Difference of Workstation and Gaming GPU

[darkstar845]

I searched for the specifications of a workstation video card like ATI v8800 and compared it to a Gaming Video card ATI HD5870, I did not see any major difference among the two, they both have 1600 stream processors, GDDR5 256-bit memory and almost the same memory bandwidth.

Can you please tell me what are their differences and can a Workstation Video Card like the ATI V8800 run a game like Crysis with the highest settings?

 

[erdinger]

The difference is in the drivers the driver support, the PRICE the cooler (i think ^^) and the reliability.

If you needed the V8800 you would know.

Just buy the 5870!

 

[silversurfernhs]

When you purchase a workstation graphics card, you are paying for enhanced drivers which cater to development rather than gaming - quality rather than performance; you are also paying for full support by the manufacturer, whom you may submit a problem and get a somewhat personalized fix or response on how to fix a problem. The price is ridiculous by comparison to mainstream GPUs and sometimes they offer a ridiculous amount of memory for specialized purposes, like texturing for high end 3d environments.

 

[slimbones]

The workstation card will not play games well. It is engineered for precision in calculations and rendering and will fail to keep up with the frame rate of most games.

The gaming card will keep a certain frame rate even at the expense of precise calculations and rendering.

The cards are not the same, no matter what people say. They may be sporting the same basic engine, but the other parts are different, including the software. Many cars have the same basic engine in them, but the different parts hooked up to it get you different performance. Like the Audi S8 and Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, 2007 models. Same engine, way different performance.

 

[one-shot]

The difference is in the drivers the driver support, the PRICE the cooler (i think ^^) and the reliability.

If you needed the V8800 you would know.

Just buy the 5870!

Don't forget ECC VRAM. That is also not cheap.

 

[darkstar845]

I have no plans in buying a Workstation Video card because I do not do 3d rendering and modeling. I am just curious to why there is a very large price difference between the two Video card Class. Thanks for the responses...

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey