Graphics card for AutoCAD & Games

[mushko]

Hi everyone,

I know this is a tough question and somewhat impossible to answer, but I need a graphics card which will be able to handle games (such as Total War and other RPG games mainly) but will also be good for AutoCAD.

I have looked on AutoCAD's website for certified and approved hardware, but the list of supported hardware is quite limitted and not many of the newer cards have been tested, and the certified hardware is basically a list of Workstation graphics cards.

So is there one out there on the market that will do both, even though it might be 60% for CAD and 40% for games or vice-versa etc. ?

Please note that majority of CAD work is 2D.

Also in regards to CPU, which of the follwoing would you recommend:
1. Intel Core 2 Duo E8600
2. Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
3. Intel Core i7-920

Any suggestion would be much appreciated

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258943-28-autocad-dell <----check this thread

This vid card below would seem to suite your needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130468 $129.99 Free Shipping*
EVGA 512-P3-1150-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

As far as what cpu would be best all depends on your budget. I would rule out the dual core (E8600). On another note, there are cheaper yet decent quad cores to look at like the Q9400.

 

[Outlander_04]

Any card that can play games will be way more than enough for AutoCAD .

Which processor and gfx card you should get is dependant on two major things
1/ your budget
2/ the size and resolution of your monitor

Without that basic information it isnt possible to do much more than guess

 

[specialk90]

Here is a great and cheap solution: an 8800GTS 640MB and soft-mod it to Quadro FX4600. The 8800GTS is the last geforce card that can be soft-modded as nvidia as laser-cut their chips since then disabling soft-modding. You will still get plenty of gaming performance and great CAD performance. However, make sure that AutoCAD 2009 doesn't require OpenGL 2.1 as the 8800GTS is 2.0.

 

[mushko]

thanks for the reply guys, i appreciate it.

I decided to go for a GTS250 Superclocked version as it supports OpenGL 3.0 and it should be pretty sweet for gaming, i need something with a bit more grunt than the 8800 as i'm using a 1080p 24" LCD.

thanks again

 

[specialk90]

That OpenGL 3.0 support is an error because the GTS 250 uses the G92+ chip which only supports 2.1. Also, look on newegg and you will see that every 250 is 2.1 except for a couple errors.

 

[mushko]

according to the EVGA website GTS250 Superclocked has the following features:

·High-Speed GDDR3 Memory Interface
·Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
·Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Shader Model 4.0 Support
·Dual Slot Design
·DVI-I Output
·2nd Generation Unified Shader Architecture
·NVIDIA® CUDA™ Support
·NVIDIA® PhysX™ Ready
·2-Way SLI® Support
·3-Way SLI® Support
·NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD Technology
·Support for 2-Way and 3-Way NVIDIA® SLI™
·OpenGL® 3.0 Support
·NVIDIA® Essential Vista

http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/01G-P3-1156.PDF

 

[specialk90]

Take a look at the new article on TomsHardware comparing the GTS 280 against Quadro and ATI workstation cards. The GTS 250 you have chosen is no where near as powerful as the 280 and the 280 couldn't handle the 3d programs at all. However, the FX4600 can handle them no problem at all and this is a simple and cheaper solution by soft-modding the 8800GTS 640MB to FX4600. If you want a card that can at least do 3d work, this is your only cost effective solution.