Gaming graphic cards best for 3Dmodeling, rendering & adobe creative program

[jazlea]

I'm needing to purchase a budget graphics card to handle adobe master suite programs (mostly- photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, premier pro, flash & dreamweaver, after effects) also AutoCad, Maya & 3dmax, SketchUp & poser. The budget workstation cards seem behind for the adobe CS5 & premier pro needing current & open gl. I'm not a gamer, but would like some availability. However, I would still want to stream & edit video/photos, use blue-ray HD movies. Also near future to work in Visual Studio. This is all for freelance graphic/architectural rendering & fine arts related.

I was thinking of the fermi (gtx 460)gaming cards would handle, tho not finding them open gl (also cuda).. which seems I really need? Therefore, I'm looking to purchase the GTX 550 (EVGA). Preferring Nvidia.

Is this a functional/stable good performer to handle the above programs with professional looking results? ...How does this compare to Radeon HD 5770, 6770 or 6870?...would this be a better gaming card for designing programs? If so, most reputable brand, and/or, should I steer clear of a specific brand?

I have read some mixed reviews for the the budget ATI FirePro V4800 & V3800 workstation cards.

Am I missing some better options in the >$150 - $175 range? To run in W7pro 64-bit



THXS SO MUCH!!! jazlea

 

[amuffin]

You want to look for a card with a good amount of cuda cores. This helps in 3d modeling/rendering. Only if the program is gpu accelerated. Look for a gtx 560 or a 560ti. The 550 only has 192 cuda cores while the 460 or the 560 has around 336.

 

[king smp]

this is list of CUDA enabled Nvidia cards

CUDA-Enabled GeForce Products


GeForce 8, 9, 100, 200, 400-series, 500-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB of local graphics memory.

GeForce Desktop Products



GPU

Compute Capability




GeForce GTX 560 Ti

2.1



GeForce GTX 550 Ti

2.1



GeForce GTX 460

2.1



GeForce GTS 450

2.1



GeForce GTS 450*

2.1



GeForce GTX 590

2.0



GeForce GTX 580

2.0



GeForce GTX 570

2.0



GeForce GTX 480

2.0



GeForce GTX 470

2.0



GeForce GTX 465

2.0



GeForce GTX 295

1.3



GeForce GTX 285

1.3



GeForce GTX 285 for Mac

1.3



GeForce GTX 280

1.3



GeForce GTX 275

1.3



GeForce GTX 260

1.3



GeForce GT 520

2.1



GeForce GT 440

2.1



GeForce GT 440*

2.1



GeForce GT 430

2.1



GeForce GT 430*

2.1



GeForce GT 420*

1.0



GeForce GT 240

1.2



GeForce GT 220*

1.2



GeForce 210*

1.2



GeForce GTS 250

1.1



GeForce GTS 150

1.1



GeForce GT 130*

1.1



GeForce GT 120*

1.1



GeForce G100*

1.1



GeForce 9800 GX2

1.1



GeForce 9800 GTX+

1.1



GeForce 9800 GTX

1.1



GeForce 9600 GSO

1.1



GeForce 9500 GT

1.1



GeForce 8800 GTS

1.1



GeForce 8800 GT

1.1



GeForce 8800 GS

1.1



GeForce 8600 GTS

1.1



GeForce 8600 GT

1.1



GeForce 8500 GT

1.1



GeForce 8400 GS

1.1



GeForce 9400 mGPU

1.1



GeForce 9300 mGPU

1.1



GeForce 8300 mGPU

1.1



GeForce 8200 mGPU

1.1



GeForce 8100 mGPU

1.1



GeForce 8800 Ultra

1.0



GeForce 8800 GTX

1.0



GeForce GT 340*

1.0



GeForce GT 330*

1.0



GeForce GT 320*

1.0



GeForce 315*

1.0



GeForce 310*

1.0



GeForce 9800 GT

1.0



GeForce 9600 GT

1.0



GeForce 9400GT

1.0


GeForce Notebook Products



GPU

Compute Capability




GeForce GT 580M

2.1



GeForce GT 570M

2.1



GeForce GT 560M

2.1



GeForce GT 555M

2.1



GeForce GT 550M

2.1



GeForce GT 540M

2.1



GeForce GT 525M

2.1



GeForce GT 520MX

2.1



GeForce GT 520M

2.1



GeForce GTX 485M

2.1



GeForce GTX 470M

2.1



GeForce GTX 460M

2.1



GeForce GT 445M

2.1



GeForce GT 435M

2.1



GeForce GT 420M

2.1



GeForce GT 415M

2.1



GeForce GTX 480M

2.0



GeForce GTS 360M

1.2



GeForce GTS 350M

1.2



GeForce GT 335M

1.2



GeForce GT 330M

1.2



GeForce GT 325M

1.2



GeForce GT 240M

1.2



GeForce G210M

1.2



GeForce 310M

1.2



GeForce 305M

1.2



GeForce GTX 285M

1.1



GeForce GTX 280M

1.1



GeForce GTX 260M

1.1



GeForce 9800M GTX

1.1



GeForce 8800M GTX

1.1



GeForce GTS 260M

1.1



GeForce GTS 250M

1.1



GeForce 9800M GT

1.1



GeForce 9600M GT

1.1



GeForce 8800M GTS

1.1



GeForce 9800M GTS

1.1



GeForce GT 230M

1.1



GeForce 9700M GT

1.1



GeForce 9650M GS

1.1



GeForce 9700M GT

1.1



GeForce 9650M GS

1.1



GeForce 9600M GT

1.1



GeForce 9600M GS

1.1



GeForce 9500M GS

1.1



GeForce 8700M GT

1.1



GeForce 8600M GT

1.1



GeForce 8600M GS

1.1



GeForce 9500M G

1.1



GeForce 9300M G

1.1



GeForce 8400M GS

1.1



GeForce G210M

1.1



GeForce G110M

1.1



GeForce 9300M GS

1.1



GeForce 9200M GS

1.1



GeForce 9100M G

1.1



GeForce 8400M GT

1.1



GeForce G105M

1.1

 

[king smp]

that is from Nvidia website
http://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus


now the 460 would be best bet according to Nvidia official list

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007323%20600062521&IsNodeId=1&Tpk=gtx%20460


that is US Newegg

I like the MSI Cyclone on top

 

[ram1009]

I have tried to use gaming cards for Solidworks with little sucess. My current GPU for SW is a budget Quadro, I think a 460, and it seems to work fine. It sounds like you intend to work yours harder than I am so you may want to look at the higher end Quadros but they get pricey quickly. BTW, I've had better luck with Nvidia than ATI.

 

[king smp]

There is more support for CUDA in workstation applications than there is for ATI Stream
also I would agree with ram1009 that a workstation GPU is better suited for your purposes
the drivers for workstation GPUs are tuned for OpenGL and more stable
there are some Gaming GPUs that can be flashed over to their workstation
equals though that is not for the inexperienced

this is the best one I can find at your price point on Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133354

read this froms toms reviews
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-firepro-v8700,2154-10.html


a workstation card will outperform gaming cards in workstation apps such as Maya
AutoCad etc