I think my 3870HD is finally getting too old. The reason I have kept it so long is because I am using it with SolidWorks after doing a software mod to make it act as a FireGL 7700. Does anyone know of a 5 series card that you can do the same with? Just to be clear...no gaming; not even Solitaire...just CAD, and 99% of that is solidworks. [edit] Minor hardware mods would be fine too...so long as the traces are big enough.
I don't think Radeons and FirePro cards are the same any more. The firmware will probably be available somewhere, but I'm not sure what success you'd have flashing it to a modern card. Does Solidworks not support OpenCL? You wouldn't need a FirePro if it does, as the normal radeons support that. Alternatively, if it supports CUDA, you could always buy a Geforce.
I'm afraid it has no CUDA or OpenCL support...but doing the FireGL mod to my 3870 gave me a huge boost in performance...just not huge enough for the complex components I have been designing lately. I might just have to bite the bullet and buy a quadro.
Are Quadros better than FirePro cards then? I find it surprising that the program does not support either of the 'new' languages. Is there a newer version that does, perhaps?
I have the old 2010 edition...but I don't think the 2011 edition supports OpenCL or CUDA either (neither is listed in the list of new features). The Quadros are faster than the FirePro cards; but they are also more expensive. This is why I was hoping for a good software unlock card; a high-end GeForce card costs less than a low-end FirePro...and memory does not seem to have much affect on this program...so no need for 4GB of VRAM.
