Would this make a good christmas gift?

So my Dad, he works with AutoCAD, and the rest of the AutoDesk programs, and this one program he uses, AutoDESK Inventor, which requires a graphics card, he's had his eye on a couple of AGP graphics cards. Now, the only slots on his motherboard, is 1 AGP slot, x8 lane I think, 3 PCI slots, and a small one which is not PCI express because we got that one PC in 2001. The AutoDESK version he is using is AutoDESK 2009, worth about $12000, requires a graphics card for some things to run smoothly, and my Mom and I were up at Staples yesterday, and bought a Nvidia 7300 GT, 512 MB of dedicated DDR2.

Is the Nvidia 7300 GT a good card for this kind of work?

Plus, AutoDESK is partnered with Nvidia, so an ATi card might not be cut out for this kind of stuff.

a 7300GT is a pretty bad card for any use. For strict design work (CAD, 3D Rendering, etc etc), first of all you'll want a multi-core processor. A quad core is good, and quad cores couldn't be cheaper if they wanted to. RAM is also VERY important. I have 4gb now (architecture student who uses Rhino/AutoCAD A LOT) and sometimes rendering massive images can be a drag. RAM helps with this. I'm actually thinking of getting 4 more gigs The GPU (Video card) can help if it's specialized. although i am first of all an architecture student, i also use my PC to game. so having a design-oriented GPU isn't the best idea for me. that is why i chose a geforce card that can still do GPU-intensive tasks well (although not as well as other cards which ill describe now). if you dont need to play intensive video games and want a design-oriented video card, look into the ATI FireGL's or the NVIDIA Quadro FX's. These are specifically designed to reduce stress on the CPU (processor) by taking on some of the calculation and processing themselves. high end versions of these cards are ASTRONOMICALLY high, but the lower end will do well (much better than a 7300GT) and not burn a hole through your pocket.

EDIT: didn't see that you needed an AGP card specifically. this narrows your options significantly. i would advise your father to spend about $800-1000 building a new PC with up-to-date hardware that will be much more future-proof.

a 7300GT is a pretty bad card for any used. For strict design work (CAD, 3D Rendering, etc etc), first of all you'll want a multi-core processor. A quad core is good, and quad cores couldn't be cheaper if they wanted to. RAM is also VERY important. I have 4gb now (architecture student who uses Rhino/AutoCAD A LOT) and sometimes rendering massive images can be a drag. RAM helps with this. I'm actually thinking of getting 4 more gigs The GPU (Video card) can help if it's specialized. although i am first of all an architecture student, i also use my PC to game. so having a design-oriented GPU isn't the best idea for me. that is why i chose a geforce card that can still do GPU-intensive tasks well (although not as well as other cards which ill describe now). if you dont need to play intensive video games and want a design-oriented video card, look into the ATI FireGL's or the NVIDIA Quadro FX's. These are specifically designed to reduce stress on the CPU (processor) by taking on some of the calculation and processing themselves. high end versions of these cards are ASTRONOMICALLY high, but the lower end will do well (much better than a 7300GT) and not burn a hole through your pocket.drucom

Well, the good thing about AutoDESK, is that it optimizes the graphics card, so I'd have to believe that it would do ok. My Dad got 1 gig of RAM to replace the 3, extremely varied speed, sticks of 265 MB, and it works a bit better now. with the projects he works on, there not to big, and it runs smoothly alot of the time, like when it shifts views in the program, it does that incredibly smoothly even without a graphics card. Only rarely, does he work on massive projects, but thats for when he's using AutoCAD, not Inventor. the CPU, is I believe a single core, clocked at 2.73 GHz, the computer only has one processor. the only sound you really hear out of the PC is the sound of loading, because of how many backround tasks there are on it, and I tell him "You know, you can free up a whole lot more RAM if you just ended all of the un-neccessary processes, and that the computer would run some bit smoother" and he doesn't try it.

To what I remember, the card's full name is, BFG, Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT. My Dad doesn't game on PC, just his PS3 and PSP, so I'd imagine that this card could do alright.

buying him something for work as an xmas pressie would be like buying a road sweeper a broom, NeilCardiff

Hey, it's what he was looking at for some time now. He's aiming to get a graphics card of some kind that can help in anyway for his AutoCADing.

[QUOTE="NeilCardiff"]buying him something for work as an xmas pressie would be like buying a road sweeper a broom, MOCHIRON_MAN

Hey, it's what he was looking at for some time now. He's aiming to get a graphics card of some kind that can help in anyway for his AutoCADing.

[QUOTE="MOCHIRON_MAN"]

[QUOTE="NeilCardiff"]buying him something for work as an xmas pressie would be like buying a road sweeper a broom, NeilCardiff

Hey, it's what he was looking at for some time now. He's aiming to get a graphics card of some kind that can help in anyway for his AutoCADing.

He wants a graphics card for work. He builds pellet stoves. Heaters. And he loves his work. What's wrong with getting him something that will help do more of the work that he loves to do? I mean, my Dad loves the Dyson vacuums, so I'd get him a Dyson if I had enough money. He really wants to get one of those because they don't lose suction or whatever that word is and how you spell it. There is absolutely no harm in getting him something that he will want to use alot, even if it is for work.

[QUOTE="NeilCardiff"][QUOTE="MOCHIRON_MAN"]

Hey, it's what he was looking at for some time now. He's aiming to get a graphics card of some kind that can help in anyway for his AutoCADing.

MOCHIRON_MAN

He wants a graphics card for work. He builds pellet stoves. Heaters. And he loves his work. What's wrong with getting him something that will help do more of the work that he loves to do? I mean, my Dad loves the Dyson vacuums, so I'd get him a Dyson if I had enough money. He really wants to get one of those because they don't lose suction or whatever that word is and how you spell it. There is absolutely no harm in getting him something that he will want to use alot, even if it is for work.

I like doing CAD as well and would be made-up if my son bought me something to help me to do that :D if all's your Dad is doing are design drawings then a 7300GT will do just fine for that, as he'll only be rendering one object at a time and will almost certainly not be using any textures to do so. Just make sure that the card you get is 100% compatible with the MOBO and get the guy in the shop to confirm that it is before you buy it, that way if it doesn't work with his MOBO then the shop have to refund or exchange it by law

if the card is AGP and the Mobo has an AGP Slot it will work.

Yeah i used the 7300GT up until a while ago and i must say its a performer. it will still play Crysis witha few settings on medium (rest low) with good FPS and i had a 256mb card. Good thing you got him the 512mb card so he can have lots of texture and render memory.

good choice mate it will work just fine.

[QUOTE="MOCHIRON_MAN"][QUOTE="NeilCardiff"] The point is he is looking for it for work, Buy you mum a new vacuum cleaner while your at it, you'll really be flavour of the monthRainbow_Lion

He wants a graphics card for work. He builds pellet stoves. Heaters. And he loves his work. What's wrong with getting him something that will help do more of the work that he loves to do? I mean, my Dad loves the Dyson vacuums, so I'd get him a Dyson if I had enough money. He really wants to get one of those because they don't lose suction or whatever that word is and how you spell it. There is absolutely no harm in getting him something that he will want to use alot, even if it is for work.

I like doing CAD as well and would be made-up if my son bought me something to help me to do that :D if all's your Dad is doing are design drawings then a 7300GT will do just fine for that, as he'll only be rendering one object at a time and will almost certainly not be using any textures to do so. Just make sure that the card you get is 100% compatible with the MOBO and get the guy in the shop to confirm that it is before you buy it, that way if it doesn't work with his MOBO then the shop have to refund or exchange it by law

Well, he mainly designs, and bulds pellet stoves, one at a time, but at work, he probably does 4 at a time. When the place he works at bought AutoDESK 2009, they got him a custom built computer, with a BFG Nvidia GeForce 9800GT with avaliable 1 or 2 gig DDR3, it may contain 2, I'm not sure, but it has 4 gigs of RAM in it, and it has a quad core suitable for the job. overall, Nvidia would reccommend whatever is in that computer, so they got it custom built.

He builds the unit in AutoDESK, then it's built ad the facility, then they go through with adding some unique things to make it look nice, like vaious types of rock plates and whatnot. He put Windows XP Pro on our home PC a while ago, and the 7300GT should work fine on it.

And I keep asking him to put in the other hardrive so I can use itunes, LOL.