graphics card question

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

Boss just upgraded me to Inventor series 11 at work. I need to upgrade my graphics card in order to run it. My current card is NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420, which is pretty sucky but I deal with what I got.

I have to upgrade to at least 128 with DirectX and Open GL support. I got the “OK” to purchase a Radeon X1300 Pro 256mb, that should be enough for what I do at work. What confuses me is the choice between PCle or AGP card. I have no idea what that means so I need some help on what to choose. Post up some info and please explain it, I’m just a drafter.

Edit: I cant spell

2

they are types of motherboard interface. you have to see what kind of mobo you have. that’s all the info i can give you

3

Jay, PCI-e/AGP is just the bus/slot it plugs into. What is the computer/motherboard you’re running? If you don’t know, run a program called belarc advisor (it’ll give you a run down of all installed hardware/software) and let me know what it says.

Either way, either one will do fine (agp or pci-e)… only real difference is the AGP needs a seperate power source (aka, plug the card into a molex connector from the power supply, much like you would a CD-Rom drive)… PCI-e doesnt need it as the buss supplies enough juice to run it stand alone.

If it’s for cad work, you wont need all the fancy shader model 3.0 features so with that said… what is your price range? that x1300 will do you good IMO. I just got my 7800gs and it runs 3dsmax/solidworks great, but it’s more of a gaming card so… I guess it’s just an added perk

4

pci express and agp are different interfaces.

See what your motherboard has. Only newer motherboards within the last year or two have pci express.

If yours is older its most likely agp.

5

Its a DELL dim 4500, probably 4 years old
Steve is this the info you were looking for-

Board: Intel Corporation D845EPT2 AAA83422-107
Serial Number: CN04P6154811129C01Z8
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. A03 07/18/2002

6

ok, yeah… then you need an AGP card. I’ll take a gander for ya

edit: are you using the stock power supply? because if you go too big, you’ll need something that can handle the power of the card. If you are using the stocker, I strongly suggest going with a 400watt unit (get a quality unit too… deffinitly not something to cheep out on)

this card would do you nicely… and it’s not very expensive (and also supports GL2.0 and DX9)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131427

7

All the info I keep reading on my current stupid card points to AGP so thats what im gunna go with.

As far as price im trying to keep it as low as I can. We are a small company and the program set us back 5g’s so he doesnt want to spend much more.

8

I think a nice Core 2 Duo would help you more than a video card… of course, both of them would be nice.

9

i love reading these threads… all the shit that spews out of everyone’s mouth cause they think that know shit about computers

and no… graphics are video card intensive… cpu will help with load times of the program, and probably rendering… but for the most part its a graphics card that will help him out… just like video games

and no Jack i’m not targetting you… the core 2 duo would be a constructive idea… but that would require pretty much rebuilding the computer…

10

huh?

11

i’m cranky as fuck… about the snow… so don’t ask…

but for his computer… an older firegl would be a great idea

12

Actually… depending on what Inverter 11 is… you may be right. I got the other posts mixed up, but if he was running solidworks or something like that, CPU plays as much of a role as video…

13

i’m thinking its inventor 11 its like a 3d aspect of autocad… 3d is def video card intensive

link

edit: and in terms of cost upgrading an old computer CPU will require too much money…

14

agreed, but prepare to shell out some big bucks (for a card that can handle complex models well atleast)

I noticed a large improvement going from my old 9700pro, especially with large assembly structure.

Actually… depending on what Inverter 11 is… you may be right. I got the other posts mixed up, but if he was running solidworks or something like that, CPU plays as much of a role as video…

agree 100%

15

Yes sorry about the typo its Inventor 11. I have enough power and ram to run it. The graphics card is the week link.

16

So the boss picked this card up for me at circuit city. I will see how it works, he liked the price so I really had no say in it. The cards Autodesk recommends are extremely expensive $500 plus, I really hope this one works, My assembly’s never jump over 50 pieces and they are pretty small. Not to mention the only reason we got Inventor is because we got a good deal on it when in reality regular mechanical would have been just fine.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/ATI-Radeon-X1600-Pro-512MB-Video-Card-100437510CCS/sem/rpsm/oid/161711/catOid/-13011/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

17

that card should do great man :tup: let us know how it works (get a baseline with your old hardware first)… I’m curious actually.

edit. Jay, when you install it, make sure your power supply in the computer is atleast a 350watter. It will probably work with smaller, but it could lead to problems down the road

18

I would get a baseline first but with my old card only being 64mg Inventor wont even load. It goes threw the check system requirements and basically says fuck you get a better card first.

19

lol that figures… well, let me know how it works atleast. I’m thinking that it should do nicely

20

I would say that card is ok… but…

In the realm of things, when getting into 3D modeling and assemblies, the machine and VC make everything more efficient.

The company maybe small and the program cost $5K, but if you can only do the modeling/drawing slow as hell because the PC isn’t strong enough, what has the company gained?

A decent newer PC; doesn’t have to be dual-core or anything too fancy, but I would suggest atleast a 2.4GHz, and 1-2 Gigs of Ram; and spend the $500 on a video card, it makes a world of difference in productivity.

My company dragged all the engineers with base-model 4500 Dells back when I started; took me about a year of complaining about how I couldn’t do my job because Pro/E would take 20-40 minutes to open and render and assembly because of the computer. They finally realized this, and started buying the Engineers “real” workstations with workstation VCs instead of standard ones.

The only issue with the VC that he got you is that the ones typically at CC/BB are gaming cards, and are great for that; but when it comes to 3D modeling and that type of rendering, a workstation card is what is really needed; even if it is only the $500 entry-level workstation card, it will work better with the software than almost any gaming card out there. I have to compare it to trying to haul gravel with a Corvette; you can do it, but it doesn’t work very well; You use a Vette for speed (Gaming card) and a Pickup (Workstation card) for hauling.

I would talk to your boss in when he can afford it to step up to a real workstation with a good VC; it will increase productivity if you as a designer/drafter can utilize it.

Seeing everyone else is talking about what they use…

Dell 380 Workstation, Dual-Core 2.4GHz, 4 Gigs of Ram, Dual 80G HDs (Raid’d), Nvidia Quadro 3450 VC; 21" Samsung Digital LCD. The Video Card costs more than the whole PC (~$1500).