Appropriate graphics card

Shizelbs · 03-25-2007, 11:46 PM

I realize that this may be the wrong area for this question, but oh well.

I will be purchasing a new graphics card for GD. I am very familiar with what to look for in a card when it comes to PC gaming, but not for GD. Is a card that is good for gaming generally also good for GD? Or are there other types of cards that would be better?

Thanks.

PS- I will be assembling the PC from scratch myself. I will have complete control over the compenents.

**hewligan** · 03-26-2007, 12:38 AM

A card that is good for gaming would generally be overkill for graphic design.

Fancy graphics cards are designed to do 3D graphics fast, or for rendering video. Unless you're working with 3D or video, any modern graphics card will be more than enough.

Even if you are doing that kind of work, you don't need nearly as much grunt in your graphics card as for modern PC gaming.

Shizelbs · 03-26-2007, 12:46 AM

Thanks. Thats what I figured, but I had to ask anyways.

**hewligan** · 03-26-2007, 12:52 AM

One thing I would add, though - avoid onboard graphics.

Most of the major graphic design software is pretty RAM hungry, and you're much better off with a card that's not sucking up your main memory.

Still, for the same reason, you're better off buying a budget graphics card and spending the money you saved on more RAM.

CamarotaDesign · 03-26-2007, 08:44 PM

get one that can handle dual monitors like a nvidia quadro. You'll find that working with dual monitors makes everything so much easier. I personally feel that a card with a lot of RAM (like 256MB or more) on it is important. and also at least 2gigs of RAM on your machine, plus a lot of HD space is essential for fast design processing.

**hewligan** · 03-26-2007, 09:32 PM

What on earth would you need 256MB of graphics card memory for if what you're mostly going to be doing is running photoshop and indesign?

1600X1200 resolution works out at about 6 MB. Even with double buffering, that's only 18 MB. Two monitors? 36 MB. Now, admittedly, these days your OS may offload some processing to the graphics card to make your windows spin around and around or something, but even allowing for that, you'd be hard pressed to actually find a use for more than 64 MB on your graphics card.

Well, except for playing Doom 3 when the boss isn't looking, obviously.

Shizelbs · 03-26-2007, 10:16 PM

I would never consider onboard graphics. I have yet to use a machine with onboard GPU that didn't make me angry.

When I do buy the graphics card, it will be with gaming and dual monitors in mind. The GD requirements will be met along the way.

CamarotaDesign · 03-26-2007, 10:21 PM

dont you need fast graphic processing speed and RAM to handle filters and rendering and what not? Or is that all CPU only? I know that my PC setup at work is blazing fast compared to my home PC, but that probably has more to do with the dual CPU's and more RAM in it, But you got to have dual monitor support.

**hewligan** · 03-26-2007, 10:37 PM

Photoshop filters and all of that sort of thing are handled by the CPU, your graphics card has nothing to do with it. Your graphics card is all about rendering stuff to screen.

If you're working with 3D graphics, a better graphics card is handy - as it will improve your preview mode, though it has nothing to do with final renders as these are handled by the CPU. The same applies to working with video.

If you're doing the typical graphic design workload of photoshop/illustrator/indesign, a flash graphics card gets you nothing.

There is one other reason to possibly consider a more expensive graphics card - dual DVI out is usually only available on higher end models. If that matters to you, you may need to spend more.

But, mostly, you're better off saving your money and getting more RAM. That's where you'll see some real performance improvement.

CamarotaDesign · 03-26-2007, 10:52 PM

I agree with what you are saying, however, Flash designers probably can utilize the higher end video cards.