NVIDIA 8400GS vs Quadro FX3500? Which one

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vikenk

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Hello everyone,

I got a hand-me-down computer from my cousin. It's not a race car but it's faster than anything I've got. It's got integrated video card which I want to replace. It's got a PCI-E/X16 slot that I can put a video card in.

I got an NVIDIA Quadro FX3500 card for free from my company, which was clearing out a bunch of stuff. I also recently bought an NVIDIA 8400GS for $30 on the recommendation of the salesman from the local computer store. I'm not sure which one I should keep. I know that these are "old" cards.

I know that this is not an apples-to-apples comparison, since the Quadro is geared towards pro graphics and the 8400 is geared for gaming. I know this: with the Quadro, my "windows experience" score goes from 3.5 to 5.9 (for the Aero test). It's a wash for gaming: both the 8400 and the Quadro score 5.5. I"m sure that the Windows Experience is not a definitive test, but it's something that I can compare with.

I don't do much heavy duty gaming anymore. I just play some of my old games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein and C&C Generals, along with some Lego Star Wars. Since we got a PS3, we don't do much gaming on the computer anymore.

Most of my usage will be photography based: I do a lot of RAW file processing in Adobe Photoshop and I may start to do some video editing as well.

It seems to me like the Quadro is the way to go, especially since it's free. Looking at a comparison I found online, the Quadro's memory seems to be DDR3 and the clock seems to be faster.

Will the Quadro really limit me in the gaming aspect? I know that people say it's not really a gaming card but would it be THAT bad?
 
i'm not sure the 8400 was ever meant to be a "gaming" card even when it was new, let's just call it a mainstream card ;).

from what i could find, the fx3500 should actually be decently faster than the 8400. if you can get your money back for it, do it, and just keep the 3500.
 
i'm not sure the 8400 was ever meant to be a "gaming" card even when it was new, let's just call it a mainstream card ;).

OK. Point taken :)

from what i could find, the fx3500 should actually be decently faster than the 8400. if you can get your money back for it, do it, and just keep the 3500.

That's what I thought. Thanks for the reply!
 
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