A Cheap graphic card for Civil 3D

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody.

I got Civil 3d 2012 and I'm looking for a relatively cheap graphic card to match.

I was offered a choice between 2 relatively cheap graphic cards: Quadro 600 Vs. AMD HD 6870.

I know that booth cards are not the first choice for most but I have a very limited budget - around 250$.

Can anybody enlighten me about those two or have a good recommendation for a third card around those prices?

Thank you.

[antoniovinci]

This joke is not funny, man...

You have just spent 6k dollars to buy Civil, and now you're trying to economize 250$ ?? 

[AllenJessup · Accepted solution]

If you're a student. Go with the Quadro. You'll have to live with the extra time it well take you to do a project. If you're trying to make money with it. It's more expensive to get a cheap card because you'll loose so much production time and be behind on your deadlines.

Allen

[Sinc · Accepted solution]

I find that a GTX 560 Ti outperforms a Quadro 600 by a lot, for C3D usage.  And they're about the same price.  You have to move all the way up to something like a Quadro 6000 to get similar performance.

The only reason to look at something like a Quadro is if you are also using other programs that can really use it.

[hgohel]

Here's the link to the AutoCAD Graphics Hardware List ( http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard ).  Whichever card you decide to buy, check the list if you want to verify Autodesk's support for it.

[rl_jackson]

Generally that list is out of date, and Im using a dual GTX 250 1GB gaming cards with no issues, but I must say that I dont do a lot of rotating in 3d view.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Sinc. 

I'll definitely look into it, it sound like a good solution for my needs.

Thanks for the good help.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Allen for your sound advice. 

I need this for my home computer which is nothing much really.

At my office I've got a much better equipment but from time to time I'm taking work home.

It is a compromise, like most things in life... 

By the way, I was offered an alternative with the Nvidia Gtx 560 Ti. Do you know anything about this card?

[Anonymous]

Sinc, I'm interested in your post as I'm just about to build up a lightweight workstation (i7 3920) for home... I was thinking I should go for a Quadro 2000 rather than a consumer graphics card... mainly because I thought it was optimised for program such as AutoCAD. Could you give a bit more detail in relation to your post? Thanks - Mick

[Sinc]

AutoCAD doesn't really use any of the features of a Quadro.  Neither does Civil 3D.  You may want a Quadro if you have the infrastructure suite, since programs like 3DS Max and Navisworks actually CAN use some of the advanced features, but C3D does not.

Net result is that for C3D, you spend at least twice as much to get similar performance, if you go with a Quadro vs. a GeForce.  And that can get even worse...  For C3D, there's minimal difference between a GTX 560 and a Quadro 6000, yet the GTX 560 runs just over $200, while the Quadro 6000 will run you thousands of dollars.

The main reason to go with a Quadro is that you have an application that can really use the CUDA stuff.  In our line of work, that might include things like high-end rendering (with lots of ray tracing) or animation.  But C3D itself doesn't do any of that stuff, and can't take advantage of the high-end hardware.  So you pretty much just waste your money, if all you care about is C3D.

[Anonymous]

Hi Sync.

I've decided to take upon you're advice and go for the GTX 560 Ti.

Around here there are about 10 different manufacturers who make these cards and I have to choose between them.

perhaps you can tell me the difference between "GigaByte", "Gainward", "Sparkle", "Palit", "Asus", "Twintech", "Evga", "Forsa", "Gaida", "Leadtek" and probably some more I never even heard of.

Many thanks for your tip, it helps a lot to take upon others experience and knowledge. I myself know very little about hardware staff... Thank you.

[Sinc]

For the most part, there's not a whole lot of difference, since the core electronics and drivers are all made by nVidia (at least if you're looking at GeForce or Quadro cards).  What you're looking at is mostly the other sundry details, such as quality of fans, quality of casing, quality of support (should you need it), and stuff like that.

I've used Gigabyte, ASUS, Sparkle, and EVGA graphics cards.  And to tell you the truth, I haven't noticed a real significant difference between any of them.  I'd be a bit more leary of some of the lesser-known brands, though, unless you can get good recomendations for them from people who have actually tried them.

There's a greater difference in MOBOs between the various manufacturers, but even there I've gotten very good results from Gigabyte, ASUS, and EVGA (although I tend to favor ASUS for MOBOs).

[Anonymous]

O.K, I'll go for the Gigabyte then, they seem to get good reviews.

Again, Thank you very much, you helped me a lot.