PNY Nvidia Quadro

[johan.degreef]

Is there a difference between PNY and Nvidia Quadro?

I don't see any PNY in the offcial autodesk list...

Can I order a laptop with an PNY videocard and be sure all works?

https://www.alternate.be/PNY/Quadro-RTX-4000-Sync-grafische-kaart/html/product/1515849

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/certified-graphics-hardware

[P_Korgaonkar]

I am not sure, but if PNY is a brand using an Nvidia Quadro chipset, then it should work.

Try to download drivers from PNY site and see if you see the driver numbers same as Nvidia site, then it is all good in my opinion! Please note I am not an expert!

Regards

Parag

[cadman777]

In the past I learned that a number of graphics card manufacturers use the Nvidia chip, but they provide their own drivers and tweaks to the graphics cards. For example: My current workstation has an ASUS GeForce 1070 4 GB graphics card that is essentially an Nvidia graphics card for all intents and purposes. Before that I had an EVGA GeForce 660Ti, which was essentially an Nvidia. I can list a dozen others that I've used (at least). They're all essentially the same, UNLESS the mfgr screwed up their drivers or mods to the video processing. The 100 runs just like if I bought it from Nvidia. In the past I used Nvidia graphics cards as well (mfgr'd by Nvidia themselves) and found them to be essentially no different from other branded same cards. In the earlier days of CAD I used Nvidia Quadro's (mfgr'd by Nvidia), but the prices now are WAY too high to justify the 10%-15% improvements compared to GeForce cards, so I go w/the GeForce instead. I would not use anything but Nvidia though, b/c I've tried the other graphics cards in the past and they always had problems. The only exception is if I'm running an AMD processor, which I won't do with CAD.

I used to have an HP Zbook 17" laptop that used an Nvidia card by Nvidia (not PNY), and it worked great. Not sure about your laptop though.

That's my personal opinion based on a limited number of builds over the past 30+ years, so my opinion may not work for you, depending on your hardware configuration and kind of work (like if you do renderings and/or FEA).

[mcgyvr]

Autodesk only certifies a small number of cards/driver versions and even those have been shown to have issues on occasions.. 

There are PLENTY of other cards/driver versions that work just fine with Inventor.

Most will recommend a GOOD gaming card with the latest manufacturers drivers for Inventor and don't care about Autodesks certified list at all..

PNY uses NVIDIA chips with other different components/PCB layout/drivers but is VERY well known and very reliable.

You will more than likely have NO PROBLEMS using a PNY card with the PNY most recent drivers. 

[cadman777]

The thing I discovered about laptops is, they're a lot more finicky than workstations. But if the laptop manufacturer recommends or offers different video cards, then they've likely tested those cards with their laptops. But I would call them and 'grill them' to be sure, b/c sometimes they don't do adequate testing and have issues. I found the DRIVERS to be the biggest issue on laptops. Usually one driver conflicts w/another driver. But that's what the laptop mfgr is supposed to sort out for you. One thing about the HP Zbook I had is, HP DRIVERS SUCK. They're always updating them, and if you're not careful, you can royally screw up your system when applying an updated driver. So that's why I would caution you to do your homework before spec'ing anything on a laptop.

Here's an anecdotal story for you:

A number of years ago I bought a "Digital Storm" workstation on a recommendation by someone I thought I could trust. Turns out that after a lengthy conversation w/the builder, they screwed me with their choice of RAM, which I didn't discover until a year or so later. You see, I wanted to shave a few hundred bux off the price, so they did, but they used incompatible RAM to do it. Eventually I had MAJOR stability problems w/that system. But that's only the beginning of the story.

The thing about building systems is, their tech genius (engineer) may be a wizard 'builder', but the average Joe doesn't know 1/10 of what those guys know. So when I ran into problems w/the machine, I couldn't figure it out. And I'm not some yahoo idiot. I've build all but a few of my workstations over the years starting w/286's, and never had any problems figuring out how to make things work together. But this thing was a NIGHTMARE. Anyways, when I finally got compatible RAM for the system, it appeared to run stable ... FINALLY! I thank ADATA for accommodating me.

But after a week of running, a whole different set of problems began occurring. Finally I said "f**k it" and got another motherboard b/c I had enough of struggling w/this thing. Note: The m/b I got was an EVGA factory replacement for the one that the original builder installed. Actually it was an upgrade b/c they no longer mfgr'd any of those m/b's that I had. But b/c it was on the tail end of an extended warranty, they sent me a 'Refurbished' m/b. It was EVGA's top-of-the-line too. EVGA decided to treat me right b/c of 2 things: 1. nobody could figure out what was wrong w/my machine (neither Digital Storm nor EVGA), and 2. they wanted a happy customer. They made me happy, well ... at first.

But before I installed that 'Refurbished' m/b, EVGA QC'd the board I returned and contacted me w/the results (claiming it was my fault). Turns out that some of the CPU socket pins were BENT! But b/c I didn't build that system, it couldn't have been MY fault. So the facts underlying ALL the problems I had SINCE DAY-1 all pointed to EITHER 1. the Digital Storm assembler BENDING THE PINS when installing the CPU, or 2. EVGA did it somewhere along the line and it never got flagged by their QC guys.

However, I think it was EVGA's fault, b/c the first thing I did after receiving that news was break out my 40 power stereo microscope and QC the CPU socket for bent pins. What do you know! I found at least 3 BENT pins. After taking some pics of those 3, I quit the QC operation. Anyways, long story short, EVGA sent me a NEW m/b and it worked flawlessly until I decided to upgrade to a faster system. But I still doubt that the original RAM would've run on that new EVGA m/b, b/c it was not on EVGA's compatibility list. And even though the engineer at the Digital Storm COULD get the incompatible RAM running stable on the first BENT PIN system, that doesn't mean I or YOU could do it (b/c I couldn't!).

So my advice to anybody picking components for any system is ONLY USE COMPONENTS ON THE 'COMPATIBILITY LIST', unless you're an expert system builder who can 'fix anything', or unless you want to throw good money after a big risk when buying non-certified or untested 'bleeding edge' components (which I've also done a number of times in the past). The latter would be considered R&D.

Considering those problems occurred on a workstation, I think it's even more important to MAKE SURE you use manufacturer-certified components on LAPTOPS, b/c they're so finicky compared to workstations (esp. m/b's designed for overclocking, which are pretty easy to build).

Again, just my 2 cents' worth ...

[leowarren34]

I can be pretty certain that there is no difference between a PNY Quadro and the Nvidia Quadro because the Quadro is the specification - the entire card, chip, cooler everything. Unlike a Geforce card where the chip and VRAM quantity which may be the only similarity - everything else is up to the board partner. When you buy a Quadro you are paying for the exact card and specification (as well as reliability and compatibility). One thing to think about (though there's a larger reason at play see here) for only certifying Quadro is that there is only one Quadro at each tier compared to the variety of SKUs that the Geforce cards present.

[P_Korgaonkar]

Hello All

Nice video by TFI, thanks for sharing a link.

Here is my little story.

I had no idea what a Quadro card is until Inventor 9 came out.

From day one, it started crashing every 10 to 15 minutes. I was told by Autodesk support I need a new Video card, but he forgot to mention a word Quadro!

I went and bought $600 Asus gaming card at then. There was no improvement and the system kept crashing. Then other support technician advised me to buy a Quadro card.

I went and searched for the difference between the two, what I learnt then was. One is a game card and other is a cad card.

To explain the difference in simple terms, you grab a brush and start painting, If a painted pixel moved right or left by 0.1 mm or 1 mm it will make a very small difference to the picture you are painting.

Now try to draw a technical drawing, you can not have a point moving left or right by 0.1 mm because, when you try to dimension it, the dimension will be out by that much amount. In a nutshell, this is the difference between Game card and a Quadro. Quadro has to draw a pixel at the point within six digits of accuracy if the inventor is set for six-digit precision.

On the other occasion, I was not able to access network files from Inventor file open box, and the issue was related to Graphic card. I could not believe my ears when Tech support from Autodesk US. advised changing the card and drivers to Quadro, but after doing so it did resolve the problem.

Watching the video I do not deny that the Inventor may work well with game cards, as the main chip is same, but I would still stay away from game cards for Inventor. Yes, a couple of thousand dollars is a big amount, but calculate it another way. That 2000 dollars are used for 3 years, that is less than 50 cents per hour! are you going save 50 cents worth of time every hour by using the Quadro card. If yes go for it. My answer to this question is Yes, I will save more than 50 cents per hour!

All I know is when the cursor starts spinning and I have to wait for 5 seconds or more, my thinking link breaks which cause more time and money than having a game card.

Another example I can share is, I tried to open a drawing with some surfaces using different cards, and I did notice the time difference in opening files. ( Inventor 9, once again!) since then every PC I used for Inventor I made sure I have Intel CPU, a motherboard with Intel Chipset and a Quadro card!

Regards

Parag