NVidia Quadro 4000: comparison, features and reviews

The recognized leader in the production of discrete video cards "nVidia" updated its line of graphics adapters, calling it the name of the great nuclear engineer Enrico Fermi. As the main indicator of the merits of the line, the NVidia Quadro 4000 card will be considered, and in order to fully appreciate the advantages of the graphics chip along with the disadvantages, we will try to compare it with previous and later generations of video cards.

The basic principles of the previous series of adapters "Quadra" have not changed so much, but their productivity has grown literally at times. According to the company itself, the reason for increasing the chip's capacity was the Fermi architecture, which allowed to achieve a significant increase in FPS in all graphics applications, coming off in many respects from the previous line of NVidia Quadro FX.

Quadra technology

After the announcement of the brand new solutions for the high price segment in the face of models "Quadro 4000", 5000 and 6000, serious competitors in the market has become much less. And after the presentation and subsequent release of more affordable models (NVidia Quadro 600 and 2000), the company covered all segments of the market for professional graphics cards.

The new "Quadra" line while working with geometry shows excellent results thanks to the new scaling system - Scalable Geometry Engine. It is able to provide stable and high-speed work of CAD applications during the creation of digital scripts.

Features of the chip

The entire line works on a modern 40 nm process and supports all available technologies: DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1 and the fifth pixel model. The NVidia Quadro graphics card is equipped with the well-proven CUDA architecture for parallel computing, which is responsible for the speed increase in 3D applications.

3D Vision Pro Technology

Due to the popularity of 3D visualization, all popular cards, and PNY NVidia Quadro, in particular, can work in compatibility mode with professional 3D glasses from "Nvidia" - 3D Vision Pro. This provides the operator with new and advanced analysis and other visualization capabilities in high-quality 3D mode.

Technology can act as a professional aid, and an entertainment center for conventional LCD panels and monitors, providing a complete and practical visualization with the virtual environment.

In the treasure trove of the new technology, which can be seen starting with the NVidia Quadro K620, you can add wireless communication at a rather decent distance, about 50 meters, which stably holds, excluding any interference or interference between systems. The technology can be used in almost any field: professional writing of 3D applications, medicine (ultrasound), cinemas, etc.

So, let's go directly to the very review of the NVidia Quadro 4000, after which we will make a comparison with the rest of the line and the video cards of the previous generation.

PNY Quadro 4000

"Quadro 4000" is the first solution in its class for professional graphics applications, which combines advanced hardware visualization and high-performance video calculations, significantly transforming the workflow for the better.

The 4000 model is almost five times ahead of the NVidia Quadro K620 line in performance, allowing you to feel comfortable while working with a wide range of applications for design, games and animation in general. Thanks to the introduction of a new geometric technology, the video card can process up to 890 million triangles per second. The previous generation of NVidia Quadro NVS chips was approved and included in the Fortune 1000 list, which already says a lot.

Positioning

"Quadro 4000" with its technical characteristics is focused on professionals and refers to high-performance graphics adapters. Even if the power of the chip does not seem enough, thanks to the technology of SLI, you can install additional video cards in one system unit, thereby further increasing performance in complex 3D calculations.

As an alternative to using operating systems on the "Windows" platform, the NVidia Quadro 4000 is equipped with the "Multi" technology, which allows you to run several OSes on one system, such as Linux applications.

To work with video content, the card provides SDI (Serial Digital Interface) technology with predefined solutions in the field of capture, mixing, detailed filtering and final processing of all popular SDI formats. The function certainly will be used both by professionals in the field of film production and broadcasting, as well as by simple fans of the video industry.

Design

NVidia Quadro 4000 is made in one-slot style, but nevertheless is equipped with a powerful and relatively quiet system of internal cooling, although some user reviews are full of complaints about noise during a heavy load.

The entire cooling system is built in a radiator wrench with a massive copper base and an aluminum casing that fits tightly into the video adapter, chips and BPM blocks (voltage regulation). The rear part is equipped with a special gasket that dissipates the accumulated heat, densely covering the memory chips.

"Quadro 4000" has very high performance, so it needs additional power, which is implemented via a PCI-connector on six contacts. The accumulating hot air is ejected outside the enclosure through a special hole on the front panel that is located between the interfaces of connecting devices.

During the tests, the maximum temperature of the working surface of the video card and the graphics core did not rise above 93 degrees, but this is typical for all NVidia Quadro models.

The price of a video card on authoritative Internet resources varies between 35,000 rubles.

Comparison with PNY Quadro 600

Unlike the 4000, this video card belongs to the entry-level chips, but nevertheless it is able to perform most professional graphics tasks. The adapter processor provides a flexible low-profile balance between performance and power consumption in many serious applications like AutoCAD or Autodesk.

The power of the chip is enough for basic work with the above software, but the speed of data processing is significantly different from the "Quadro 4000" in the smaller direction. As positive features, we can note the full support of the EnergyStar standard, allowing to save a lot on electricity, as well as the availability of Fermi architecture with support for 30-bit colors.

Performance in games

As for computer games, the model is able to provide a stable frame rate on the average settings of modern gaming applications, overtaking such a "monster" as the GeForce GTX580. But, looking at the big picture, we can conclude: the NVidia Quadro 600 is inferior to the processing speed of the 4000 model, so high and ultra-high settings in the games are not for it - there may be jerking, hanging up and destabilizing the image.

The price of a video card on authoritative Internet resources varies between 8,000 rubles.

Comparison with PNY Quadro 2000

The positioning of this model consists in unhindered and stable work with the applications SolidWorks and AutoCAD. This card, comparing with the Quadro 4000, can be attributed to the average price and technology segment of video accelerators.

Model 2000 is a good solution for engineering companies and leading manufacturers in the field of architecture and construction. The model has an excellent price / quality / performance ratio. Just like the 4000 series, this chip works on the CUDA architecture with the possibility of parallel computing, has a 30-bit color bit and automatically balances the parameters of the connected display or any other external device. This allows you to work more effectively with the recommended programs for processing graphics data.

Just like the Quadro 4000, the NVidia Quadro 2000 is equipped with a large amount of modern GDDR5 memory with a very attractive bandwidth. The characteristics of the video card allow you to easily visualize complex scenes and scale models, but to perform complex calculations, unlike the 4000 series it turns out to be a stretch, although numerous user reviews say that the difference in processing between 2000 and 4000 is not so noticeable as with previous generations of cards.

Performance

As a result of testing, we can say that NVidia Quadro 2000 several times exceeds one of the most powerful gaming graphics cards GeForce GTX 580 in absolutely all parameters, considerably outperforming the last in performance, but a little underfulfilment to the level of the older model 4000.

The extremely attractive difference between 2000 and 4000 series is the noiselessness. And if the older line starts to make noise with active loads, then the younger one behaves relatively quietly with any data stream, regardless of the size and depth of information processing.

The model excellently shows itself in modern gaming applications at high tuning, allowing almost completely to plunge into the virtual world.

The price of a video card on authoritative Internet resources varies between 20,000 rubles.

Summarizing

Professional graphics solutions in the face of the "Quadra" series and the 4000 model in particular, have made a giant leap in performance compared to previous generations of video cards, and the innovative architecture of "Fermi" allows you to perform miracles in all known specialized applications.

The line is equipped with a fairly large number of CUDA cores, which to a large extent provide performance gains in both games and powerful graphics applications, which can not be overlooked by professionals.

Based on the results of bench tests conducted, it can be said with confidence that the difference in past and current generations of graphic accelerators is very significant. And if the indicators of the young K620, NVS and Quadro 600 lines do not differ so much, the difference between 2000 and 4000 is very noticeable in terms of performance.

It is also worth noting that all the solutions of the company line "Quadro" developed, assembled and provided with brand support in accordance with all requirements and quality standards, ensuring that the products of "Nvidia" are leading positions in terms of productivity, reliability and opportunities for all interested industries.

The advantages of the line include the warranty period for products, which is almost 3 years, and this shows that the company is serious about its products and does not expect any problems in terms of marriage or a reduction in the nominal characteristics. A huge number of positive reviews about the cards with Fermi architecture allows us to say with confidence that the company's products continue to be in great demand both for professionals and for ordinary gamers.

As a result, the consumer received a completely revolutionary and universal product in the face of "Quadro". Using the Fermi architecture and new generation video cards with 3D Vision Pro technology, the same movie "Avatar" will not be easy realistic, but real. All effects and their varieties, including high-parallel calculations, work with ray tracing give the possessor unreal possibilities of creating photo and video materials. Quadra is the level where you begin to confuse reality with reality and virtual reality.