Nvidia Quadro CX video card

[Shawn McCalip]

Built for Adobe Professionals

Has anyone started using this new Quadro CX card by Nvidia? Its pretty drat expensive, but it looks like it packs one heck of a punch, especially for those of us that work with both video and motion graphics/3D. I've read through all the hype and such, but I'd like to hear if anyone has purchased one of these cards or is thinking of purchasing one. What do you like about it? Does it really perform as well as Nvidia claims? Etc...

Then there's the other side of the coin. Have you heard about this card and decided that you would never buy one? If so, why?

[Mike McCarthy]

I have used the Quadro CX and it is an impressive successor to the QuadroFX 4600. You will see significantly better OpenGL acceleration for your motion graphics and 3D work. Most NLE work is not as GPU dependent, but the CX's encoding capability may be very useful to those encoding long clips to H264.
The 10bit color depth support from the DisplayPort will be a much more significant feature once the software catches up to fully support it, but I am unaware of any NLE support of that capability as of yet. I expect DI programs like Speedgrade and Scratch to be the first to exploit that feature.
If you are looking to buy a new high end professional video card, the CX is the one to get, but if you already have a high end Quadro, I would only upgrade if you specifically need one of the new features.
I will have a full review of the Quadro CX on my site High Definition for PC in the near future.

[Shawn McCalip]

Thanks Mike, and I look forward to reading the full-blown review!

So, does this card come with the SDI expansion board in the box, or is that something you would need to purchase separately? Much of the documentation I found on Nvidia's website seems to imply that the CX, 4600 and 5600 cards come bundled with this SDI expansion board. However, while searching other places, I've seen other people mention that you'll add $5,000 to the price of your Quadro Card by opting for this SDI board.

If you do need to purchase it separately, do you happen to know where I would be able to find it? All the usual suspects like Tiger Direct, Newegg.com, and B&H don't show any listings for a Quadro SDI board/expansion board. Nvidia's own site only provides generic links to online retailers. Also, with this SDI board, is it just an HD-SDI output- or can I use it as an input too? It would be great if I could capture from HDCAM decks and whatnot from this thing!

Since you sound like someone who has quite a bit of experience with these things, how about this: If I decide to not get or use the Nvidia SDI board, how well do the Quadro cards play with other capture cards like Black Magic's Decklink?

[Mike McCarthy]

The Quadro cards do not include the SDI option, it runs another $5000 or so. That is why DisplayPort will be such a useful feature once it's capabilities are fully supported in the right software. The SDI board is usually sold by vendors with a Quadro GPU, but it is a separate item. This is one of many places you can find by googling it:
Quadro FX 5600 SDI 1.5GB PCIe - Authorized Reseller - Safe Harbor 800-544-6599

The current board is output only. I heard a rumor a couple years ago that they were working on an input board, but I have never seen any sign of one. I think it is more of a possibility now that the CX supports GPU accelerated H264 encoding. Imagine a realtime HD-SDI to H264 solution. But that is all just conjecture.

I have used a QuadroFX 5600 SDI board in conjunction with an AJA Xena card, and with a Blackmagic Multibridge, without any conflicts. The Quadro SDI is fairly separate, as an extension of the video card, as opposed to an I/O board.