NVidia recently held a roundtable discussion in Bonn, Germany and invited several members of the research and press communities. The guys at 3dTest were there and asked the question that comes to mind with several graphics designers: Why buy Quadro? You can get a GTx285 or GTX480 for significantly cheaper ($200-$400, rather than $2000+), so what justifies the 5x to 10x increase in cost?
To this, NVIDIA highlights the efforts made by teams to develop specific drivers that allow in some cases performance gains of about x3 (with drivers AutoCAD or 3ds Max dedicated). The work of engineers at NVIDIA is to study how the software communicates with the 3D map and maximize these exchanges. Thus, the Quadro range has certified drivers and a user can receive technical support. This type of service is essential part of a production where the financial stakes are high and the reliability of the equipment used is a key factor.Then there is the manufacturing quality of Quadro cards (directly provided by NVIDIA, then released by PNY in Europe) that guarantee a more reliable maps.
