Do CAD/CAM softwares require a powerful GPU like games do?

AutoCAD
Inventor
SolidWorks
Pro/Engineer
etc...

Are CAD/CAM softwares like games where they require a powerful GPU? Or would an IGP be sufficient enough for these programs? I know the CPU is important. But how bout the GPU?

Based on this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=275056 , under which category should the GPU be?

 

It depends. For 3D rendering, the GPU is definitely your bottleneck. For 2D stuff, then the GPU is less important. Would an IGP be sufficient? Of course not, except maybe the new Puma IGP. But then again most (read: Intel) integrated graphics are barely sufficient to run Aero or play movies, so did you really expect them to handle anything that actually requires significant GPU power?

Anyways, I'd say get at least a mid-range card if you're doing 3D work. For 2D stuff, "low-end" should do fine. But remember: 99.99% of the time your GPU is your bottleneck when paired with an even reasonably modern (e.g., Core 2 or Turion/Athlon X2) processor, so get the best one you can fit in your budget. If CAD work is your primary focus, a Quadro or FireGL is your best bet, but not at the expense of pure speed - an 8600M will still be much faster than an 8400M-based NVS 140M for example, even for "pure" CAD tasks.

My rule of thumb is to never, ever get an "Intel Graphics Media Decelerator" if you can possibly avoid it; ie, only in ultraportables and ultra-low-budget machines.

 

I loled at that

but yea marine is right...stay away from intergrated solutions unless maybe its the new PUMA. There're different grades of Quadro cards for CAD/CAM depending on what you do and a faster GeForce card is still better than a lowend Quadro. Mine runs Solidworks just great.