I guess you're right about going for the latest supported DX, OpenGL and shader model. So, the FX 1700 looks like the best choice.
The features are briefly described in the card specs too. I put a couple of links to them in my previous post. But what u're saying is that I should be getting better quality renderings with a Quadro hardware rendering than with Maya software rendering?
I never tried hardware rendering before. But if I get the same result with software rendering, I'm going to forget this quite costly Quadro idea all together.