Are Workstation GPUs worth it? or are Gaming GPUs better bag for the buck.

[Raminderpreet]

Anyeone wanna talk about workstation GPUs and Desktop/gaming GPUs. I wanna hear your unbiased thoughts about the two types of GPUs and in the workstation market, the advantages of Nvidia and AMD and maybe you can even talk about Linu's latest build, where he used both variety of GPUs? and yes I do need a workstation style GPU as I am a CAD designer first, gamer second. It will greatly appreciated, fellow Canadian and an engineering student.

 

I am a part of a school SAE team. I am responsible for designing the Diffuser for the car, and possible more components in the future. I want to run Ansys, to do Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation inorder to get the best design. I havent invested in a GPU and was waiting for this moment, so I can get what I need. Whats something good that I can get, that under 1000 dollars, maybe a little over? maybe something that is around 500 dollars, that I can crossfire or SLI?

 

Can I get a R9 290, and a FirePro, and cross fire those, will this be better? as according to numbers, the R9 is pretty up there with the over 1500 workstation GPU. I also love gaming, that why I brought the 290 in the picture, but first priority is 3D CAD and simulations.

 

Thank you in advance!!

[wolfe]

@Raminderpreet 

I can not say I myself am unbiased, but I will give my views based on using both for purposes that are not in spec. 

 

My Quadro (FX570m) is basically a 8600m GT, and it performs more or less like it. The drivers, do just as well, and it can be flashed over to 8600m GT BIOS (or at least the NVS135m/8400m GT could) to be able to get the normal GTX drivers to install. The performance will still be slower due to EEC memory and a lower clockrate (on these chips), but any driver corrections for game issues will be included. It games well to be a workstation chip, which is quite beyond the realm of design on these chips. (Note, i have also used the NVS135m, FX2500m and FX3600m and they all gamed just fine. Heck on the other 2 fx series I could almost max MW3 @ 1200p resolution). Note that I am doing it all wrong though, as I buy laptops with these chips for the chassis design, not because I need workstation graphics. Lets face it, my desktop and GTX480 will render circles around even the strongest of FX mobile chips. What I can do is have access to well built machines with world class construction, without spending a ton of money (comparitively, I buy used). Also the main thing is having a expresscard port for a expresscard to serial adapter for work. 

 

On the gaming side, you get more horsepower per dollar, but you also loose the capability to utilize EEC memory (which can affect the calculations accuracy or the accuracy of the render if I understand it right), 10 Bit color (probably not important for an engineer, more aimed at animators and photographers), and certified drivers. I don't keep up with it off the top of my head, but some CAD/CAE programs will not GPU accellerate without either a Firepro or a Quadro (not sure about Tesla and the AMD equivalent). You also pay for the drivers to be usable without error. Basically for the safety to know that 0.000000000000001% is not 0.1% for the issue being worked on. Gaming cards do not have these certifications and assurances, but are faster for gaming. 

 

Your best bet is to run both. But you will have to ask someone else how to go about setting them up, as I have no experience in running both in one machine. I would assume though that the display that is plugged to the monitor will the one being used. Basically I think if your DVI cable is on the firepro, your game also is. If you put the DVI cable on the 290, then the game should render from there. But wait for assurance before trying to do so. 

You can not crossfire a firepro and a r9 series together. Unless I missed it, the firepro is still HD7k series cores, and will only crossfire with another firepro (same goes GTX to Quadro). 

[the21robot]

^^^^^^^^^^^

Did you get that from the ltt workstation build?

[Raminderpreet]

@Raminderpreet 

I can not say I myself am unbiased, but I will give my views based on using both for purposes that are not in spec. 

 

My Quadro (FX570m) is basically a 8600m GT, and it performs more or less like it. The drivers, do just as well, and it can be flashed over to 8600m GT BIOS (or at least the NVS135m/8400m GT could) to be able to get the normal GTX drivers to install. The performance will still be slower due to EEC memory and a lower clockrate (on these chips), but any driver corrections for game issues will be included. It games well to be a workstation chip, which is quite beyond the realm of design on these chips. (Note, i have also used the NVS135m, FX2500m and FX3600m and they all gamed just fine. Heck on the other 2 fx series I could almost max MW3 @ 1200p resolution). Note that I am doing it all wrong though, as I buy laptops with these chips for the chassis design, not because I need workstation graphics. Lets face it, my desktop and GTX480 will render circles around even the strongest of FX mobile chips. What I can do is have access to well built machines with world class construction, without spending a ton of money (comparitively, I buy used). Also the main thing is having a expresscard port for a expresscard to serial adapter for work. 

 

On the gaming side, you get more horsepower per dollar, but you also loose the capability to utilize EEC memory (which can affect the calculations accuracy or the accuracy of the render if I understand it right), 10 Bit color (probably not important for an engineer, more aimed at animators and photographers), and certified drivers. I don't keep up with it off the top of my head, but some CAD/CAE programs will not GPU accellerate without either a Firepro or a Quadro (not sure about Tesla and the AMD equivalent). You also pay for the drivers to be usable without error. Basically for the safety to know that 0.000000000000001% is not 0.1% for the issue being worked on. Gaming cards do not have these certifications and assurances, but are faster for gaming. 

 

Your best bet is to run both. But you will have to ask someone else how to go about setting them up, as I have no experience in running both in one machine. I would assume though that the display that is plugged to the monitor will the one being used. Basically I think if your DVI cable is on the firepro, your game also is. If you put the DVI cable on the 290, then the game should render from there. But wait for assurance before trying to do so. 

You can not crossfire a firepro and a r9 series together. Unless I missed it, the firepro is still HD7k series cores, and will only crossfire with another firepro (same goes GTX to Quadro). 

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I will get into some more details soon, but once again thanks for the tips