logainofhades :
There is virtually no difference between desktop and workstation cards from AMD. AMD doesn't cripple the compute capabilities of their desktop line like Nvidia does.
It's not so much that they cripple the cards themselves, it has more to do with the drivers. And I agree, the cost of professional graphics cards are frighteningly expensive compared to gaming cards.
However:
http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Some-Strong-AMD-FirePro-Results-SPECviewperf-12
“There is really not much difference between the professional GPUs and the gaming GPUs, Except the drivers, and getting professional level drivers working, and certified to work with the professional graphics software, and the graphics industry’s certification associations, can cost damn near what it cost, to develop the GPU hardware!”
“The drivers that come with professional level GPUs have to continually to be updated, lest the device manufacturer will lose certification and sales. Gaming drivers are tuned to produce images in rapid succession, at the cost of a few artifacts and other imperfections, that really can not be noticed at the high frame rates of games. Professional graphics GPU drivers, are tuned to produce single images that have, if at all possible, no artifacts at all! It is not fun to come back to a 12 hour render and find a rendered Image useless, because it has artifacts, that can not be fixed in less than 12 hours, and the render has to be ready by trade show opening, or show time, and enlarged to 20 by 40 feet!”
“So can it play Crysis, who cares, can it render perfectly and not lose a contract or your job? That is a much better question. The money is in the drivers, and that is why those graphics pros have to pay.”
This video shows the difference between rendering with Radeon and rendering with Firepro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEbAaciPGoc
Also, my suggestion of using a "pro" card usually serve to winnow the serious from the rest.
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