Graphics question for 3ds Max

U will be more than satisfied with ur current card....if ur worried about the hardware based rendering features then dont be....there are none for 3d software packages....the one renderer that used GPU was gelato from nvidia and has stopped development....I regularly use max for my production pipeline and my current gaming cards get the work done nicely......dont waste money on quadro....the only drawback is that quadro cards make for a slightly smooth navigation when polygon count hits a high....but when u work on such levels u will automatically learn to work by isolating specific layers of ur model.....JUst have good CPU for fast rendering....

Benchmarks aside there is no major reason warranting a quadro for personal use.....I used FX 3500 for 2 years which cost me thrice than my current 295 and what did i get.... a GPU which had minimal performance gain 3d apps at a much larger price margin....

I agree that quadro card enjoy a much greater muscle in graphics computing and superior drivers....But that is can only possibly harnessed in expert hands.....If a person has CUDA programming knowledge then quadro will be his super weapon....In my opinion quadro is best suited for VFX companies who spend R&D programming their cards for specific apps and work.....

^
Like I said.. his card will work. I was just spitting information.

No problem....i appreciate it.....I was just voicing my opinion.....

^It is a very valid point though

But isn't the FX4800 a comparable card to the GTX 280?

Sure there are slight hardware differences, but I doubt it would have such a big impact...

I'm just saying whatever card you have, the Quadro equivilent will outperform in those types of apps. I think the 9600's card is like an FX1800 or something like that.

The benchamrk uses Max 9 (from 2006) with Open GL.

The current version (Max 2010) uses DirectX now.

Try those benchmarks again.

I believe there are driver/software mods to trick normal desktop cards into thinking they are there workstation cards etc out there - search around!

Well, from my experience in CAD programs (I know different, but one is from the same company) for basic models most everything will work fine, however, you often do lose some of the nicer touches and the program will complain a bit, but otherwise it is quite usable. However, this may vary from program to program, task to task. I'm not sure what your decision is though: if you already have the program, try it on your card and see if it is acceptable. If you don't, but are a student, you should be able to get the program for free (for at least 6 months) to try it out and see if it is acceptable. And the danger with the VC BIOS trickery is that if it doesn't work out, you could just end up with a brick.

Oh well, I'm not fretting over anything. I don't want to soft-mod my graphics card just yet. I'm not willing to take the risk.

Whatever I have now I'll have to be happy with, I'm not in the position to buy anything at this point (3ds MAX costs alot, even student discount editions)

^Your card will be fine. I know the guys I had worked with wanted something decent. I don't recall what I bought, but they were like $700, which an entry level card. It would redraw everything much faster for them. But then again they worked with some HUGE drawings with tons of HVAC and electrical components. That was in CAD, btw.