4870 mod to Firegl

[alastair84]

does anyone know if the 4870 can be modded to a Firegl equivalent?
I'm building a computer for my friend who uses Maya autodesk and other 3d moddeling apps and don't want to spend loads getting a "professional" graphics card.
If it can't, i guess my other options would be to get a 3850 or something other from the 3xxx series and mod that as i know they can be modded successfully.

 

[86JR]

no idea but nvidia cards can all be soft modded. And the 8800GTX can be converted to "professional mode" within the driver software, to do as you need

 

[Blackbadger]

The whole point of Firegl and Quadro cards is mainly for stability.

Sure they do offer specialised drivers for some applications offering some visual bonuses such as higher AA etc on mesh's.

The performance of regular gaming drivers is useually higher, but at the lack of stability.

The workstation cards are similar in hardware spec, but not exactly the same. Tricking regular cards with drivers can, open extra options in control panels, but hardly worth it due to the crashes you'll be having + driver updates will be a nightmare.

All this said and done..
I have a Quadro FX 1700 and a 280gtx in my system. Kind of wasted really, I use the fx for development work, and the gtx for realtime vis + games.
Pretty pointless having both, but it's all fast and stable. both cards cost similar prices, and each provide more than enough power for 3d dev.