Option for 2D graphics in Word, Illustrator and AutoCAD

a very fast graphic card is not going to accelerate Word or Illustrator for you, I think your problem lies in your software, not hardware, almost any setup can run the listed programs, I have machine at the office who are running these on Pentium 4's and integrated graphics without a hitch. best suggestion for you would be to reinstall windows, install newest drivers, INSTALL NEWEST GRAPHICS DRIVER (www.nvidia.com). you do not need new hardware for these programs, even autoCAD requires minimal computer power if you are not using its 3D features.

Hi Arterius2, the problem is not with my installations.

I am aware that all the software that I mentioned runs easily on the specs of my machine. What I'm talking about here is vectored graphics that includes potentially hundreds of thousand of lines. When I have such a file loaded on the programs I mention they slow down in the following order Word, Illustrator, AutoCAD with the last being the least affected.

I am aware that 2D graphics is an issue. I'm just not sure which card will provide greater performance in 2D compared to my 8800GT.

The slow down appears when all vectored graphics needs to be redrawn.

L.

ah ok, now I understand what you are saying, then you probably should be looking at workstation graphic cards, as your current gaming card (8800GT) will not accelerate CAD/DCC(digital content creation) work. workstation graphic cards have specialized hardware and software that optimize in this area, you can usually reach a performance factor of 10x-20x over your average gaming card in this field of work.

with that said, I work with 3D modelling, autoCAD, animation and video editing, I currently own an ATI FireGL v7700 and it has never let me down. In fact, I just bought another workstation card for a coworker today, you should take a look. its the ATI FirePro V4800, just came out few weeks ago, id say for its price, its performs better than any other cards in its price range. of course you can always move up to the v5800 or v7800 if your work demands better graphics card, but I think for your average Illustrator and CAD work, it should be more than sufficient.

http://sites.amd.com/us/atwork/promo/Pages/firepro-fami...
http://www.amd.com/us/Documents/ATI-FirePro-V4800-datas...

if you want to compare with other graphics cards, check out this chart, as it provides valuable info on the specs of each graphic unit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics...

Can an 8800GT be softmodded into a Quadro? If I remember properly the 8800GTS can be but I'm not sure about the GT.

no 8800GT cannot be modded because its a G92 core, while the 8800GTS is a G80, all G8x series can be softmodded, however, I've softmodded plenty of 8600GTs into Quadro FX 1700/570s, I did not notice any improvement in performance, because as soon as you run CAD, it will attempt to install CAD performance drivers or MAXTreme drivers for 3DS Max on your computer and then it will give you an error telling you that required hardware is not found in your PC, and you'll have to cancel out of the whole process.

Thanks guys for your input.