Nvidia Quadro or GeForce for video - any significant difference today?

[sohaibrazzaq]

I remember reading an article about quadro vs geforce which included various cards used from both in different professional applications and games. Can't remember where it was but my guess is it was either guru3d or tomshardware, it was quite recent too (2016).

The verdict was that for games and video editing a good high end geforce will do the trick but if you want to use professional graphics desigining apps like autocad or maya you need a quadro card. Some pro applications even refuse to run on Geforce cards, this is not necessarily because quadro are much faster then geforce but because of drivers issue.

I have a Geforce GTX 1080 and it works fine in most apps.

[usually_quiet]

Many thanks again for your efforts.
It was the framing from service manual of video and memory that made me think this is what is supported.
I try and enclose, will see how that works.

This card is £66 from amazon, so not the end of the world if I get a better choice later.
Looked through computers as such today, and I have to spend at least $2500 or more to get a computer with 400W or larger power supply, and faster than the one I've got.

Will have to make field test with this before I do something but reading up on the subject.

The most likely reasons why Dell selected the graphics card options for your PC:
1. In 2010, they were not too expensive and met the needs of the target market for that model.
2. A 350W PSU was sufficient for them.
3. If a 32-bit OS was installed they would not consume too much of the available 4GB address space.

Since you are using a 64-bit OS, #3 doesn't apply.

There is always a chance that any new video card will have problems when installed in an older PC, but they normally have something to do with drivers or an inadequate PSU.

You can replace the PSU without replacing the whole computer. It is a common repair or upgrade, and some people recommend replacing the PSU as preventative maintenance after 5-7 years.

I replaced the PSU on my sister's 2006 Dell a few years ago because it suddenly failed after 6 years of service. Fortunately the motherboard and other components weren't damaged. My sister's PC's original PSU was a standard ATX model, with no custom pinouts or connectors. Your PC also has a standard ATX PSU. After installing the PSU I just had to do a little cable management to keep the new power cables tidy. Dell's PSU cables are exactly the right length for each model, and don't have any extra connections. Third-party replacement PSU are likely to have longer power cables and some extra connections because they are designed to work with many different computers.

[jagabo]

Also, if you replace the PSU don't get an ultra cheap one. Those usually can't put out half the power they're rated at. Stick with one of the reputable manufacturers.

[larioso]

Thanks again guys.
If I am not satisfied with card on the way, and feel like maxing out video stuff more - I will look at psu replacement.
But GTX 950 is good with 350W, but that is only equipped with 2G memory or more.
So will see what bottom line is with amount of graphics memory and if dependent on MB specs.

My overall experience with Dell is really good. The Optiplex machine I am writing this on, is an XP Pentium which is 14 years old in march.
I partitioned it once, to get rid of first cylinders containing file allocations tables and stuff and those sectors were worn out - and original disc still used.

The Vostro had short circuit in graphics card as shipped, and I switched that card. Will see if that affect life span of that psu.
It blew some fuses in my apartment at the time, and couple of times too before I found what was the problem card.

What I did before, long ago, was by a full tower chassis and move MB and stuff over to that.
That is one way to go since they usually have higher rated psu on those.

These Mini/micro tower chassis come short on psu specs.

[jagabo]

By the way, many Geforce 210 cards used a 32 bit memory bus rather than a 64 bit bus. That is one reason for their pathetic WEI desktop scores.

[larioso]

By the way, many Geforce 210 cards used a 32 bit memory bus rather than a 64 bit bus. That is one reason for their pathetic WEI desktop scores.

That makes sense, thank you.
Flushing data over to card will take longer I suppose.

But not sure how it works with PCIe x16 slots, where the bottleneck is.

If there are any that feel like sharing the card they use, and WEI score - would be interesting read to learn something from regarding performance.

[usually_quiet]

I wrote earlier that I'm not using a discrete graphics card. My Haswell i5's iGPU (Intel 4600 HD) was given a WEI of 6.6 on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

[larioso]

I wrote earlier that I'm not using a discrete graphics card. My Haswell i5's iGPU (Intel 4600 HD) was given a WEI of 6.6 on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Thanks for contribution.