Video card for 30"?

[philfx]

<p>Its time for me to upgrade my video card.. It looks like it keeps resetting. It blanks out, then asks to send the errornotification, so either it is some driver issue, or overheating or? I am using a visiontek Radeon X1300 XGE 512mb<br>

I use a 30" screen that requires Dual Link at 2560x1600 resolution.<br>

There are plenty cards available. I keep bumping into SLI, Crossfire, HDCP, and all this jargon that is more for gamers, but might also be helpful for Photoshop CS4?<br>

All I am looking for is a quiet, current speed specs on memory, clock, and pipeline..<br>

I want dual link DVI, HDTV out, likely in the ATI chipset.<br>

Is there someone that knows this stuff that can guide me in the right direction?<br>

So many of the new cards I was considering like the RADEON 4870 require extra power, large fans, space, and lots of memory, that will likely tax my system memory (anyone know more on this) etc that I dont think are needed. <br>

I do want something that CS4 Photoshop can take advantage of when editing large files(Not sure if this is OpenGL, or some other method, but I do know my Fonts take long to load, and overall navigation is still lagging, even after 11.01 patch).<br>

thanks</p>

[waltflanagan]

<p>SLI and Crossfire are two system from Nvidia and ATI to allow you to use multiple graphics cards in your system. Your motherboard needs 2 or more PCI Express x16 slots to use this and it is primarily for gamers. DVI is electrically the same as HDMI so with a $7 cable you can connect a DVI output from your computer to the HDMI port of a HDTV. HDCP is a copy protection system. I think the video card needs it if you intend to play DRM (digital rights management) video through your PC and all the components are checking for HDCP.</p>

<p>I don't know what you mean about taxing your system memory. Dedicated graphics cards have dedicated memory on board like your current card as 512MB on board. Low end integrated northgridge graphics systems use system memory but you're going as far away as possible with a Radeon 4870. I'd say it's overkill for what you want to do but I'm not up to date on how much CS4 gets a boost from using the GPU. I drive my dual 30" monitors with a $60 EVGA Nvidia 9500 card but I don't use CS4.</p>

[kari v]

<blockquote>

<p>many of the new cards I was considering like the RADEON 4870 require extra power, large fans, space, and lots of memory, that will likely tax my system memory (anyone know more on this)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>4870 is power hungry high-end gaming card, you don't need it.<br>

Tax system memory? Where did you read about this? Doesn't sound logical.</p>

<p>I can't see how upgrading craphics card could affect font loading time. Do you need them all or have you just installed hundreds?</p>

[andylynn]

<p>You do not need SLI, HDCP or Crossfire. You want a single video card that's current generation, supports your monitor resolution and does not use "shared memory", "TurboCache" or "HyperMemory".</p>

<p>But honestly you're not going to see a heck of a lot of improvement in Photoshop. It's not video card intensive. Don't spend much more than $100. A Geforce 9800GT is at an excellent price/performance point but might require too much power.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>Phil, i think i read somewhere last week that Nvidia is the way to go for Open GL and Photoshop compatibility...look at newegg for a video card that fit your system.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>well, i dont think..i really read it last week : )</p>

[steven_clark]

<p>A 9600 or 9500 Nvidia card would probably make for a good compromise of quality and power consumption. Both shave off the shaders from the 9800 from 112 to 64 in the 9600 and 32 in the 9500. If you don't play games you won't be needing them much so there's less chip to eat power and need cooling. You might still need a power connector, but if you have a system with the right slots there's a good chance you have those anyway, or that the card will come with the cable to draw power off a drive connector or two.</p>

[philfx]

<p>good info Walt, appreciate all feedbacks...<br>

Regarding taxing memory...I wasn't sure if it does or not, but some where I remember that if you have i.e. 4GB RAM and your vid card has say 512mb, The ram showing up in the OS will be deducted according to the vid ram...showing 3.25~GB available. I am sure I must have misunderstood, but...thats what I got out of it. I read this loosely when trying to max my system 4GB max usage (32bit).<br>

Kari, true, I dont think the font thing is with vid card, It was the one thing sticking in my mind when experiencing the sluggish CS4 performance. <br>

Andrew, I don't know if CS4 is card "intensive" or not, but from what i read, it DOES have ability to use video card mem for functions/processing.</p>

[philfx]

<p>posted a little late as more feedbacks! thanks, I was looking towards ATI, but from Patricks response, it looks like the correct direction. I will also check out the 96/9500 cards.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p> </p>

[andylynn]

<p>Phil- What you've read is one part truth and a couple parts hype. It does use some GPU processing, but only for a limited range of functions - panning and zooming on large (and I mean large, not this 15MP wimpy stuff) has noticeable acceleration but that's pretty much it. Adobe's use of the technology is in its first generation, so there's probably more to come in CS5, but as it is now don't base a hardware purchase on it.</p>

<p>If you were using Premiere and After Effects, that would be completely different...</p>

[waltflanagan]

<p>You have misunderstood system memory and graphics memory. If you add in a graphics card then it has 512MB of dedicated memory it is completely separate from your system memory (4GB) Your computer now has 4.5GB of memory but the extra 512MB is only usable by the graphics card. Normal software still sees just 4GB.</p>

<p>Some low end computers do not have a dedicated graphics card. Instead the graphics processing chip is integrated into one of the other chips on the motherboard (specifically the northbridge chip) This saves money at the cost of performance. To save even more the manufacturer does not include any dedicated graphics memory. The integrated graphics uses a portion of the system memory. If the integrated graphics uses 512MB of system memory then you only have 3.5GB for your normal software.</p>

<p>If you google a little you'll find that CS4 doesn't use much of the graphics card. It seems like it's just for zooming and canvas rotation.</p>

[bob.velkov]

<p>Get an Apple and don't worry. Sorry guys, couldn't resist ;-)</p>

[waltflanagan]

<blockquote>

<p>Get an Apple and don't worry. Sorry guys, couldn't resist ;-)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The situation with Apple is even worse and I say that as a Macbook owner. The 30" LCDs require a dual link DVI port. My older Macbook has mini-DVI and only has a single DVI/TMDS link so I can't even connect it to my monitors. The newer Macs are switching to Mini DisplayPort . You can buy this $99 adapter to convert to dual link DVI but it has tons of problems, just read the comments on Apple's OWN website.</p>

<p>http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MjkyNjI0Mg</p>

<p>Considering that I have two 30" LCDs I'm not buying another Apple product until they actually make a working MDP to dual DVI converter.</p>

[philfx]

<p>Thanks for the clarifications.... my standard file sizes start at about 120MB and easily gets into 700mb occasional larger.<br>

I know I am making this a bit more involved than just picking a card...any darn card!<br />:-) but I think my question is for a better understanding of the specs relate to DTP/photo editing.<br />My aim is to get a quality up to date card with the LEAST noise fan possible (even fanless).<br>

below are the specs the cards are rated by. I left out SLI, Crossfire since most confirm they are for gaming. Last time I played any games after drulling over Myst was Warcraft2 years back...no more games.</p>

<p>2 DVI ports/Dual link sup 2560x1600 ___need this<br />HDTV S-vid out ___strongly like<br />512MB I think is enough? ___ _enough?<br />mem clock? 1800 ___ _ more than enough? I am thinking the higher the more noise<br />mem interface bits ? ____128/256/448 bit...how important is this one?<br />mem type GDDR3 ___ _I think DDR2 or 3 either way not a big difference?<br />Ramdac mhz? ___256mhz, 400, ?? big difference?<br />chipset core clock ? ___range of speeds 750mhz important?<br />stream processes ? ____128 important?<br />OpenGL 2.) or 2.1 support ____strongly like<br />Direct X 10 support ____ looks like it is needed<br>

I will be switching to 64 bit when Win7 is out.<br>

btw, for fonts, they are loaded as they are used. I do have a lot, and thought of using a font manager (Have had no need to with CS3, Quark, InDesign, or other apps that use fonts).<br>

These 2 cards looked interesting on NewEgg (no fan): <br /><br /><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161266">HIS Hightech H467P1GP Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 </a> <br /><strong>Chipset Manufacturer:</strong> ATI <br /><strong>Core clock:</strong> 750MHz <br /><strong>Stream Processors:</strong> 320 Stream Processing Units <br /><strong>Memory Clock:</strong> 1746MHz <br /><strong>DirectX:</strong> DirectX 10.1 <br /><strong>OpenGL:</strong> OpenGL 2.0 <br /><strong>HDMI:</strong> 1 via Adapter <br /><strong>DVI:</strong> 2 <br /><strong>Model #: </strong>H467P1GP <br />16 reviews 5 eggs<br>

<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161203">HIS Hightech H260XTP512DDN-R Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16</a><br /><strong>Chipset Manufacturer:</strong> ATI <br /><strong>Core clock:</strong> 800MHz <br /><strong>Stream Processors:</strong> 120 Stream Processing Units <br /><strong>Memory Clock:</strong> 1400MHz <br /><strong>DirectX:</strong> DirectX 10 <br /><strong>OpenGL:</strong> OpenGL 2.0 <br /><strong>HDMI:</strong> 1 via Adapter <br /><strong>DVI:</strong> 2 <br /><strong>Model #: </strong>H260XTP512DDN-R <br />62 reviews 5 eggs<br>

(spacing in my system is fine for the fanless design)<br>

I have the Ati X1300 512mb (switch off here and there), 4GB ram on a Asus P5KE motherboard, These both are quality parts and according to the last tech guy I was on the phone, explained the mem from the vid gets sucked up into something? My days of trying to keep good sense of all this tech info have faded, so I don't know why it shows 3.25 for ram even when Bios shows 4GB?</p>

[andylynn]

<p>On mine I showed only 3.25GB until I upgraded to 64-bit Windows, now I get 4GB.</p>

<p>I can't recommend the 2600 card. Used it on an XP32 box and had a ton of driver bugs.</p>

[joe_plumber]

<p>The 4670 is a great card because it doent use too much power, and is fanless, and high performance, yet also realitivly cheap.<br>

I wouldnt bother with the 2600.</p>

[philfx]

<p>Looks like the 4670.<br>

no added noise, and full of features. done. Thanks!</p>

[stephen_asprey2]

<p>Wait...get a Mac Pro...you'll never go back. I took the plunge last year after being on PCs since 1986. The difference in graphics handling is stunning.<br>

Give the PC to the kids.</p>

[philfx]

<p>lol, I have both <br>

and I like both :-)</p>

[philfx]

<p>FYI, just an update....Since I could not find any site that spelled out this card being able to do Dual Dual link (turns out that is what I am looking for), I ended up going with the 9500GT 1gb with 2x dual link. Able to do at least 1 30" along with another 30 or smaller size screen.</p>