AMD Radeon™ HD7970 Graphics vs FirePro V8800 for CFE/CE/QCC

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SUMMARY

The discussion compares the AMD Radeon™ HD7970 Graphics and the FirePro V8800, focusing on their performance for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and engineering applications. The HD7970 offers 970 GFlops double precision performance, which meets the user's needs for OpenFOAM and OpenCL. However, the FirePro V8800 is specifically designed for CAD and processor-intensive tasks, providing better performance in professional applications despite potentially lower specifications on paper. The distinction in driver optimization for specific applications is crucial, as the HD line is tailored for gaming while the FirePro is optimized for engineering software.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of OpenFOAM and OpenCL for computational fluid dynamics.
  • Familiarity with CAD software such as SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and CATIA.
  • Knowledge of graphics card specifications, particularly GFlops and driver optimizations.
  • Basic comprehension of vector/scalar manipulation in graphics processing.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research AMD Radeon™ HD7970 driver optimizations for OpenFOAM and OpenCL.
  • Explore the performance benchmarks of FirePro V8800 in CAD applications.
  • Investigate the differences in driver architecture between gaming and professional graphics cards.
  • Learn about the impact of double precision performance on CFD simulations.
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for engineers, developers, and researchers working with computational fluid dynamics, CAD applications, and anyone evaluating graphics card performance for professional software use.

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HD7970 vs FirePro V8800

Is there any reason why I should not go with the AMD Radeon™ HD7970 Graphics? I mean it's a popping 970GFlops DP, which I think satisfies my needs and then some.

I will be working with OpenFOAM or OpenCL, and my own variant of CFD/CE with my own pre and post processing meshing suite. I don't know much about the drivers, because it isn't something I'm all that interested in, and so I'm not clear on what changes are made between the professional and the desktop drivers that affect performance. I assume much of this has to do with vector/scalar manipulation and optimizing the usage of the accumulators/registers.

I want to do a lot of this sort of thing!

I guess what I'm saying is, are the drivers tailored to the application, or the specific softwares themselves? Is it that the driver is tailored to CFE/CAD/CAE, or is it that the driver is tailored to Solid Works, AutoCAD, CATIA and so on . . . .
 
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The HD line of cards have drivers built that are optimized for directX, mostly for gaming. Its still able to handle the demand of say CAD.
The firepro on the other hand is designed specifically for CAD and other processor intensive tasks and will generally perform better than the HD line even though on paper they might not appear to be as good.
 

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