What's a quadro GPU?

[Eru]

I was browsing the online store of my local computer shop and under graphics cards there was a section besides GeForce and Radeon called Quadro. It peaked my interest. I did some searching on google and it didn't take long for me to find out that the cards are ment for rendering in photoshop, video editing software, and 3D rendering for animation and CAD.

Where I got confused was the price for the highest end Quadro card, a 6000 series of the card, was $4799.99 Canadian. Another card, a 4000 series card, was just over $800. The question that got raised in my head was I spent close to $800 on a pair of 570's not that long ago, would it have been better to put in $800 for a Quadro card or are they only good for rendering period. A secondary question was raised; it takes my pair of 570's about an hour and a half to render a 1080p video that's approximately 45min. How fast would it take that $800, 4000 series quadro card, to render the same video? Maybe I've even got my terms mixed up and exporting the finished video and rendering are two entirely different things and I'm just a bit slow in that respect XD

These questions are just out of pure interest. I have no intent to purchase one as I don't dedicate enough time to tasks that involve rendering. If anyone can shed some light on this that's be appreciated.

 

[Zanc]

Was wondering the same when i saw them at an online shop.

 

[yassarikhan786]

I'm not completely sure, but I've seen a few videos stating that they are specifically designed for CAD and rendering, so will not be very effective when playing games.

 

[Computer crazy]

As has already been said, I understand the quadro cards to be used for rendering and CAD and are great for that purpose but rubbish for gaming and the geforce cards are great for gaming and will do rendering etc however much slower than the quadro cards for that purpose. If you have a dedicated machine for CAD and rendering I think a quadro card would be the best bet however for most other things gaming etc the geforce cards are best suited.

 

[Eru]

So that leaves me with another question. Is there a difference between rendering and exporting a video?

 

[Computer crazy]

So that leaves me with another question. Is there a difference between rendering and exporting a video?

Not 100% sure but I think rendering is where the files are compiled or created and put together where as exporting is where the files are compressed into a file format.

 

[zak4994]

So that leaves me with another question. Is there a difference between rendering and exporting a video?

Rendering is essentially getting a video ready for exporting.

Rendering makes the files into a tangible form that can then be exported into a video file format.

They are sometimes seen as the same thing since some programs render and export one after the other seamlessly.

Or essentially what Computer Crazy said.

 

[FTLN]

I think the hardware is very similar, I flashed my gtx 275 with a quadro bios once...

The main difference is the drivers.. A lot more time is spent optimizing the drivers for cad/cao apps..

They usually get more onboard memory too...

As for rendering video on a quadro then this is done via cuda, and depends on how many cuda cores you got and performance is around the same as a geforce...

 

[FTLN]

Here is a good little write up - http://cadworkstationguide.com/Workstation-Graphics-Cards-Vs-Gaming-Graphics-Cards.html

Workstation Graphics Cards Vs Gaming Graphics Cards

The debate regarding the difference between workstation graphics cards Vs gaming graphics cards has been on going for some time and in all seriousness the consequences of running Cad applications on a gaming card can be pretty costly to a business, as portrayed in the real life scenario outlined on the workstation graphics cards page. So in reality this question should never really be up for debate, but unfortunately it crops up time and time again.

Laughably in one online forum an IT professional started a post asking the difference as he needs to build a machine for a client running high end 3D modelling software and a selection of visualisation applications. The post goes on to highlight the difference in cost between the workstation graphics card and the gaming card with a justification of saving a $100.

Seriously though, someone has definitely lost the plot here on many levels. The software investment alone amounts to in excess of 10k and yet the IT guy is suggesting a sub $150 cad graphics card in the first instance which in all probability will not meet the clients requirements.

And secondly having invested a serious wedge of cash in the software it sounds like the company are then trying to run this suite of software on what is a low end budget clone computer as oppopsed to a Cad workstation. You can already guess at some of the support issues that the company will face as they have either not been properly advised by the software vendor, or the buyer hasn't got a clue what he needs and is relying on the IT guy. So without further ado let’s look at some of the differences.

Workstation Graphics Cards Vs Gaming Graphics Cards

The first real difference between a workstation graphics card and a gaming graphics card is the software applications they have been configured or designed to run. They are in fact aimed at two totally different markets with entirely different needs.

In the first instance you have games. These typically cost no more than $50 or so. Gaming technology has come a long way in recent years and some games have been developed to take greater advantage of graphics technology, but in principle the cards and software drivers are tweaked to deliver maximum performance for GAMES.

Games tend to consist of low polygon count geometry and in many cases pre defined textures and bitmaps. On screen effects can be tweaked in options but are dependent of the power of the graphics card (the better the card the better the graphics). High on the list of priorities for a good gaming graphics card are good quality visuals, fast loading (hence the low polygon count) and a fast smooth frame rate. Typical price range for a games card would be circa $45-$600.

Cad applications typically cost between $1000 to in excess of $10,000 per license. Cad applications need workstation graphics cards that can manipulate complex geometry that could be in excess of a billion triangles. They need to be able to deal with real world real size geometry that could include bridges, skyscrapers or a jumbo jet for example.

They need to be able to produce geometry that can be measured to many decimal places in anything from microns to miles. Getting it wrong could result in product recalls or even failure for example. At a higher level some Cad applications require workstation graphics cards where the graphics card utilise GPU computing. That is when the workstation graphics card actually performs more calculations than the workstations actual processor(s) themselves.

Workstation graphics cards and their specialised graphics software drivers are typically designed and configured to deliver anything up to 5x faster performance, computational data integrity and accuracy and up to 8x faster computational simulation for a broad spectrum of design, animation and video software applications. Typically depending on the particular software requirements workstation graphics cards are priced at circa $150-$5000.

Cad graphics cards can seem to be expensive but in the main most Cad workstations and application would only require one in the lower quartile of the potential price spread. But that said, hopefully you can now understand that the question of workstation graphics cards Vs gaming graphics cards for your cad workstation should never be asked. If you have spent thousands on Cad software for your business, make sure it runs on a decent cad workstation with a recommended workstation graphics card.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

Quadro & FirePro > for raw geometry/ computing and/ or things that don't make pretty pictures on screen.

GeForce & Radeon > for things that make pretty pictures with little geometry, designed to be aestheticly accurate rather than strictly accurate when rendered.

A bit like ECC and non ECC RAM: one is accurate but slow, the other fast but not that useful for mission critical computing