27 replies to this topic

[Zirakss]

xWiredx, on 21 April 2016 - 08:23 AM, said:

Because of the double-precision and other non-gimped things (like drivers) for Quadro cards, CAD programs benefit a lot more. Gaming cards are typically noticeably slower (sometimes as little as 10% slower, sometimes as much as 90% slower) even with higher clock speeds.

Indeed! Most of the time so about 80% slower.

When you bench both cards with a graphic demo, you will see nearly no difference, because the demos are optimized for gaming cards. So don't let this fact fool you.

Then there are drivers or the lack of. Some programs like autocad prefer to use a so called heidi driver. It's a kind of enhanced opengl driver. You can't get those drivers for gaming cards, you have to buy the professional graphic card.

[LT. HARDCASE]

Big Tin Man, on 21 April 2016 - 07:39 AM, said:

Ok, so can someone explain from a CAD based application perspective: which gpu is better quadro m3000m vs. GTX980m. I'm sure both will run games fine from a hotel room, and I'm not giving up my desktop machine any time soon.

I'm now heads up between two rigs and this is the deciding factor.

Gaming wise, the GTX 980M is literally twice as fast.

[Catamount]

It might help to know more about your CAD requirements, OP. Are you really doing something where GPU differences over, say, a GTX980M, are going to even approach being meaningful?

[Big Tin Man]

I can tell you what my potential CAD/gpu tasks are:

Autodesk Autocad 2d/3d
REvit 4d building modeling/Primavera P6 integration
BIM 360
Agtek Earthwork
...
MWO

I guess it boils down to how well Revit, Autocad and BIM play with a 980m vs. Quadro m3000m. Games take a backseat here.

[LT. HARDCASE]

Since you have a gaming desktop, just go with a Quadro card.

As bad of a value proposition Quado based laptops are, your job is paying, and you don't need a GTX 980M at all.

Edited by LT. HARDCASE, 25 April 2016 - 03:43 PM.

[MavRCK]

make sure your i7 mobile cpu is a true quadcore... check the numbers.. there's a lenovo 17" version of my 15"

[Big Tin Man]

Thanks for all the help guys. Laptop has been ordered. Stuck with the Dell so I can blame my IT manager for any problems, and so my docking station will still work. Price was close enough for the hassle. I did downsize to the 15" for portability and took the extra budget for upgrades to secondary monitors. Ended up with:

i7 6920HQ--2.9/3.8 GHz
16 GB DDR4 2133MHz (1 dimm)
256 PCIe SSD--primary
1 TB SATA 7200 rpm--storage
3840x2160 15.6" Display
Quadro M2000M (the 15" chassis can't fit the M3000M, but the 2000 has the same number of cuda cores as the GTX 960m, should be ok)

Now I need to pickup a 24-27" 4k monitor for ~$300

Edited by Big Tin Man, 04 May 2016 - 07:56 AM.

[KHAN ATTAKHAN]

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