Need a new graphics card? James Morris compares the benefits of three popular models

Nvidia Quadro 2000
Price: £305
Platform: Windows
Minimum system requirements: Any system equipped with PCI Express 16x
Main features:
• DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, Shader Model 5
• 192 CUDA processing units
• 1GB GDDR5 RAM
• 2 x DisplayPort, DVI-I
• 2,560 x 1,600 resolution

Nvidia’s Quadro 2000 is a card we’ve seen a lot of over the last couple of years, and it’s easy to see why. Ostensibly the mid-range replacement for the Quadro FX 1800, it triples the allotment of CUDA cores from 64 to 192, and increases memory from 768MB of GDDR3 to 1GB of GDDR5. This gives it similar specs to the previous high-end Quadro FX 4800. With just over half of the memory bandwidth (41.6GB/sec versus 76.8GB/sec), it doesn’t quite compete on performance, but it’s amazing value for a budget workstation.

Nvidia Quadro 5000
Price: £1,240
Platform: Windows
Minimum system requirements: Any system equipped with PCI Express 16x
Main features:
• DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, Shader Model 5
• 352 CUDA processing units
• 2.5GB GDDR5 RAM
• 2 x DisplayPort, DVI-I, Stereoscopic
• 2,560 x 1,600 resolution

Another popular card from Nvidia’s Fermi range is the Quadro 5000, which sits somewhere between the high end and ultra-high end. Where the Quadro FX 5800 had 240 CUDA processors and Quadro FX 4800 just 192, the Quadro 5000 sports 352, giving it ultimate performance for merely high-end prices. It also boasts 2.5GB of GDDR5 memory with a greater bandwidth (120GB/sec) than the Quadro FX 5800’s 102GB/sec. It does cost twice as much as the Quadro 4000 however, so it’s best partnered with a similarly premium workstation specification.

AMD FirePro V7900
Price: £484
Platform: Windows
Minimum system requirements: Any system equipped with PCI Express 16x
Main features:
• DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, Shader Model 5
• 1,280 Stream processing units
• 2GB GDDR5 RAM
• 4 x DisplayPort
• 2,560 x 1,600 resolution

For some years, AMD’s FireGLs and FirePros have noticeably undercut Nvidia’s products on price. The FirePro V7900 goes head-to-head with Nvidia’s Quadro 4000, yet costs at least £100 less. It sports 1,280 Stream processors, 2GB of GDDR5, and a bandwidth of 160GB/sec – which is more than any current Nvidia Quadro model. This gives it some impressive performance results, making it a very tempting competitor to Nvidia’s high-end offerings.