When working in SolidWorks it is essential to have a workstation with a good graphics card. SolidWorks maintains a list of approved graphics cards and drivers on their site. NVIDIA has been one of the market leaders and this year has introduced it's tenth generation of Quadro Cards. The FX1800 is considered one of the top mid-range cards.
The FX1800 sports 756 Megabytes of onboard memory, two digital display outputs, and one DVI output, all in a PCI Express interface. The card itself does not require a separate power connector from the power supply. While the FX1800 is listed as a top mid-level card, I would suggest it as the minimum card you would want to use in a CAD work station. Google shopping had it priced for as low as $400.
The Quadro line of cards differ from the GeForce line of cards in many ways, and one important one. The Quadro cards are only built by NVIDIA themselves, so they can guarantee quality and performance. The GeForce line of cards have much looser specs, so they are not intended to perform as well, and are therefore constructed by a number of vendors around the world.
When it comes to drivers, NVIDIA makes sure that every Quadro Card passes the minimum requirements set forth by various CAD companies in the industry even before those companies test them. So once they reach the consumer they are already set to pass certifications.
The NVIDIA Quadro is certified to run on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.
If your looking for a good card to put in your CAD workstation, the Quadro FX1800 definitely will fit your needs. When building a CAD workstation, the graphics card is not the area you want to cut costs on.
NVIDIA has graciously agreed to allow me to donate the card they sent me for testing to be given away. It will be a featured raffle prize at this years NESWUC event in Westford Mass on October 16th. So if you are in the greater New England Area, be sure to sign up to attend the event for your shot at winning this card, and to experiance a great day of SolidWorks break out sessions.
Looking for something more powerful? The new line of Quadro cards go all the way up to the FX5800 which bolsters 4gigabytes of onboard memory! Google shopping had that card for around $3,000 and up. You can read up on the entire line of Quadro Cards on the NVIDIA Site.
Note: The endorsement of this product is not intended to be an endorsement of this product by SolidWorks Corp, and was only intended as a personal review.
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