NVIDIA GeForce To Quadro Soft-Mod Guide

The NVIDIA Quadro family of professional graphics cards are very, very expensive. They are generally 2-5X more expensive than their gaming counterparts, the NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. But everyone knows that Quadro and GeForce graphics cards are virtually identical in hardware.

Yes, you read that right. Even with the unbelievable price tag, the NVIDIA Quadro is really no different from their desktop GeForce counterparts. So why is NVIDIA charging you so much for a Quadro?

It all revolves around the driver support for professional 3D applications like 3ds Max or Maya. Quadro drivers allow the Quadro to be used to accelerate the rendering operations of such professional 3D applications while GeForce drivers do not. This is the basis for the premium prices NVIDIA (and ATI) charge for their professional-grade graphics cards.

Obviously, you cannot just use Quadro drivers with your GeForce graphics cards. After all, it represents the thin red line between a really, really fat profit margin and just a "normal" profit margin. NVIDIA Quadro drivers are designed to detect the presence of an NVIDIA Quadro graphics card. It will not install if a GeForce card is detected instead.

However, there is an easy way to soft-mod (modify in software) a NVIDIA GeForce desktop graphics card into a NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics card. We will show you just how to do it in this guide.

Some Caveats

Before we start, you need to understand that soft-modding your GeForce card into a Quadro will not improve your graphics card's gaming performance in any way. All it does is enable hardware acceleration of professional 3D applications like 3ds Max and Maya.

There have been reports that modded GeForce cards may suffer some drop in gaming performance. It is not unknown if this is a problem that affects all Quadro cards, or just modded GeForce cards. It is also not known if the reported problems are really due to the use of older drivers.

To summarize , unless you really need the Quadro's ability to accelerate the rendering process in a professional 3D application, you should not soft-mod your GeForce graphics card into a Quadro. Otherwise, read on!

Step 1 : Identify & Verify Your GPU

The first thing you should do is identify the GPU used in your NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, and determine if you can soft-mod it into an equivalent Quadro. To do that, download and run GPU-Z. It will help you identify your GPU. In the example below, the GPU of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS is G80 and the Device ID is 10D - 0193.

Then you will need to verify that the GPU used in your GeForce card is also used by a Quadro card. To do that, download the latest NVIDIA Quadro driver and extract it to a folder. Look inside the folder for the nvdisp.inf file and open it using Notepad. You will see a list of strings like the second screenshot above.

Comparing the data we obtained earlier, you can see that the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS is equivalent to the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600. So yes, this GeForce card can be soft-modded into a NVIDIA Quadro graphics card.

Alternatively, you can also consult the Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide if you know the model of your GeForce card (e.g. GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB or GeForce 8800 GT). Then compare its specifications with the list of Quadro cards in the Workstation Graphics Card Comparison Guide.

Step 2 : Soft-Mod It Into A Quadro!

If your GeForce graphics card has been verified to have a Quadro equivalent, you should proceed to download and install RivaTuner. When you run RivaTuner, you will see the Main screen (picture below). In the Target adapter section, click on the little icon next to the Customize... option.

A series of icons will appear. Select the first icon (Low-level system settings). This will open up a new window called "Low-level system tweaks". Click on the NVStrap tab (first picture below). In the PCI DeviceID settings section, select custom from the list of Graphics adapter identification options (second picture below).

Next, check the Use ROM straps for PCI DeviceID programming option (third picture above). This allows you to select the specific NVIDIA Quadro card you want to emulate. In this case, I chose the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600. After you have selected the NVIDIA Quadro graphics card you want to emulate with your GeForce card, click on the Apply or OK buttons. Then reboot your PC for the change to take effect.

Step 3 : Install The Quadro Driver & Verify

After rebooting your PC, Windows XP/Vista will detect your GeForce card as a Quadro. Install the latest NVIDIA Quadro driver which you had already downloaded earlier. Then reboot the PC again for the driver to complete its installation.

The next time you boot up, your GeForce graphics card will start using the NVIDIA Quadro driver and you should be able to benefit from a tremendous performance boost in your favourite 3D rendering application.

To verify, you can run GPU-Z again. It should now identify your graphics card as a NVIDIA Quadro. In this example, you can see that my NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS is now identified as the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600!

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it. Three simple steps to soft-mod your GeForce desktop graphics card into a really expensive NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics card!

Again, I have to stress that unless you intend to use it with a professional 3D application like Maya, you will not benefit from soft-modding your GeForce into a Quadro. But if you work with such applications, well, you have just saved yourself a huge bundle of money!

Source: TechARP