PCI Express Graphics Cards

Another review from Cadalyst:

http://management.cadalyst.com/cadman/content/printContentPopup.jsp?id=147100

Excerpt:

"New technologies in the FX 4400 include NVIDIA's SLI (Scalable Link Interface) technology, which enables installation of two graphics cards that work in tandem to increase performance without degrading image quality. This technology is designed for PCI Express and is supported by the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4400, 3400 and 1400 GPUs. The FX 4400 is a double-width card with a fairly sizable heat sink. The card is relatively quiet in operation, which is certainly welcome in a workstation-level graphics accelerator."

Cost: US$1800 each (you can install two)

My opinion below:

Upgrade? Not yet. Too expensive and forces a motherboard replacement without much relevant performance improvement for typical CAD use. This opinion is based on using a single, entry-level 128MB Quadro card for realtime, rendered model visualization work in SmartPlant Review.

Paul Received on Tue Mar 01 20:20:00 2005