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Recommended Power Supply
I am interested in getting this workstation video card. PNY VCQFX580-PCIE-PB Quadro FX 580 but I would like to know if someone knows the recommended power supply size/wattage for this gpu, but also including a i7 build
actually it will be a core i5 750 based computer, i think the video card a max 40w output
Comments
You do know the benefit of a workstation video card is dedicated driver support? Its not really worth the extra money unless you are aiming at the top. Getting a mid-range workstation card probably isn't the best investment over getting an older desktop card like an HD3870/4870 and soft modding it. Also the workstation cards you want are the Quadro 4800/5800, or ATI cards over $800. If not wait for a fermi or do what I said above for better results. I would not recommend current nVidia desktop cards to be used in place of workstation cards as their stream processors only support 1 operation at a time instead of 4.
Now I know its possible you might want the dedicated driver support, so here is the answer to your question. If you are spending the extra cash on a workstation card then you should supplement it with the creme de la crop of PSUs. 80+ GOLD certified. They start at about $170, and they all should have a minimum power output to support the card and the only selectable ones are good brands.
well this video card is only $180 or so
i mean the pc will be
Intel® Core™ i5 750 Processor (4x 2.66GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
8 GB [2 GB X4] DDR3-1333 Memory Module
ASUS P7P55D LE -- Intel P55 Chipset CrossFire Supported w/7.1 Sound, Dual-Channel DDR3, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-Ex16 MB
300 GB WD Velociraptor HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 10000 RPM, 3.0Gb/s
22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive
12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer
The price range is around $974
Adding the $180 card will go over $1000
This build will only be made after I get accepted into an Architecture major from 4 or 5 schools I've been accepted to.
I know there are better cards, these will mostly be for autodesk, adobe, wordprocessing, and all those stuff. I dont think I'll be using it for much gaming. I might let my younger brother do some animations on it, if i stay home for the 5 years in college.
I'm only asking for suggestions, but what you said seems to help in a few ways.
Have any other wise things you can help me out on?
or I can get this i5 750 dell xps 8000 for 699 and use the extra money for a better workstation gpu unless there is a gaming card that will work with teh soft mod. only thing i have a problem with soft mod is that there is some driver issues that seem to happen etc
Couple bad part choices:
Gpu - you don't need that, get a normal one.
Hdd - waste of money, get a normal hdd like samsung f3 or if you want speed get a ssd.
Oh and psu: normal 500 wattage is enough, corsair vx 450 is a solid choice.
The amps per rail are much more important than over all wattage. I had a 1K Watt PSU that could not run my GTX 280, thanks to weak amps per rail. I had to go out and buy one from Corsair that provided the amps I needed for the card. Look up the specs for your video card, they will tell you the amps they need per rail and match a PSU that can handle it. Every manufacturer will have these specs on their websites.
The reason I recommended the 80 Plus Certified Gold is that you are restricted to Seasonic, ABS, OCZ, and Thermaltake. No way you can go wrong there.
The HD3870 and HD4870 are great cards for soft-modding. They have very little separation then their workstation counterpart. The Quadro you linked to is practically a GeForce 8600 which isn't a good card. An ATI desktop card is the ideal choice unless you can spend over $800 on the card. Soft modding it will eek out a small performance jump if working over 3 million polies on an HD3870, but its unnecessary with the ATI cards because of their stream processor design. A modern ATI card will perform roughly 300% faster then its nVidia counterpart in workstation related tasks that utilize the GPU until nVidia releases the Fermi architecture.
okay well i'll go with the 80 plus certified gold ones cause they are nicely rated, and i know they will be reliable. As the gpu goes, i might go with the 4870 and soft mod it, or wait for the fermi and see what happens.
Do you happen to know where they tell to soft mod the 4870. I know that you said there wouldnt be much reason, but its a options so, should i just type in 4870 soft mod on google?
dfan the reason for workstation gpu is they mostly have better performances with the autodesk, adobe cs4 things because of teh drivers or the plugin things? So if it significantly is better than a normal gpu then i will go that way.
as far as the 10000 rpm hdd goes University of Kansas recommends atleast a 10000rpm , but its only a recommendation, so i'll think about it..an ssd might be a good choice in the future, depending on its compatability of the software i use.
Thanks for the help so far, I might just go get that $699.98 Dell XPS 8000, and then use it for normal, then when i go into college i'll upgrade the gpu, powersupply, and hdd (it comes with a 1tb hdd, but i doubt its 10000rpm, maybe its a 5400 rpm cause its so cheap.)
After researching a little more since its been a year since I soft-modded. They hardware locked desktop cards from being softmodded. However, the card still has all the workstation hardware in it as ATI cards are not that different then a workstation card. It definetly should perform better then the Quadro you had before.
well thank you for researching this for me, and telling me quickly. I will likely go with ati like you said, but I will look into it also. u've provided a lot of help in the short time
Okay I saw one review on the 4870 compared to a FirePro V8700. The 4870 has same hardware, a little better, but there is a huge difference in the workstation programs. Without soft modding it will be a big difference.
Performance Comparison: Viewperf 10
Radeon HD.........................................4870 FirePro V8700
RV770......................................... RV770
256-bit......................................... 256-bit
Core 750 MHz.........................................750 MHz
Memory 900 MHz.........................................850 MHz
Driver Catalyst 9.1......................................... FirePro 8.543
3dsmax-04 (3D Studio Max) 23.35 .........................................44.23
Catia-02 17.9......................................... 44.95
Ensight-03 27.58......................................... 46.96
Maya-02 40.12......................................... 240.2
Proe-04 (Pro/Engineer) 13.82......................................... 45.39
SW-01 (Solidworks) 30.75......................................... 103.33
Tcvis-01 (UGS Teamcenter Visualization) 8.15 .........................................37.78
Ugnx-01 (UGS NX) 16.64 .........................................56.93
When you said they hardware locked it does it mean it cant be soft modded anymore period? Lets say I was able to softmod it, if i use it will they un soft mod it? even though there is little chance it can be done now
Like I said, if you want speed get ssd.
Professional cards are indeed faster in pro softwares, but they cost much more than normal cards. With same money you can get multiple times faster gpu.
haha d well i see what you mean..i'll take in consideration with the harddrive thing..i might even test it out on my current pc.
but as far as the gpu goes i want what will work best for the pro programs as you said, i wont be using this for gaming..maybe some one line surfing and some light 2d gaming.
the only way i'll buy a normal gpu is a 4870 if i can soft mod it succesfully, and if it is a plus comparted to a normal 4870, other wise i'll have to keep researching.
.:edit:.
the softmodding process seems a little confusing, and doesnt seem to work all the time. Im gonna keep searching tommorow, cause I need some rest, but if not then its back to work station gpu. but im not required to purchase a pc for architecture until like my 3rd or 4th year so i have long ways to search and new ones cancome out
Onto your question. You may fidget about with your comp until you get a soft mod to work, however you will have absolutely no change in performance after you succeed in making it not crash.
I just did a little more complete study on the difference by comparing multiple benchmarks and dividing the results of a HD5870 in half because a HD4870 is half a HD5870. The results pretty much back up my point that a low end workstation card will not compete with a high end consumer card in workstation related tasks. I will try to put it in perspective of what you are aiming for.
You are an architect major meaning you will most likely be using AutoCAD. You also said you will be using autodesk, adobe, and word processing. Only modern adobe uses GPU acceleration and it doesn't require much. Word processing is strictly CPU related. In 3D your GPU is used exclusively for viewport rendering in real-time which in architecture will never break a million polies. Some GPUs do rendering but its often not the case. In order of magnitude on whats important for your machine its (a) CPU, (b) Memory, (c) Hard Drive, (d) GPU. So worrying about the GPU isn't actually an issue. You should spend the money on a better CPU or an SSD or more memory dimms.
As for the results, I could only conclusively find the results for 2 benchmarks related to 3D. Maya 04, Max 09 in SpecView10. One thing you should note is that all results are for OpenGL, its more common to use DirectX for autodesk software and it will dramatically increase the performance for a consumer card. The results will also vary a lot based on application.
Although you might think, hey it has 1/3rd the performance in 3DS Max. This is with OpenGL, the results in Direct X will heavily favor the HD4870. The 318% in Maya shows that the Quadro 580 lacks the more robust stream processor other workstations cards have.
Ah ok I see. Well that explains a bit. Im not getting all this in because im getting tired, but I see whats important. CPU i'll stick with i5 for now. I dont really want to go anyhigher cause i also want to purchase a laptop, or atleast a decent netbook to take notes and etc.
So subtract 700, another 200 or so for a powersupply, 170 for a 4870 = over current budge..i mean i'll make more money by when i need it but college expenses, tution, etc will pile up. So cpu upgrade does not sound reasonable. i'll just have to go with the minimum, and then upgrade the memory, cpu etc. Though a 1366 i7 socket sounds better because i can upgrade to a i9 as some people look up to, but i dont think i'll ever afford that because of school, and i want to help my parents out after getting a nice job.
This is enough help for now, I may come back for more help if im stuck..lol currently i'll be thinking about the 4870 cause its cheap. Thanks.
I would definetly focus on the CPU above all else. Get the LGA1366 board and use a $40 ATI graphics card to keep it within budget. Also you can drop the PSU. I was only joking because you were wasting money on a workstation card without the budget for it. You can get a decent 500w PSU for $50.
Okay I know that the lga 1366 is much better decision. I'm gonna see if i can put together a list of parts thats around the 700 or 800 range..then i'll go with the 1366 i7's..hopefull i can
Okay I'm working on the cheapest build I can get for a lga1366 setup. Here's What I got so far.
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - $288.99
ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $169.99 - $154.99
Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - $132.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - $69.99
BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Retail - $54.99
NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $36.99
I have not chosen a video card yet, and probably will buy a few more case fans for the case as it only comes with one.
The total plus shipping for now is $779.73. If I were to add a 4350 gpu it would be $815.60 - the $15.00 rebate.
A similar or identicle setup with Dell cost $1,029. iBUYPOWER $869. So which would be better my build or iBUYPOWER as Dell cost way too much
Its hard to make a better suggestion then that Core i7 build. Your Core i5 build wasn't nearly as powerful and is $200 more. You will need to spend another $100 on top for the video card and Windows 7 using a student discount. The main thing I would be worried about is the size of the case. That's a mid-tower which will have trouble fitting upgrades in the future like a high end workstation card that are longer then the existing length champ the HD5970. Although NZXT is a good case manufacturer and getting one for that low is a bargain. The Gamma just doesn't have the length for a full sized card.
Since its clear you can assemble a tower, iBuyPower isn't off limits as a choice. However, doing it yourself will always have the best results.
Thats true, i'll have to look for a good full tower case then. i already have a spare windows 7 ultimate 64bit i was waiting to use on my new computer, which i recieved as my gift, so i saved some money.
I can use my old radeon 3450 i guess with the i7 build, though it would be a bottleneck..but it would only be until i really needed to start using it for the autocad..so then i can save the $100 or $50
Avoid Samsung HD, go Western digital...trust me.
Avoid Raidmax PSU's like the plauge....
Also if your getting a i7, you need to invest in a good heat sink. I went through 2 before dropping the $100 for a good one
.:edit:.
lol you confused me you said to avoid samsung hdd, raidmax psu, and i thought you meant i chose those so I was going to switch it but then saw i had a western digital.
So the cheapest full tower at newegg is this
Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail for about 74.99 or 49.99 after rebates..though i hate rebates and would prefer instant savings..im gonna search other stores
Well comparing my first nzxt case with the cheapest full tower case the length..the way video card is put in. The NZXT is Length is 20in while the full case one is only 17.72.
I also found this cheap 29.99 or 19.99 after rebate that its length is 24in. This one doesnt look as stylish as the nzxt but its diffinitly bigger. But the reviews say that some of the materials are sheap. i think i might go with the nzxt one unless i found a cheap but good full case, but that is very hard to find..not even on ebay
Bullcrap.
Seconding bullcrap.
The Samsung F3 is currently faster than any sub $100 WD drive. It is also likely more reliable, as WD has only dual platter hard drives (barring a $300 2TB drive), while the F3 uses 500GB platters.
So while I value your opinion, opinions need to be backed up with fact.