Best graphic card for SolidWorks 2003

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

 

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.

 

SW website has a list of cards:

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html

I had a most unpleasant experience with ATI Radeon cards and discovered too
late they aren't on the list.

Moe & the boys

 

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

 

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:

http://www20.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030916/index.html

3Dchips.net (I think you will find the link to another review there...)

Good luck!
Dan

 

Thank you At Toms Hardware there is a test of the graphic cards and
their performance in SolidWorks 2003 - just what I needed.

Jesper

 

Jesper Kjeldsen wrote on 19.9.2003 14:13

You're welcome. Have a look at the other site too (found it for you)

http://www.3dchips.net/content/review.php?id=63

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

 

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!

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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