A high end computer system will be fitted with a discreet graphics adapter which is either optimized for gaming, or for 2D/3D workstations. Gaming cards like the Nvidia GeForce or the ATI Radeon series are cheaper than CAD workstation cards like the Nvidia Quadro or the ATI Fire Pro, so what does one need?
ATI Radeon HD6950 Video Card for Games
A Quadro 4000 Professional Graphics Card for 2D/3D
The best way to answer that question is to take a look at the software that you use most. Identify what is the most important program on your machine or the one where performance is most critical.
If it’s an Engineering/2D CAD/3D CAD package like AutoCAD, Solidworks, 3D Studio Max, Maya, Rhino, Pro Engineer or a host of other big name software, always consult their web site and, if possible, choose a specifically tested Graphics adapter.
If you are using mainly Photoshop then a gaming adapter is the way to go. Just make sure there is at least 512Mb (better 1Gb) of video memory built into the card. Photoshop’s performance is very RAM and CPU dependant, so make sure you have lots RAM.
If you use the whole Adobe Creative suite and it’s the latest version (CS5) or you’e doing lots of video editing with programs like Pinnacle or Final Cut, then you definitely want to look at a Workstation Card.
ATI or nVidia ? It doesn’t seem to matter. Consult your software manufacturer for their approved/ tested video adapters. For example, if you are using Adobe Premier the ATI Fire Pro has been highly rated, but the Quadro is just as good.
The newest workstation and gaming cards use a special technology that makes use of the GPU to assist the CPU in certain video related tasks. It is a parallel computing architecture. An example of this is in the rendering of 3D objects (which is usually a CPU task). The version of this technology from nVidia is called CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture). ATI’s version is called ATI stream. What do you need to know about this? Not much, except to realize that a newer Graphics Adapter model (released no more than 18 months ago) is definitely the way to go.
What about for High-End Gaming?
Eish… now we enter the realms of the power junkies. Every gamer has his own opinion. Essentially, it boils down to this: For gaming, no graphics adapter is too powerful – the newer it is, the more expensive it is, and the better your gaming experience. Some games run better with the Nvidia GeForce, some prefer the ATI Radeon and most work equally well with either brand. The best is to Google the name of the game and the words “graphics card” .
Note: There is one notable exception to this and that is Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX. There is a strange coding anomaly in this program which actually causes the program to slow down when running on a powerful new graphics adapter. For the ultimate FSX experience, you need to use a Graphics card that uses 4-year old technology! Ideally a display adapter running an ATI Radeon HD 4600 series GPU.
