Video cards faster than your computer

[emad]

Alright, we've all had fun arguing about the Radon x800 and the Nvidia 6800gt's... but face it. These suckers AREN'T the best on the market. There IS better out there - most of you probably have never seen or heard of these cards. They're designed for 3d workstations and such. Don't expect too many home users to own one of these bad boys as DirectX support is limited in favour of Open GL.

3DLabs Wildcat Realizm 800

3DLabs claims that this is the fastest workstation card on the market.
Dual Processors (no info on their speed in mhz).
640MB GDDR3 total memory.
PCI-Express
$2630USD price tag

ATI FireGL V7100

again, no processor specs
256mb gddr3
$975USD

NVidia QuadroFX 4400
once again, no processor info
512mg gddr3
No price info available - the Quadro FX 3400 can be had for $1,346.81

Feel free to begin drooling

...err...I didn't realize that Mr. Stinky decided to submit a thread on this topic before I could

 

[Flerbizky]

Alright, we've all had fun arguing about the Radon x800 and the Nvidia 6800gt's... but face it. These suckers AREN'T the best on the market. There IS better out there - most of you probably have never seen or heard of these cards. They're designed for 3d workstations and such. Don't expect too many home users to own one of these bad boys as DirectX support is limited in favour of Direct3D.

I'm sure with Direct3D you mean Open GL right ?...

Both the nVidia and the ATI are re-biosed versions of their desktop counterparts.. I'm looking for a link right now - BRB...

 

[emad]

yea I meant open gl, typo

 

[LoudMusic]

I'm sure with Direct3D you mean Open GL right ?...

Both the nVidia and the ATI are re-biosed versions of their desktop counterparts.. I'm looking for a link right now - BRB...

I concur. Though I think they also get CPU boosts and bigger cooling.

 

[LoudMusic]

3DLabs Wildcat Realizm 800

3DLabs claims that this is the fastest workstation card on the market.
Dual Processors (no info on their speed in mhz).
640MB GDDR3 total memory.
PCI-Express
$2630USD price tag

The PDF datasheet claims 67 GFlops. That's ... a lot. (:

 

[emad]

yea, i figured i shouldn't put that in because it doesn't take into account how the processor performs under various performance loads.

Just as an example of the power these video cards have though, A cluster of 4-6 P4 processors will provide roughly 3.7 gflops. The Wildcat is capable of 18 times that

The annoying bit was that 3d labs was the only one to offer the number of gflops the cards handle

 

[LoudMusic]

Yeap. But you also have to keep in mind that you can't compare mhz of video cards to that of the CPU because they're not really the same mhz. I prefer to compare in flops.

 

[emad]

I guess you're right there... but there's no flops info on the ati and nvidia cards.

 

[LoudMusic]

Well that's because the're crap. GO 3DLABS! (who is actually owned by NVidia)

I was looking at those cards several years ago. The Wildcat line has always been impressive.

 

[Flerbizky]

Gentlemen :

How to turn your 6800 into a Quadro

 

[LoudMusic]

There was a similar thing for converting the Promis ATA100 PCI card from a standard card to a RAID controller. Just cut a pin or something rediculously simple like that.

 

[Stinky Chicken]

...err...I didn't realize that Mr. Stinky decided to submit a thread on this topic before I could

Don't worry dude, I'd rather this thread than mine. 👍