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    Quadro or GeForce?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by fostermatt, Jul 31, 2009.

  1. fostermatt

    fostermatt Notebook Enthusiast

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    My girlfriend is an art student studying mostly digital animation. She is in the market for a new computer here pretty soon. I sort of know my way around computer components but I really don't know anything about the Quadros.

    The most demanding things she is doing is MaYa model rendering, some Adobe After Effects and some Photoshop. Is a Quadro required for this kind of stuff or would a GeForce suffice?

    Thanks for your help in advance.
     
  2. 2k5.lexi

    2k5.lexi Notebook Evangelist

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    The quadro will be faster while doing maya stuff, since maya is a openGL software.

    I dont think your girlfriend will really need this more in power, but its a nice to have, without any doubt.

    in the end i would say its a matter of $$$
     
  3. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    I agree

    She will be better off spending the money on a faster CPU, faster harddrive, and 4GB of ram.

    I haven't tested the Adove Creative Suite 4 (CS4) yet, but I know that anything below CS4 doesn't make use of the graphics card.

    I read a while ago that Adobe has rewritten its software for the CS4 release to expoit more the graphics card.
     
  4. bigredal2007

    bigredal2007 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Quadro and GeForce are the same cards (as far as I'm aware) and the only difference is in the drivers.

    I've heard of people getting drivers for a Quadro to function as a GeForce but not the other way, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible.
     
  5. allfiredup

    allfiredup Notebook Virtuoso

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    The Quadro models are based on similar GeForce models but use drivers optimized for professional apps (rather than gaming).

    The Quadro and GeForce models are both very capable of handling the tasks/programs you mentioned. The Quadros will only be found in some mid-to-upper level business laptops- the Dell Latitude E6400/E6500, Dell Precision M2400/M4400 and all Toshiba Tecra models are the most common ones. The GeForce is in a lot more models and will be the one you find in retail stores.

    ATI's newest graphics cards (4000-series) are very good performers, too. They're actually easier to find than the GeForce these days...
     
  6. Johnny T

    Johnny T Notebook Nobel Laureate

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