Video Cards & Errors

[Chris Robinson]

Hi Thermwood Team,

This has been discussed a little in the past but I want to try and get a better understanding.

Can using a nVidia GeForce card instead of a Quadro FX series card create errors within eCabs where the final result is errors in design or machine output?

I can grasp how a particular video card can cause poor performance writing to the screen, creating delays or lockup. But is the problem deeper than simple display speed?

Thanks,
Chris Robinson

[Al Navas]

...Can using a nVidia GeForce card instead of a Quadro FX series card create errors within eCabs where the final result is errors in design or machine output?

Chris,

I am not part of the Thermwood Team. But I am curious: Would you mind posting something a little more specific, such as the specific NVIDIA card with GeForce? For example, is it one of the high-end cards, or the low-end, low RAM cards?



Al

[Chris Robinson]

Al, I'm speaking in general terms. I have a nVidia GeForce 7600GL with 512mb video ram, PCI-E adapter.

Specifically, I was wondering if errors that affect the final product can originate from the softwares interaction with the video card?

Chris

[Al Navas]

Al, I'm speaking in general terms. I have a nVidia GeForce 7600GL with 512mb video ram, PCI-E adapter.

Specifically, I was wondering if errors that affect the final product can originate from the softwares interaction with the video card?

Chris

Thanks, Chris.

Could you possibly post something to illustrate this interaction? Is is related to a specific problem or issue that you might be experiencing? I look forward seeing this. Thanks!

I cannot think of anything that could cause this problem, as I am not familiar with the GeForce family. However, I believe that the GeForce cards are (may be???) better for gaming, in which the chips may be better at putting stuff on the screen, than they might be at calculating, such as the Quadro FX series and its entire family, for use on engineering workstation-class machines. I am NOT a hardware guy, that's fore sure, so I am just guessing.

This issue by itself is interesting, as gaming seems to have driven the technology more than anything else, simply by having huge sales potential.


Al

[Forrest Chapman]

Chris,

I also use this card and do not have issues pertaining to it. It is a combi card with openGL capabilities and seems to do well with ecabs. The 512 ram is dedicated so it is fairly powerful.

Forrest

[Mark Hesketh]

with my knowledge of how the machine works, and granted it is somewhat limited and slightly outdated knowledge, I cannot think of a reason why a problem with a graphics card would result in program errors in the output code for the machine. theoretically, the video cards should more or less just be calculating things neccessary in order for it to create a display for the screen. It shouldn't be doing the calculating for the generation of machine code. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but that's what makes sense to me.

[DanEpps]

That's correct Mark...the video card controls only what you see on-screen and not what is stored in the file.