GTX vs Quadro

[drendir]

Ok so i'm the guy who bases his moves on facts and things i can read and find on certified websites...

I've been using an Nvidia Quadro 4000 (ca 800€'s on the market) and it's specs are

CUDA CORES 256

2Gb memory @ ???

bandwidth 256bit @ 89.6 billion/s

Now recently i bought a GTX 760 just out of interest cause the specs appear to be better.

Especialy the cuda cores... O_°

CUDA CORES 1152

2Gb memory @ 6Gbps

bandwidth 256bit @ 94.1 billion/s

So the reason why i had a Quadro was because of the better "support" in autodesk products and because it was better fit for "wireframe"-contexts

Can someone explain the pricetag difference here cause i don't know what i'm paying for if i buy a Quadro these days

- GTX 760: +/- 250€

- Quadro 4000: +/- 800€

same for higher end quadros and GTX'es

GTX titan with a massive amount of cuda cores and ram easily whipes the floor with Quadro high ends, comparing price & specs...

So, why is everyone buying Quadro's instead of GTX'es when it comes down to IRAY rendering and 3D Studio Max modelling texturing lighing and whatever there might be.

In what situation do i actualy wanna have a QUADRO in my machine?... Or I am clearly misinformed and under-educated  OR GTX'es are my new babies and Quadro's are from the past.

either way, i'd like some opinions and insights into the GTX / QUADRO matter

grts

PS: my GTX 760 is a beast with photoshop painting, max modelling, iray rendering, .. i mean it, i haven't had 1 problem so far and hadn't need any support...

GTX 760+ ❤️

[Steve_Curley]

One word - reliability. Rendering with Iray (or similar) drives the card very hard, especially if used for extended periods. Quadros are designed to withstand that kind of usage, consumer cards aren't.
Really depends on what you need to do with your card. The 760 is a great card at a good price, but if you need reliability and intend to render for days on end then a Quadro might well be a better bet, in the long run.

[drendir]

We're talking rendering animations in IRAY with "days on end" right? - on that department we've been using CPU animations, still. 

GPU has some way to go before we start implementing that into our workflow. But kudos to those who do it already, i'm sure the new AMD GPU-CPU processor will be a new found treasure.

[Steve_Curley]

Yes, render jobs which take a long time 😉

There's no doubt that hardware rendering will become the norm - eventually. At the moment though, as you noted, CPU rendering (probably distributed - a render farm) is still by far the most commonly used method.

As for the AMD CPU/GPU - who knows? You don't have to look far to find problems with the current batch of "integrated" graphics so it will have to be a very good implementation for it to stand a chance of competing with currently available hardware.

[dgorsman]

For in-depth analysis of the differences between GTX and Quadro hardware, I'd suggest going to nVidia and asking them.  Just remember - even though you may not see any advantages there may still be very valid reasons for the differences and cost.

[drendir]

Just remember - even though you may not "see" any advantages

No, you're right, i'm not SEEING any advantages... I AM WITH GTX though, seriously.

So i don't know what I need to "not" see to buy a Quadro, but i DO know what i'm seeing with the GTX to make me wanna have one of those instead of a Quadro 🙂

[BenBisares]

Just to throw my two cents worth into the mix....

You're also paying for the driver support with the Quadro line. The Quadros have performance drivers for specific programs (3ds Max, AutoCAD). Even the standard drivers go through extra testing for stability.

Now, is it worth it? For me it depends on who's paying 😉

[drendir]

have you personaly ever had problems where you had to call Nvidia customer service to check whats going on?... I did it with my Quadro 4000, we had one at work and I had one at home, spent 800€ on that one, which stings when you find out it didn't do what i was hoping for... Called customer service, we tried many many things, didn't find any solution. To this day my photoshop at work runs like crap and my wacom brush lags like crazy, making it simply impossible to retouch or paint anything in post production. A small nightmare if you will.

In then end I believe it's the symantec security system on our company computers that makes EVERYTHING slow, not just photoshop, max as well.

But at home I can freely compare the Quadro with the GTX and i'm telling you, the GTX feels so smooth and bugfree... I'd rather buy a card that other pple confirm runs like a smooth baby's **** then pay for a card that has good "support".

Support doesn't always mean there's going to be a guaranteed solution... Though that was the case in my head, untill we ran into this problem.

What hurt me the most is when I bought a 200€ GTX 760 last month; my photoshop, after effects, and max ran like never before. I'm not trying to take a dump on Quadro cards here, i'm simply comparing my findings between a Quadro 4000 and a GTX 670.

[dgorsman]

That used to be the case.  I haven't seen a performance driver for AutoCAD for a number of years now.