graphics card upgrade WITHOUT GAMING?!

[jimrev]

Hello, good people of the forum.

It's almost impossible to find any reference on any tech site, review or forum that even suggests the idea that of video cards that are NOT used for gaming (HORROR!). Yes, it's true, I do not play games. I don't care who knows it! I do, however, spend a great deal of time and computing power on graphics, images and video; downloading, uploading, editing, encoding, transcoding, authoring, burning, etc. I built myself a new machine at the beginning of this past year but made a silly mistake and got (what is now) a half-a**ed video card: Geforce 6600GT. What with an E6400, GA-965P-DS3, 2 gigs of PC-800 RAM, 540 gigs of SATA-loving hard drive and a lot of motoring software, that poor 6600GT just can't keep up.

So, I've been looking at modernizing, with budget being a big concern. I think I've narrowed the race down to HIS RAdeon x1950 PRO and the EVGA Geforce 7900GS, both 256mb of DDR3 and both with 256 bit architectures. So, here it comes; that age-old question: do I choose ATI or nVidia? I've always had nVidia cards because ATI had a reputation for playing fast and loose around the gaming parlors but wasn't that swell at handling graphics, music or multimedia applications. That seems to have changed in the last few years, however, as the Radeon cards seem to have gotten noticed for often out-performing similar Geforce models (at something other than gaming, that is). So, keeping in mind that there will be no FPS in my future, which way do I go?

So, that's it. Please chime in with thoughts. All are welcome!!

Thanks.

 

[MarcVenice]

Exactly WHAT apps are going to benefit from a faster videocard? I'm no graphics expert, but from what I do know is that max/maya are opengl based, and not directx. For video encoding and the likes you're better of with a faster CPU/overclocked cpu, or even a qaudcore.

Wait for an answer from some1 who is more knowledgeable in this area, but I think you need something like a nvidia qaudro fx or a firegl from ati. If you use any apps that could benefit from such a card that is.

 

[RussianSensation]

I am not sure what applications exactly you are using that stress the videocard but "downloading, uploading, encoding and burning" don't really get affected by videocard speed (unless there is something I don't know). From what you've described it sounds to me more than anything that you are a heavy multi-tasker and a quad-core would be your friend.

I suppose a very easy way to test this would be to overclock your processor (I had my E6400 @ 3.4ghz with ease). If you notice an improvement, then it's not the videocard. I think if you figure out that it is the CPU, then instead of spending $ for $100-120 X1950Pro, you could contribute towards a Q6600

 

[Modelworks]

If your going to be using any professional apps, max, maya, autocad then you will want a card with the most memory you can afford. It doesn't have to be fast, you only need 10-20fps in a 3d app viewport, but the memory is important.

When you start loading down a scene with textures it can cause pauses for the scene to update while the agp/pcix bus transfers the data.

 

[jimrev]

THANK YOU. I guess here is where I back peddle, because what you're saying is what I had figured out awhile ago, that video processing, etc. is not reliant on the GPU except as it relates to what I see, as the user. As long as had a competent card that could display what was going on, I'd be fine. This is why I wasn't worried about putting an older-model video card in a new machine. What has been making me doubt this decision, however, is what I'm seeing on the display: lot's of pixilating, color blocks and general unpleasantness in video that I've worked on. Friends were saying that it must be my video card, so that's where I was going.

The problem that I still have is that the quality of video that I've edited and transcoded is often very shaky. It was much clearer on my old machine, running on nearly the first Pentium (1.4 gHz) and 384 mhz of RAM. If may have taken a long time to do any multimedia processing, but when it was done, the quality was very nice. Now, with a Core 2 Duo and 2 Gigs of memory, things don't look nearly as good. Could it be codec woes? I did a fresh install of Windows and all software on the new machine and had to worry about new codecs. Although media players, etc. all function, I've never been sure I got it exactly right. On my last computer I went the "more is more" route and installed a codec pack with everything under the sun included. Now I now this is not the best way to proceed, but I had no way of knowing what bizarre combination of codecs and settings I had on the old computer that worked so well.

If this is the case, should I uninstall all codecs and start from scratch? What about CCCP? I've read that it doesn't cause as much bloat as most other codec packs.

Again, THANKS for your help.

jimrev

BTW, I just invested a good chunk of change in the E6400 core @ duo less that a year ago, so I can't go for the quad core just yet. (I wish!)

 

[Capitalizt]

First of all, do you have the latest drivers from Nvidia? Stock drivers that come with most computers are way outdated, and you get a big boost by updating them.

Secondly, if your stuff is still slow with the newest drivers, I recommend a 7600GT for your needs. It's actually a great mid range gaming card with 256MB of ram and lots of power.

For the non-gaming needs you mentioned, it should be PLENTY fast.

 

[Capitalizt]

Go here to update your Nvidia drivers./

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

 

[Modelworks]

Some may not agree but I do not recommend using codec packs.
I only install the codecs that I need and regularly use.
If I have a video file to play I use Videolan from http://www.videolan.org
It will play just about any video out there and doesn't require you to install a codec for any of them.

I do 3d work and only have 3 codecs installed, mpeg2, divx, quicktime.

Which codec are you transcoding to /from ?

transcoding is all about the cpu power

 

[Capitalizt]

quick...get this card!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...s&Item=N82E16814130073

Pay with paypal and use code PAYPAL20 for $20.00 off orders over $100.

Combine that with the $20 rebate and you get the card for $66