Video card for CAD

[pilot100ll 5]

Hello all,

I am adding a CAD/CAM software to my Prepar3d V4 system. My question is this: what video card do I need to run both Prepar3d v4 and Solidworks 2017 without any issues. I am advised to go with the Nvidia quadro p4000 or m4000. Anyone have suggestions? Assume I have the power to run such video card. Thanks in advance.

[laserit 93]

What type of work do you do in Solidworks?

Unless your working with massive assemblies, a good gaming card should do you just fine.

[pilot100ll 5]

I'm only learning the system. Nothing too complicated (yet). I am considering the Titan XP but want the most from both softwares (p3d and solidworks)

 

[laserit 93]

That Titan XP will run Solidworks wonderfully. P3D will be harder on that Titan than Solidworks will.

[pilot100ll 5]

Thanks laserit. Question though, my first love is P3D. Will it suffer using the Titan XP or do you mean P3D will work the Titan harder than Solidworks? I want the GPU that will run both systems flawlessly without compromise however I am willing to sacrifice solidworks performance not P3D performance.

[nealmac 260]

The GeForce series cards will run Solidwork without any issues. And a good Quadro card will run P3D without any issues. So it's purely a matter of you choosing which is more important to you. P3D or Solidworks.

[laserit 93]

I mean P3D will work the Titan harder than Solidworks will :)

[pilot100ll 5]

nealmac, how do you like PF3 for ATC? I am looking for an ATC interface and wanted to know your thoughts.

[lownslo 590]

Until recently I ran Solidworks 2017 on my GTX 970 without any issues.  Runs the same with my current 1080.

Greg

[vortex681 806]

17 hours ago, pilot100ll said:

My question is this: what video card do I need to run both Prepar3d v4 and Solidworks 2017 without any issues.

Although it's a few years old, this article gives a good idea of comparative game performance between workstation cards like the quadro and gaming cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/workstation-graphics-card-gaming,3425.html. It's worth noting that the gaming cards in the test are all outdated versions which are completely blown away by current cards. In this comparison the quadro cards don't perform well. Based on these results alone, it's difficult to see how the quadro' won't seriously struggle with P3D v4 even at modest screen resolutions. Remember that the drivers for the workstation cards are not the same as those used for the gaming cards and are not optimised for gaming applications.

[JoeFackel 760]

In our construction office working with AutoCAD Inventor we NEVER take workstations with special graphic cards.

"Standard"-Gamingcards do their job pretty well, even in professional environments and are WAY cheaper.

[nealmac 260]

22 hours ago, pilot100ll said:

nealmac, how do you like PF3 for ATC? I am looking for an ATC interface and wanted to know your thoughts.

I don't use PF3. I use ProATC X.

 

I know this is your thread, but that's huuuuge off-topic moment right there. Where did that come from? 

[pilot100ll 5]

A lot of good feedback but what's the verdict? Anyone know the best for both applications? I have spent days with solidworks and NVidia techs and all I get are sales pitches. Buy me buy me buy me. But when I ask for honesty as to which will be the best in performance I always get the "don't know" answer. If I had no budget restraints and wanted to run the best graphics on both solidworks and P3d, what card would I use? I don't think I am the only one that ever asked this question so you tech-ies out there please advise.

 

[GHarrall 494]

I think the verdict is pretty clear. The good gaming card will work well for both.

[GolfMikeBravo 7]

My opinion would be to purchase a card best suited for P3D, with a decent amount of video ram (e.g., 1080ti with 11 GB ram).  This should also run Solidworks just fine.  Heck, I've run Autodesk Inventor here at home on just the on-chip Intel HD Graphics 530 (i7-6700K at 4 GHz) in 64-bit Windows 7 just fine.  At the office, we run full 3D AutoCAD, working with large Civil 3D drawings and several 3d finite element modeling software packages on newer systems with no add-on graphics cards, without problems.  Running the Windows Experience Index on my home system with no add-on graphics card gives me values between 7.0 and 7.9 (Windows 7 maximum is 7.9).

Just my thoughts.

Gerald