Nvidia GeForce vs Quadro

I am just wondering if someone could give a quick explanation of the difference of these two graphics cards and the pros/cons. Are they both good or is one much better than the other? Thanks!

 

You can ask more than one question per thread!

Try Google, but if you don't know why a Quadro is better & what for, then it's quite unlikely you'll need one.

 

Sorry of you don't like the different threads. I think it is better to have different threads for different topics. But I may be wrong. I don't mean to be a pain in the forum.

I have tried googling it (of course that's my first course of action), but I am still confused. I thought some people here could give a concise answer.

 

Depends on what you are doing;

As I understand it Quadro cards go for the accuracy of the polygons (CAD applications). They are based off the GeForce cores but have significantly lower core clock speeds and memory bandwidth.

GeForce cards typically have much higher core clocks and memory bandwidth to push data through as fast as possible.

Quadro cards can game, certain drivers will be better than others but will never be at the level of a GeForce card.

 

There are three areas where these cards are different:



(1) Precision. An nVidia Quadro card is aimed at the professional CAD / CAM purposes, while an nVidia GeForce card is aimed at gaming. The BIOS on a Quadro card is aimed at precision, and will only draw a frame when every single pixel is properly rendered and calculated. The BIOS on a GeForce card is aimed at framerates for smooth gaming, and will draw frames when the pixel calculations and renderings are "good enough", even if a pixel is dropped in a frame.

The reason that this matters is because gaming (GeForce) depends on smooth framerates. Mis-drawing a single pixel in 1 frame out of 60 frames-per-second will most likely never get noticed. Meanwhile, mis-drawing a single pixel when you are designing the next Sears Tower could have serious consequences.

You CAN run games on a Quadro card - but you wouldn't want to, because the framerates will be poor compared to an equivalently-powered GeForce card (due to the Quadro's emphasis on precision, and not smooth framerates).



(2) Driver support. The drivers focus on stability, certification, and support.An nVidia Quadro card has drivers that have been fully certified and optimized to work with professional applications such as AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop, etc. You can pick up a phone and call someone, to get support on getting your Quadro card to specifically work with a supported application (e.g. AutoCAD).

Meanwhile, a GeForce card's drivers are released much more frequently, focus on performance and new features (e.g. 3DVision support, PhysX, etc), and do not come with support for specific applications. Support is available only for the hardware and drivers - there is no specific guarantee or support that your GeForce card will work with a specific application.



(3) Price. Gaming-capable GeForce cards are priced at around $150 - $600. An nVidia Quadro card starts at $1000+. Most of that cost difference comes down to the Quadro's driver program and the Quadro's support, and not the hardware itself.

 

No, the Quadros usually have identical specs (clock speeds, bandwidth, etc.) to their GeForce counterpart but at a higher TDP.