Cadalyst - July 2008 - (Page 32)

All New editions of firstlook Pro Dozens of new & improved features see the difference! Platinum Architectural Mechanical ORDER TODAY! 1-800-833-8082 its price range.” – PlanRoom Central www.turbocad.com 32 output allows the use of lategeneration LCD panels with the V8650. The current ATI drivers automatically detect and The ATI FireGL V8650 was the first graphics card on the market with optimize for the applications being 2 GB of memory. It also offers stereoscopic 3D display capabilities. run, and the ATI FireGL V8650 offers extensive certifiWhile the overall performance cation for both CAD and digitalnumbers of the ATI FireGL V8650 were content creation applications. very good, I’ve tested faster graphWith AutoCAD 2008 using Service ics cards on this particular system. The Pack 1 and subsequent updates, I ran key point here is that the good perforthe Cadalyst C2008 benchmark to see mance is coupled with access to bounwhat the FireGL V8650 could do. As tiful video RAM for those who work with other FireGL graphics cards that with large, complex models or other I’ve tested recently, I was unable to graphically demanding and memorycomplete the C2008 benchmark using intensive applications. the native AutoCAD OpenGL drivers. The MSRP price for the ATI FireGL I was, however, able to successfully V8650 is $2,799, although street test with the native Direct3D drivers, prices are lower. The ATI FireGL V8650 producing a C2008 total index score is covered by a three-year limited prodof 245, with the benchmark completuct repair and replacement warranty ing in 78 minutes. With two concurand includes enterprise-class support rent sessions of AutoCAD 2008 runwith direct toll-free phone and e-mail ning side by side, each running a access to ATI’s dedicated workstation different instance of the C2008 bench- technical support team. mark, the combined C2008 total index The ATI FireGL V8650 is on the score was 428, completing in an overexpensive side, and I do have some all time of 100 minutes. concerns about the support for Using Autodesk 3ds Max 2008, OpenGL in AutoCAD; however, the I ran the MAXBench4 benchmark in good performance and high RAM two different configurations: with the count will make the V8650 ideal for native OpenGL drivers and again with many users who need what it has the native Direct3D drivers. I chose to offer. the best performance run from these iterations. Typically I also include a test Ron LaFon, a contributing editor for with any accelerated driver for 3ds Cadalyst, is a writer, editor, and a computer Max, but a version of the ATI MAXigraphics and electronic publishing specialist mum driver that supported the V8640 from Atlanta, Georgia. He is a principal at was not available at the time of test3Bear Productions in Atlanta. ing. With the OpenGL drivers, the ATI FireGL V8650 produced an averaged high/low frame rate score of 89.57. Using the native Direct3D Read More at drivers, performance for the V8650 jumped to 258.13. Cadalyst.com For my final test on the ATI FireGL Additional graphics cards reviews V8650, I ran the full SPECviewperf www.cadalyst.com/gcardsreviews benchmark, which produced these ATI FireGL V3600, V5600, and V7600 results: 45.63 for 3dsmax-04, 42.50 graphics cards reviews for catia-02, 52.83 for ensight-03, http://www.cadalyst.com/0308ATI 251.86 for maya-02, 35.31 for proeNew graphics cards 04, 78.56 for sw-01, 31.08 for tcviswww.cadalyst.com/newgcards 01, and 49.81 for ugnx-01. www.cadalyst.com cadalyst July 2008 http://www.turbocad.com http://Cadalyst.com http://www.cadalyst.com/gcardsreviews http://www.cadalyst.com/0308ATI http://www.cadalyst.com/newgcards http://www.turbocad.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - July 2008

Cadalyst - July 2008 Editor’s Window CAD Central FIRST Robotic Beasts Draw Students to Engineering Power! Speed! Action! — Mighty Mobile Workstations are Packed and Ready for Adventure! Vico Virtual Construction Suite 2008 AMD ATI FireGL V8600 and FireGL V8650 — 1-GB and 2-GB Graphics Cards Gaining Independence and Influence The Current State of MCAD Rewriting the Rules of PDM BIM Goes Residential CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Pleasures of Customization

Cadalyst - July 2008

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