and the best video cards is...

[Mark H]

Okay, I know this has been covered before...

I am getting a new computer and have almost everything specked out, but which video card should I choose? I searched the old posts and looked at the Recommended Hardware Page but I am still not sure which way to go. And also since computers are always changing, I was curious about the latest and greatest.

nVidia?

Matrox Millenium?

3d labs?

Currently I have the Diamond Fire GL 1000, with the 3D labs PERMEDIA2 chip set, I have no major problems with it. The only thing with this card is that the screen doesn’t always repaint when switching between applications.

BTW, I’ll be running with WinNT.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Bullines]

Personally, I'm an nVidia fan. On my personal system, I have a 32MB nVidia GeForce and I've never had a problem. At all. Not even with with OpenGL.

On the less expensive side the GeForce line (1 and 2) seem to work well. Hopefully the GeForce 3 does as well. Check out the Geforce 3's technology demo running some of the upcoming Doom 3 game (http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=56348)!

I'm not sure how their higher-priced Quadro cards run Mastercam. I would assume rock solid as well.

IMHO, nVidia chipsets are a safe bet.

[Charles Davis]

NVIDIA rocks. I have a 32mb card, and the performance is superb. They're also a great value.

Make sure you download the latest drivers. The last I checked, there was only one driver to download, and it supported all NVIDIA cards (sooooo easy).

[gcode]

I had a Diamond card that gave me some trouble. Help and Verify would lock up

the first time they were opened

MC would lock if I hit the start button.

Screen regen was required if any other

application was accessed during an MC

session.

I replaced it with a 3dLabs VX-1 ($165 from Cadtoys) and have had no further troubles.

Diamond has gotten out of the video card

business so I don't know how much support

is available now.

 

[bstall]

We have 2 workstations running Mastercam, 1 using a 3dlabs and 1 using an Intense 3D Wildcat. You may already know this but Intense 3D was acquired by 3D labs. Both card work awesome. We can shade with a .0001" chord tolerance with models containing over 600 surfaces, medical implants, without any hesitation. If you have complex models with tight tolerances, I suggest a 3DLabs Oxygen or Intense 3D Wildcat. Good luck.

[Mark H]

Thanks for your input...

So far its seems evenly split between the Nvidia and 3D labs cards. One question about the Nvidia cards, according to the Nvidia site http://nvidia.com/Products.nsf the Gforce cards are either gamer cards or are for business, any thoughts on that? Is that just how they are marketing them? Nvidia recommends the Quadro cards for CAD-CAM, but they seem a bit pricey.

Decisions, decisions...

[d0gFartz]

3d labs oxygen all the way!!!