Anyone rocking a Quadro and what are you using it for?

[Bluntwrapped]

I was on the hunt for a cheapo low power GPU for a server build - along the lines of a GT 1030 for basic desktop use with the possibility of Adobe workflow.

Up popped a Quadro P620, used but in new condition for the same price as a GT 1030.

CUDA Cores 512
Peak Single Precision FP32 Performance 1.386 TFLOPS
GPU Memory 2 GB GDDR5
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Bandwidth 80 GB/s
System Interface PCI Express 3.0 x16
Display Connectors mDP 1.4 (4)

Like the GT 1030 it doesn’t require additional power (40w), and seems quite a bit faster than the former so I decided to go for it.

I was wondering out of interest, if anyone else is using a Quadro card and what it’s being used for?

 

[JasonM]

Yes I rock Quadro cards, why do I do this, well i'm a software dev and Quadro cards are more stable then Geforce cards. My current computer runs 2 cards powering 3 screens. Basically Quadro cards are all in house, so everything including production and testing is done by Nvidia, this is unlike a Geforce card where it's referenced out.

Another advantage is the drivers are not tied up with games like Geforce. Basically if you run a Geforce card in a server, or workstation, your drivers are focused on game releases, this of course is totally silly if the computer is not used for games.

The drive to make the cards so stable is Quadro cards were first created for trading environments, so if you ever watch Bloomberg and see traders sitting over computer screens it's a good bet there is Quadro's driving those screens. Otherwise Quadro cards are normal cards and everything works as normal in Windows, again just not optimized for games.

Basically for 2D work pretty much any Quadro will do, you could even get a cheap NVS 310 (19w) would do. The P620 is for 4 displays it's overkill for a server.

 

[Bluntwrapped]

Yes I rock Quadro cards, why do I do this, well i'm a software dev and Quadro cards are more stable then Geforce cards. My current computer runs 2 cards powering 3 screens. Basically Quadro cards are all in house, so everything including production and testing is done by Nvidia, this is unlike a Geforce card where it's referenced out.

Another advantage is the drivers are not tied up with games like Geforce. Basically if you run a Geforce card in a server, or workstation, your drivers are focused on game releases, this of course is totally silly if the computer is not used for games.

The drive to make the cards so stable is Quadro cards were first created for trading environments, so if you ever watch Bloomberg and see traders sitting over computer screens it's a good bet there is Quadro's driving those screens. Otherwise Quadro cards are normal cards and everything works as normal in Windows, again just not optimized for games.

Basically for 2D work pretty much any Quadro will do, you could even get a cheap NVS 310 (19w) would do. The P620 is for 4 displays it's overkill for a server.

Thanks for your reply Jason.

My P620 arrived yesterday - first chance I’ve had to play with a Quadro but first impressions are great. I have it connected to my u3417w and I swear the image picture quality and colour looks better than it did when I had my GTX 1080 connected via DP. I’m not sure why this would be a thing (I may just be imagining it) but the display looks stunning.

I will do more testing tonight. I ran a few 3D benchmarks last night as a quick stability test and was surprised by the frame rates I saw.

I like how the Quadro drivers don’t come with the GeForce experience bloatware. The only issue I had was I couldn’t get the Nvidia control panel to open but I’ll see if I can fix this later.

As you said it will be overkill for its use but for the price seems like a bargain. I’ll need to come up with a creative way of using the DP’s. Thinking 4 panels on the wall as a group of digital photo frames could be quite cool

 

[willhub]

You're probably just imagining the picture quality. I've had the same when going from one GPU to the other, as in 7970 to 1080, but really, there isn't any noticeable difference.

 

[JasonM]

Thanks for your reply Jason.

My P620 arrived yesterday - first chance I’ve had to play with a Quadro but first impressions are great. I have it connected to my u3417w and I swear the image picture quality and colour looks better than it did when I had my GTX 1080 connected via DP. I’m not sure why this would be a thing (I may just be imagining it) but the display looks stunning.

I will do more testing tonight. I ran a few 3D benchmarks last night as a quick stability test and was surprised by the frame rates I saw.

I like how the Quadro drivers don’t come with the GeForce experience bloatware. The only issue I had was I couldn’t get the Nvidia control panel to open but I’ll see if I can fix this later. The Quadro's are better then AMD cards for colour control, and AMD cards give me mild eye strain after long period, same is true for Intel HD graphics.

As you said it will be overkill for its use but for the price seems like a bargain. I’ll need to come up with a creative way of using the DP’s. Thinking 4 panels on the wall as a group of digital photo frames could be quite cool

Re display quality, I've always found Quadro good picture quality, but never really considered them better then say a Geforce for text, but not run one back to back with a Geforce for some time.

One thing I can't get on with AMD cards, not for text. The Nvidia colour management and gamma control is better for making text clearer, remember i'm an extreme user I spend hours and hours looking at software code, my multi-monitor setup uses glass screens to reduce glare. But anyway Quadro is my choice.

The P620 will be quite fast, not fast to compared to a high end Geforce, but still quite a capable card.

Re your drivers and Nvidia control panel, are you using latest Quadro drivers from Nvidia website?

 

[Deleted member 77746]

I was looking for a single slot GPU - 2gb model or a 4gb model on eBay. Can’t believe how much these cards go for.

I hate the idea of big 2/3 slot cards where you can’t add other cards due to room.

 

[Donnie Fisher]

You're probably just imagining the picture quality.

I'm not so sure. I have a 1080ti and a Ryzen 2400g Apu in my system ... If I swap the hdmi between the GPU and Apu, I would say the Apu is a clearer picture.

Also from a cold start on 1080ti, the timing seems to go out of sync after about 10 seconds, just slightly but you can see the text become blurred. A quick change away to another source in the screen and back sorts it.

It does suggest to me though that the 1080ti's timing is a little variable and so may well affect the crispness of an image.

So there may well be a difference in image quality between cards.

 

[Bluntwrapped]

After more use over the last few nights I can definitely confirm the colour reproduction, image quality and text sharpness is an improvement with the Quadro - IPS goodness!

My monitor has never looked so good

There are too many variables to try and figure out why this is the case, but I did a fair bit tweaking with the GTX to limited success.

Was maybe the monitor, the DP or the card but the main thing is I’ve discovered how good my monitor can look

The prices for these P620's are all over the place but I got mine for < £70.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

^^ That sounds good! I was looking and tempted to bid on a 4200 OR a 2200 model. You can pick these up for peanuts now! I might just go for it - I have a GTX 660 at the moment but don't play big games anymore.

 

[Bluntwrapped]

I was looking for a single slot GPU - 2gb model or a 4gb model on eBay. Can’t believe how much these cards go for.

I hate the idea of big 2/3 slot cards where you can’t add other cards due to room.

Yep that was my reasoning for going for it (and price!).

I have an ATX board with 5 pcie and every slot is populated with nic, GPU, and M.2 risers.

The low power consumption is great too when everything is so tightly packed together.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Yep that was my reasoning for going for it (and price!).

I have an ATX board with 5 pcie and every slot is populated with nic, GPU, and M.2 risers.

The low power consumption is great too when everything is so tightly packed together.

If I get a single slot GPU it means I can use my PCIx1 and PCI slots for expansion for the same cost of a cheap GPU. I would then sell my GTX 660 to gain back some of the cost..... interesting! I have a 27" Acer monitor using DP so I recon it would improve the image quality with a quadro as you already said! I found a sealed one! Except the power supply I have is only a 6 pin, this quadro is an 8 pin power cable so might mean I would need to change my power supply as well. Unless I get the 2200 4GB model as it doesn't need a power supply!

How loud is the fan on the P620?

 

[Bluntwrapped]

^^ That sounds good! I was looking and tempted to bid on a 4200 OR a 2200 model. You can pick these up for peanuts now! I might just go for it - I have a GTX 660 at the moment but don't play big games anymore.

The P400 is another mate, not quite as powerful but still more than capable and can pick one up relatively cheaply.

I'm not much of a gamer myself any longer. Looking forward to trying RDR2 but I can't say much else excites me, not enough to warrant owning an expensive GPU.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

I Won't be getting the 4200, it's loud according to some posts. Might stick to a fan less option.

 

[Armageus]

Using several at work
P620 - my old desktop machine, was used to drive 4 screens
K2000 - currently installed in our rackmount CCTV server to provide some hardware acceleration
NVS310 - installed in a few remaining older PCs that haven't got onboard displayport

 

[Bluntwrapped]

If I get a single slot GPU it means I can use my PCIx1 and PCI slots for expansion for the same cost of a cheap GPU. I would then sell my GTX 660 to gain back some of the cost..... interesting! I have a 27" Acer monitor using DP so I recon it would improve the image quality with a quadro as you already said! I found a sealed one! Except the power supply I have is only a 6 pin, this quadro is an 8 pin power cable so might mean I would need to change my power supply as well. Unless I get the 2200 4GB model as it doesn't need a power supply!

How loud is the fan on the P620?

As above mate, I can't say for everyone but the P620 does make my U3417W shine. You may experience little or no difference as I've never made the comparison before, nor realised it could be a thing.

Yep, it's nice to not have additional power cables to worry about. Makes for a much cleaner looking build

The fan is really quiet. Can barely hear it while it's running. With the side of my case off, max temps are around 65c when looping Heaven and Valley.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Using several at work

The fan is really quiet. Can barely hear it while it's running. With the side of my case off, max temps are around 65c when looping Heaven and Valley.

I think I will look for a P620 or 2200 model me thinks. See what I can find! Couple cards still sealed on the bay but the prices are rising fast.

 

[Bluntwrapped]

I think I will look for a P620 or 2200 model me thinks. See what I can find! Couple cards still sealed on the bay but the prices are rising fast.

If sealed should hopefully come with both the low profile and standard PCIe bracket.

The used and refurbished ones seem to have one or the other.

The GT1030 would be another option unless you specifically want a Quadro

 

[Deleted member 77746]

@Bluntwrapped I don't need a low profile one just a single slot. I will check out 1030. Cheers

 

[Bluntwrapped]

Using several at work
P620 - my old desktop machine, was used to drive 4 screens
K2000 - currently installed in our rackmount CCTV server to provide some hardware acceleration
NVS310 - installed in a few remaining older PCs that haven't got onboard displayport

I was thinking about a p2000 for Plex HW transcoding but waiting to see how the 1650 super/ti fares.

If it uses Turing Nvenc should be great for Plex.

 

[Alan1969]

I usually try and sell off my old graphics cards immediately. However there have been times, when building a new pc or renovating an old one that I need a spare graphics card. typically gaming cards still have high resale values. therefore I am wondering whether I could pick up a quadro for some brief gaming?