Graphics for gaming and video work.

[Wonderwill]

I am thinking of getting an EVGA 7600GT, and I want to get a few games with 3d settings very high. The problem is, I currently edit video for fun and that is the main reason for my new computer (My p4 is really slowing me down, along with my Geforce2 when it comes to graphics rendering). Should I go with the 7600 GT or a video oriented card. I haven't done any research on graphics cards for proffesional work, so I need some advice.

 

[mpjesse]

Most professional graphics packages really like Quadros. But... Quadro drivers suck for games.

What kind "professional work" are you doing?

 

[Wonderwill]

Well it really isn't "professional" but I do a whole lot of video editing and am planning on a career. Will the 7600Gt work well for playing video also?

 

[djplanet]

Well, the 7600GT is a good value for its price, certainly a decent gamer. Plus a good graphics card has recently become an issue for rendering HD video. It offloads a lot from the CPU. I think it will be a respectable video editor, but if you get into career-oriented editing you'll probably want a Quadro. That might mean a separate machine too (maybe with a workstation Xeon?). If it becomes part of your job you should be able to write it off as a business expense.

Just remember, you will pay out the you know what for a decent Quadro, and it will still suck at games.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

A GF7600GT will be fine.

don't go for anything below that, as the GT is the cutoff for some PureVideo features.

You might also consider an X1650 or X1900 series card, but depending on the price in your area that may not be an option.

What are the apps and file types you will be using?

In most situations a Quadro is a waste for 2D video editing, and the GF7600GT or X1650 would be fine.

Also what monitors are you using, it will make a difference as to models you may want to consider?

 

[Xazax310]

Have you thought about X1900 AIW cards? im sure they perform decent at gaming and probably best suited to what you do.

 

[duthoy]

this is a good gaming card, so no problem there,
if you go for video editing, a quadro or fireGL is way overkill, because the video rendering is CPU dependent nothing is rendered in your graphics card.
the professional graphics cards are used for CGI 3D rendering (aka shrek, flushed away or still images,..) but only for easy drafting and openGL rendering when drawing the content. this because openGL is fast but inaccurate for displaying 3D data. so even the real rendering is done by CPU.

so go for this card, and if your video edits ar too slow, get yourself a faster CPU or a video editing card like;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832126041

 

[Noya]

so go for this card, and if your video edits ar too slow, get yourself a faster CPU or a video editing card like;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832126041

Dude, he was asking about a video card, not a capture card.


But yeah, you need a faster PC. I have a single core 3.0ghz P4, 1.5gb of RAM, a 6600GT, and two hard disks (one just for DV footage). I went over to a friends last night that has an off the sheld Compaq. AMD X2 3800, 1gb RAM, 1 hard disk, and onboard video. Loaded Adobe PRO 1.5 and his Compaq KILLED my system for video editing. It's all about the multi-cores!

 

[duthoy]

You telling me dude?

at first, you should read what i'm writing,
i'm telling him, that whatever graphics card he chooses his video edits won't go any faster because it's CPU related, if he want to do professional video editing he can use that card because it does some real-time rendering on that card and not on the CPU.

who's the dude now?

 

[Wonderwill]

Hey im getting a whole new computer w/ C2D E6400 and 2 gigs ram. All I need is help with a graphics card I have firewire and all the other stuff already. I currently use pinnacle 10 and it really get bogged down with just 10 min. projects.

 

[GeneticWeapon]

I want to get a few games with 3d settings very high.

As long as they aren't new games, you might achieve that. The 7600GT is a low end card now, and it wont play the latest games at very high settings.

 

[Wonderwill]

I want to get a few games with 3d settings very high.

As long as they aren't new games, you might achieve that. The 7600GT is a low end card now, and it wont play the latest games at very high settings. Well yah I'm thinking of getting age of empires 3 and maybe a relatively new fps. The graphics dont need to be perfect either.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

i'm telling him, that whatever graphics card he chooses his video edits won't go any faster because it's CPU related,

While that's somewhat true, it's not completely true, different apps can accelerate the final render now using the power of the VPUs. Avid HD benifits from nV' acceleration and Avid's Liquid takes advantage of the ATis (Avid/Pinnacle developed the VPU acceleration in 2D editing).
While in most situations there's more benifit to be had from CPU, memory and HDD bumps, the graphics card is far from being totally removed from all apps, although they are more for real-time and preview, they can be used to assist in non-linear editing and effects in some apps. Not sure if if the latest version of Pinnical Studio takes advantage of that.

if he want to do professional video editing he can use that card because it does some real-time rendering on that card and not on the CPU.

I think you're confusing rendering with encoding. I don't think that card does anything for the final renders or even accelerate previews/effects, and if you're talking about encoding and decoding all the latest cards do that very well.