Quadro FX 3000 - when?

[Dudster]

Anyone know when the QuadroFX 3000 (the NV35 one) will be released, or has it not been announced yet? Also, anyone have any idea if the release of the 3000 will affect the prices of the currently available QuadroFXs?

Lastly, any info on gaming on a QuadroFX (or Quadros generally) would be appreciated. I understand that pre-FX Quadros were ok for gaming, just a little slower. I want a Quadro for Maya (don't want to risk buying a new unsupported card like a 5900) but would still like to play games.

Thanks

[Dudster]

I'm thinking of getting a QuadroFX 1000 but am wondering if I'd be better off waiting (or risking a GFFX instead).

[goldenbuddha]

If you do not do 3D professionally, its not worth the high premium asked for the Quadro cards. This is IMO. The high end Nvidia consumer cards (like the FX5900 Ultra) have tons of power, more than enough for a non-production environment. You can prolly tumble very high poly models with ease, and you get the DX 9 support for games.

I use a Quadro at work, and a Ti4600 at home, between the 2 of them, I am glad I got the Ti4600, it runs games fast as it should, and the performance in my 3D app (Lightwave 3D) is more than what I can possibly ask for, and I saved a tidy bundle.

So, I'd recommend save the extra money for new CPU, HDD, more RAM, and get the GF FX 5900 Ultra. And if you work in a studio, get them to buy the Quadro.

[Dudster]

No I'm no professional, just a beginner/hobbyist; but after paying £2000 for Maya (which I gather is pretty picky about graphics cards - e.g. ATI gamer cards are a bad idea for Maya I think), I'm nervous about getting a 5900 Ultra and having some kind of problems later on - and then maybe having to get a Quadro anyway.

There are many cards based on GeForce256, GeForce2, GeForce3 and GeForce4 chipsets. nVidia and Alias|Wavefront do not recommend these cards for use with Maya as you may experience various refresh, display and stability problems and inadequate performance.

It would also be nice to be able to use the native hardware renderer in Maya which fully supports the QFX (though I can certainly live without that if need be). Plus I'm not liking having mouse/tool pointers leaving copies of themselves on models which stay there till I refresh the scene view/move the camera - I believe this is from not having hardware overlays (using a GF3 Ti500 at the mo).

So if the QFX1000 has good game compatibility (and will be able to handle Doom3, HL2 and DeusX2) then I think the higher price is worth it. If it hasn't/can't then I guess I'll risk a 5900 Ultra.

Edit: just found this LinuxHardware article which has Quake3 and UT2003 QuadroFX benchmarks. Looks like the QFX is fine with current games at least. Just need to find out if it can handle Doom3 and the like.