Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Non-gamer card
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Xanager   01-05-2007 at 01:01:10 AM

I'm narrowing down some components for a new build and am having difficulties deciding on a video card. I see plenty of advice for graphic card selection to accommodate gaming at high res with high framerates, but I have some different requirements. I will need the following:

handle running dual 19" monitors, both DVI
Photoshop work
handle Vista easily
output 1080p video files (not the top priority, but would be nice)
absolutely no gaming will be done

I'm hoping to accomplish these things I won't need the latest and greatest 8800 video card. Do I need a 256 or 512 card? Thanks so much for the advice.

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mpjesse   01-05-2007 at 01:05:03 AM
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Anything with dual DVI ports will work. 99% of video cards these days use some sort of h.264 or HD acceleration/decoding assist. But even if they don't, a modern CPU is more than capable of decoding MPEG-2 HD quality video files. 1080p output will depend on your monitor. So long as ur monitor is capable of at least 1920x1080 at 60hz (or there abouts... 1600x1200 will do as well), you already have 1080p.

A lot of folks recommend the x1300 series from ATI.

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prozac26   01-05-2007 at 01:06:53 AM
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Quote :

A lot of folks recommend the x1300 series from ATI.


I was going to recommend the actually.

It'll do the job as long as no gaming is involved.

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Xanager   01-05-2007 at 01:23:33 PM
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Thanks for the advice!

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nprevatt   01-05-2007 at 02:27:34 PM
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x1900pro would probably be your best bet for what you described.

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parge   01-05-2007 at 05:08:30 PM
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Quote :

x1900pro would probably be your best bet for what you described.



No, it wouldnt, in fact an "X1900 Pro" doesn't even exist, you mean a X1950 Pro. That card is FAR too powerful for what the OP has said he needs to use the card for. Only post if you know the answer to a question, not just for the sake of it, a wrong answer is worse than none at all.

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Cleeve   01-05-2007 at 05:13:58 PM
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If you want to play 1080p, get a 7600 GT. It will hardware accelerate 1080p playback, supposedly with inverse-telecine... and they're only like $120 nowadays.

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prolfe   01-05-2007 at 05:37:06 PM
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THG had an article in the last 2 month or so (sorry but I can't find it), where they tested the video decoding of Nvidia and ATI, and it was pretty clear that ATI has superior video decoding right now. I believe the article was actually a review of video playback software. Anyway, if this is true, I must agree with the X1300 recommendation.

Hope this helps,
Phil R.

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Cleeve   01-05-2007 at 05:53:21 PM
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I wrote that review, and it was flawed and had to be pulled. Nvidia got a hold of me and let me know there were some hard-to-find options I had to enable to get pulldown, noise reduction, and detail enhancement to work. The short of it is that Nvidia is at least on par with Ati as far as DVD playback quality. The updated article should be released fairly soon.

Besides, the review didn't cover HD... it just covered DVDs.

For HD 1080p the 7600 GT is the way to go.

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nprevatt   01-05-2007 at 06:28:40 PM
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sorry your right i was typing to fast i meant x1950 pro. But i do believe it is a good buy for what he described. you can get one for around $180 if you look around and it does excellent HD play back. And i am entitled to my opinion thats what forums are for, so shut it. 8)

Reply to nprevatt
parge   01-05-2007 at 08:43:57 PM
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Quote :

sorry your right i was typing to fast i meant x1950 pro. But i do believe it is a good buy for what he described. you can get one for around $180 if you look around and it does excellent HD play back. And i am entitled to my opinion thats what forums are for, so shut it. 8)



Of course you are, but all the same, I still maintain that a 1950pro is too powerful for what he wants to use it for and thus a waste of $$$

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apt403   01-05-2007 at 08:59:24 PM
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I agree with parge, the 1950pro is way too powerful for a non-gamer, pretty much any gfx card with dual DVI outputs will work fine.

Reply to apt403
Lionhardt   01-06-2007 at 04:48:39 AM
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get the 7600gt, u can get it for liek 90 bucks if ur a pro slickdealer like me ;)

but rly, its powerful for any application, low power req. and it ownz!

yeah niggaz

Reply to Lionhardt
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