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NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400 Professional Graphics Card

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PCQ Bureau
New Update

This NVIDIA high-end, superfast professional graphics card from the Quadro series makes light work of 3D applications and does a fine job as a gaming card as well

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Price:

Rs 45,000
Meant

For:
High end graphics designers and 3D modellers
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:

EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Key Specs: 250 MB GDDR3, dual DVI 
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:

EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Pros: Super fast, SLI ready, SM 3.0 compatible, plays games too
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:

EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Cons: Slightly expensive
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:

EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Contact: Zebronics,

Chennai



Tel: 26616202


Email id: zebronics@rediffmail.com


RQS# E60 or SMS 130160 to 9811800601

We have always wondered that since games today are so

advanced that they are pretty much animated movies in themselves, and a lot of

3D modeling for the game characters perhaps happens on such professional cards,

how exactly would they perform in a regular gaming environment. This same theory

we wanted to test by putting a gaming card into our 3D test suite to find out

how it would do. We compared the NVIDIA FX3400 with the 6800GS since they are

the closest cores available today. The Quadro FX 3400 is a professional graphics

card from NVIDIA's Quadro series unlike others that are gamers' delight. We

would've preferred the 6800GT but NVIDIA doesn't make it anymore, so it was

not available.

The test results left us stunned. Being incorrigible

gamers, everything we test needs to pass muster in games and that was the suite

we ran on the Quadro card first. We ran Doom3 at multiple resolutions with and

without AA/AF and also the brand new game F.E.A.R. We over-clocked both these

cards with the Quadro being clocked at 401 MHz for the core and 1 GHz for the

memory speed (stock speeds: 350 MHz and 900 MHz). The 6800GS was overclocked to

515 MHz for the core and 1.13 GHz for the memory (stock speeds: 475 MHz and 1.1

GHz).

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3D

benchmark performance
Tests NVINDIA Quadro

FX3400
XFX 6800GS

SpecviewPerf 8.1

3DSMax 03 34.41 18.01
Catia 01 33.17 11.98
Ensight 01 17 15.48
light 01 28.16 9.531
Maya 01 50.78 4.717
Proe 03 45.27 12.56
SW-01 26.1 13.05
UGS 04 24.49 6.696

The gaming benchmarks



In gaming tests, we would particularly like to tell you the scores in the

1280x1024 and 1600x1200 range with 4xAA and 8xAF. In Doom3, at 1280x1024, the

Quadro actually does better than the 6800GS! Of course, the difference is just

under 3 fps so its negligible but even if the Quadro can match an out and out

gaming card, it sure is commendable. A trend we noticed was that at lower

resolutions like 1024x768 and with AA/AF switched off, the 6800GS beat the

Quadro, but when graphics were really stressed at higher resolutions and AA/AF

were on, it caught up with the 6800GS and in instances even surpassed it. This

led us to believe that a professional graphics card can indeed give an excellent

gaming experience. The performances were even more similar when you look at

F.E.A.R, where at higher resolutions the cards exactly matched.

The 3D benchmarks



For 3D benchmarking we used the standard software SpecviewPerf 8.01. This

software benchmarks the card on a variety of 3D apps, from CAD to modeling and

so on.We ran the benchmark at default settings. While the Quadro just zipped

through the tests, our overclocked 6800GS failed to complete the tests and

reaching unsafe heat levels, it was shut down. Despite various attempts with

external cooling fans and , it would not run, so we had to run it at the stock

speeds. This speaks for the professional 3D application capabilities (or the

lack of them!) of the 6800GS. Though the Quadro is not made for this, it does a

brilliant job at it! In all the tests, except for Ensight, the 6800GS scored

half or less than Quadro.

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Gaming

benchmark performance
Tests Resolutions  AA/AF Quadro FX3400 XFX 6800GS
3D Mark 2005     4724 6255
Doom 3 1024×768 None/4×AA 8×AF  97.7/60.1 113.4/70.1
  1280×1024 None/4×AA 8×AF 78.9/48.9 90.6/46
  1600×1200 None/4×AA 8×AF 61.2/35.3 69.4/36
F.E.A.R 1024×768 None/4×AA 8×AF 42/34 72/36
  1280×968 None/4×AA 8×AF 33/25 51/25

Bottom Line: The Quadro is a mean performer though a

tad expensive at Rs 45,000 plus taxes. Only word of caution is that if you get

this for your graphics expert and find him avoiding work and playing Doom 3,

please don't blame us or him!

Varun Dubey

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