quadro demystified

hi ! let's talk a little about Nvidia "quadro" cards...

i just copy and past here an excellent article from Tech ARP website :
"The NVIDIA Quadro family of professional graphics cards are very, very expensive. They are generally 2-5X more expensive than their gaming counterparts, the NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. But everyone knows that Quadro and GeForce graphics cards are virtually identical in hardware.

Yes, you read that right. Even with the unbelievable price tag, the NVIDIA Quadro is really no different from their desktop GeForce counterparts. So why is NVIDIA charging you so much for a Quadro?

It all revolves around the driver support for professional 3D applications like 3ds Max or Maya. Quadro drivers allow the Quadro to be used to accelerate the rendering operations of such professional 3D applications while GeForce drivers do not. This is the basis for the premium prices NVIDIA (and ATI) charge for their professional-grade graphics cards."

some facts :

1) quadro is using the SAME hardware than geforce (and in fact older one)

2) you just paying to get... specific drivers, that works ONLY in very few applications. As a QA analysis for autodesk 3DS max 9, i can say :

- the drivers for quadro (and especially openGL) are always old, and get few updates. because the certification process is very long. and vendors are afraid of compatibility issues. so you get something working, but do not benefit from updated drivers boost.

- 3DS Max 9 (and more and more others) has jumped into directX world, so i don't think you get any benefit using a quadro here !

3) by the end the best world is to get a nice new hardware part for a good price : the geforce, and then use the "quadro specific openGL drivers" on it. that's called "sof mod", very easy and secure to do. http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539&pgno=0

4) quadro family specs : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro

PS : for now, the best geforce are GT280 and GT260... but only 1 year old, and NO QUADRO comparable card are available. i remember you that the GT2xx cards have about 2x horsepower that anything before (in nvidia). so why to pay 5x the price to get an old and half powered quadro card ?

UPDATE : yes nvidia as the new Quadro CX based on Geforce GTX260 chipset avaible for $2 000 (instead of 300$ for the geforce equivalent lol)

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-quadro-cx-speeds-up-adobe-creative-suite-4/6127.html