What video card for Mechanical Desktop CAD software

[keithonline]

I'm starting to build some pretty large assemblies using Mechanical Desktop 5.0. One Autodesk rep. recommended I use the GeForce Ti 200 or 500. I currently have an Nvidia TNT-2 with 32 MB. I alrady have Gig of RAM. (Not sure what processor, but over 1GHz). My IT dept. said to find out which one I want, and get it. Anand tech recommends these or the ATI Radeon 8500.

I was wondering if anyone has any experenince with video cards and if I would see much of a real difference (not just theoretical)? Also, is it just a matter of buying the card, and the software driver comes with it, or is there more to it than that?

Thanks for any help.
Keith

 

[railugh]

I utilize 3d studio max4 for animation design, though an oxygen card is one of the most promptly powerful resources, I use a Geforce2 TI in my home system. The transform and lighting in the hardware offers great performance on rendering times. The software you are utilizing should get a decent response. I kinda keep wary of ATI products, although I like them there driver support doesn't update quite as frequently as I would care to see. Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[Jakespeare]

I say, do NOT use an ATI video card. I build high-end graphics workstations, and specialty PC gaming machines,,,,,, and as railugh said, ATI drive support is POOR.

NVIDIA: Almost any GeForce2 - PRO and above will work great.

I will just list TWO I would want to put in customers computers,,,, for a reasonable price. (They are about 10X's the video card that your old TNT2 is).

> Then, I will list one card that is slightly more, but would work rather Awesome....... 128 MB's !!

best price with reliable service =

http://www.newegg.com

I like Gainward video cards the best. ( I own one)

1st) $122.00

Gainward/Cardexpert GeForce 2 TITANIUM Ti/500XP, 4ns 64MB DDR, VIVO, Golden Sample Plus. Retail (nVIDIA GeForce 2 Ti GPU). Overclocking enhanced performance mode. Video capture software included. (Product Review1.)

2nd) $156.00

Gainward/Cardexpet GeForce 3 Ti200 64MB (NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200 GPU), Power Pack Golden Sample, 4ns 64MB DDR. TV-Out. Retail Box. ( Check the Review 1. )

** LAST ****
This should be almost as good as a really hi-end dedicated 2D workstation card - *and much cheaper.**

$182.00 *** 128 MB's DDR RAM ****

Gainward/Cardexpet GeForce 3 Ti200 128MB (NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200 GPU), Power Pack Golden Sample, 4ns 128MB DDR.Retail Box. Overclocking enhanced performance mode. TV-Out. Retail Box. Model#: GF3TI200 TI450-128MB

( OH, and the ATI 8500 is $238.00 ) and a pain in the butt

I'm sure this will give you some great options to choose from.