CAD Graphics cards

[oxram]

My motherboard is a gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 with integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200
i plan on using my system for Engineering packages such as Solidworks and Adams, i have looked at the 'ATI FirePro V3700 256MB' and 'ATI 5670 1GB' as they fit well to my low budget
but will the graphics cards be worth it? will there be visible difference?

i am a student btw

 

[MichaelM]

FirePro is most likely multiples better for Solidworks at least. My system struggles to keep large assemblies fluid and reacting sharply.
I'm sure Adams would offer the same benefits.

But f you are doing small assemblies or single parts then you can get away with desktop GPU's.

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

Dedicated 'CAD' graphics cards have additional extensions built into them for faster performance.

Ideally you want a large amount of onboard memory, as well as a reasonably powerful chip.

Take a look at the Quadro 400 / 600 or the FirePro V3800 / V4800.

For Solidworks you need a fast processor with lots of logical cores to churn through the rendering.
https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/50310

As for Adams, this thread will help:
http://simcompanion.mscsoftware.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=KB8020268&actp=LIST

 

[WingZero30]

Dedicated 'CAD' graphics cards have additional extensions built into them for faster performance.

Ideally you want a large amount of onboard memory, as well as a reasonably powerful chip.

Take a look at the Quadro 400 / 600 or the FirePro V3800 / V4800.

For Solidworks you need a fast processor with lots of logical cores to churn through the rendering.
https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/50310

As for Adams, this thread will help:
http://simcompanion.mscsoftware.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=KB8020268&actp=LIST

Woah!!

I didn't know that solid works was such an intensive application that even i7 2600k will struggle on it.

 

[Doomedspeed]

Woah!!

I didn't know that solid works was such an intensive application that even i7 2600k will struggle on it.

It can be, I do some simple work on it at home. I only have an Althon X4 640, it copes with the simple stuff.

At university when we are doing proper detailed assemblies and renders we are moved to the 'Super PC's'. With 2 Hex core Xeon's and 2 Tesla GPU's. That doesn't seem to struggle though.

A bit out of budget.

My Old GTS 450 did fine for simple assemblies.