Do CAD Video Cards make good Game Video Cards?

[Guest Jim Strenk]

I currently run FS2002 Pro using an ELSA GLoria Pro card which as 64MB of memory on-board.I plan on upgrading the video card to a new CAD card in the future. With that in mind, do CAD video cards work well with games, in particular FS2002 and FS2004? If not, what brand and model of video cards might I want to consider when I finally do upgrade the video card? I know that Game cards should not be used with CAD applications.Thank you in advance for your tips, suggestions and errata!

[Guest AAF]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it might not be the best bet, being that CAD cards are probably geared strictly toward calculations which do not apply to rendering objects typically found in flight sims, but then again, I could be gravely mistaken. But take the Matrox Parhelia, for example. It isn't too good for gaming, but it is a beast when it comes to calculating for CAD. :-

[Guest outtatimeiii]

Most of those CAD cards are extremely good in OpenGL applications. I have checked some of these cards and most offer no Direct3D support (some do though). In other words, all Microsoft games will have no hardware acceleration if you get one with no D3D support.I have AutoCAD 2002 on my computer and it runs ok (software rendering), but not nearly as fast as the CAD dedicated computers at my college. They are P4 2GHz machines with ATI FireGL X1 (these cards ROCK in CAD) cards. I'm not sure if these run Direct3D or not though, i'm not gonna install FS2002 on them to see :-lol.

[Guest Jim Strenk]

Thanks Joe for your reply.Blue Skies!

[Guest Jim Strenk]

Thanks Zack for your reply.Blue Skies!

[Guest Jim Strenk]

Any others care to chime in?