It simply isn't true. The graphical end of autoCAD hasn't gotten anymore complex in the last decade and people ran it just fine back then. AutoCAD probably places lower demands on your graphics card then the latest Excel or Word. If you were running Inventor, Solidworks or some other parametric 3d modeling software with assemblies over 100 parts and lots of textures, then sure, go for a more expensive card. But for AutoCAD? It's about the least graphically intense program you can find. Something along the lines of a 100 dollar card will never even blink running AutoCAD across two big displays. A CAD workstation typically has two bottlenecks- processor speed and memory and AutoCAD simply isn't complex enough to tax even a modest system by todays standards. I run Inventor v10 all day on a box with integrated graphics and if I ever hit a slow down it's because I ran out of memory, not graphics processing. I need to try to orbit a big assembly with transparency on before it chugs. Invest in more RAM, cpu speed/cores before you drop a lot of money on a video card that will never really be used. -Local |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/21/2008 6:47:47 PM EDT
[#10]
Yep. Nothing AutoCAD is asking the system to do (99.9% of the time) is going to come close to taxing the GPU.
Multicore CPU and lots of RAM are your best investment if you really want to sink money into hardware just for AutoCAD benefits. If you were doing game development work, in something like Maya or 3ds Max, there are developer cards that feature specific driver optimization, extra RAM for the video card, and specialized pipelines to better display and process work in modeling and development software. AutoCAD doesn't need the latest and greatest video board. |
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
