Is anyone using ATI's Radeon 9550 with Inventor

[SteveSmith]

Hi,

We have been using AutoCAD 2D for years and are now considering going to Inventor. I have A Radeon 9550 dual-monitor card in my system now and would prefer not to have to change as it works well with the Altium PCB software I use and AutoCAD 2004.

Is anyone using this video card? If so, what problems, if any, have you had.

Thanks,
Steve Smith

 

[aardvarkdw]

I don't know if this helps at all, but I use an ATI Radeon 9800PRO 256MBit card on my personal machine and it works fine.

 

[DesignerMike]

Autocad will run on practically any machine. Inventor is a graphics hog. Also, you need to look at the resolution you are running. Running dual monitors @ 3200x1200 resolution takes a LOT more power than runing a single monitor @ 1280x920 for example.

The old theory was ATI meant always trashes inventor...but the new drivers and some of the cards are doing pretty well from what I have read.
You should look at the autodesk site to see if the card has been "certified" for use with inventor before you count on trouble free usage. It will also depend on the size and complexity of your assemblies and the number of files you have open at one time.

 

[TheFeds]

The 9550 isn't considered a professional-level card, nor even, for that matter, was it ever a top-end 3-D gaming card. It will run Inventor, and will be acceptable for basic work, but you'll never find a certified driver for it.

Whether you need to upgrade depends greatly on what you demand of it. If you're just making small, simple parts, there's no need for anything fancy. If you're doing complex surfacing, or large assemblies, rendering time will increase, perhaps to an undesirable level.