Which Video Card for Photoshop work?

[MorrieC]

It has been quite some time since I've built a system and am in the process of choosing parts. I do not play games but am a heavy photoshop user. I want a quiet card but don't want to over buy for my needs. Then on the other hand I don't want to skimp either.

What video card is recommended for a Photoshop user? I'm looking at a

EVGA 8600 GT
or
XFX Geforce 8600GT

Both of these cards are about the same price after rebates. $89.99 and $79.99

I do plan to buy a high end 27" or 30" monitor, so this might also might be a factor in choosing a card

Thanks
MorrieC

 

[pip_seeker]

8800GT

 

[LukeBird]

I do plan to buy a high end 27" or 30" monitor, so this might also might be a factor in choosing a card

For that reason, I would exclude-

EVGA 8600 GT
or
XFX Geforce 8600GT
[/quote]
As stated above, you're better off with something more powerful (at least, I think that's what he was suggesting...)
I think my preference would be an HD3850/3870 over the 8800GT though.
Both of the machines I use PS CS3 on (my work one & my personal gaming machine) use 8800GTX's, but that is overkill really.

 

[wildfire788]

I have heard bad things about the 8600 and since you're going with higher resolutions, I'd say go with an HD3850, HD3870, or 8800GT.

 

[Smoked Turkey]

If you want to run a 30" the card MUST have a Dual Link DVI connector to support 2650x1600. Other than that you wont really need anything too fancy if you aren't doing anything 3D.

 

[p05esto]

These responses are WAY off. So far off.

For photoshop the ONLY thing you need is a card that supports the resolution you need to run at. And really every $50 card will do this. Note: Anything you spend over $50 will be pissed down the drain, $30 would most likely be just fine.

For a 30" monitor you may need a dual-link card or whatever, that you;d have to reasearch.

But seriously, do a test and throw an old dusty GPU in there and watch how wonderful photoshop works. If you throw a $300 card in there you will not notice any difference. Photoshop speed is not done in the GPU.

 

[soloman02]

Photoshop speed is not done in the GPU.

The poster above is quite correct.
Ever wonder why in ALL the cpu reviews they use some version of Photoshop as a benchmark? Because Photoshop depends on the CPU to do its calculations, not the GPU. Unless you game or use CAD, you do not need a high end video card. You will see much greater performance by spending that extra money on a quad core cpu.

look here. You will see that Photoshop is not used to bench those video cards.

This link shows which CPU is the best for photoshop. The Q6600 is currently the best for the price. While the QX series might be faster, it is also a lot more money.

 

[runswindows95]

I run Photoshop CS2 on a 7300LE with no issues.

 

[MorrieC]

Thanks for all the great info. I will look at the monitor requirements before choosing a video card, I had not even thought about the DVI support requirements.

As for the processors the three I am considering have been the Q6600, E6750 or E8400. I'm sure any of these will work for my needs. It just depends on the deal I can find.

Again thanks for the responses.

Morrie

 

[chicagosoftplan]

All 30" displays require a dual link capable card. If you're going to run dual monitors, both outputs need to be dual link capable. Your best bet is probably the 3850 card, especially if you do any video. If you do video, get the 512MB flavor for a 30" monitor.

 

[hcforde]

Are you locked into getting an Nvidia card? My personal observation is that ATI has better(truer) color rendering. ATI is heavily involved in the television and video industry. Also when you get your monitor be sure it is NOT a TN type panel.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Ignore the first few posts in this thread they obviously have no Photoshop experience of note.

GPU power it limited in Photoshop and the thing you should concern yourself most with is the colour channel support with the large enough memory for the size of projects you plan on working with.

I would avoid a GF7 series card as it's limited in it's colour support, but with the GF8 and every Radeon card since the R9000-9700 you have support for 10bit per channel, similar to the Matrox cards that set the standard at the time. Because you want large panel support be sure to get one with at least one dual-link TMDS. Also a good idea to go with passive cooling if you can, for reliability sake.

IMO get an X1550 or GF8400GS or HD2400Pro;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127294

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134030

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125072

Only bother with a 512MB card if you're dealing with stuff like After Effects which can use more than 256MB if you're doing enough things, IIRC the FAQ knowledge-base mentions 300+ MB in CS3.

 

[MorrieC]

This is great info.
My main concern is color quality and trueness. The ability to profile and adjust the monitor colors through the graphics card with a monitor spyder type device. I only work with with photographs in CS3 not video so my needs will be less than someone working with Video.

This looks like an interesting card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125072

Thanks for the input and suggestions.

Morrie

 

[Guest]

If you can afford a few bucks more I would go with the HD2600 pro or xt model with a fan. The fans are very silent and as some users of the 2400 wish it came with a fan.

We all know heat = poor performance so might as well avoid that before it can even be an issue.

HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro Video Card - 512MB DDR2, PCI Express, CrossFire Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support, Video Card look at this one maybe http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3477294&CatId=1826

 

[jitpublisher]

This is great info.
My main concern is color quality and trueness. The ability to profile and adjust the monitor colors through the graphics card with a monitor spyder type device. I only work with with photographs in CS3 not video so my needs will be less than someone working with Video.

This looks like an interesting card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125072

Thanks for the input and suggestions.

Morrie

Good choice, that card will be more than enough for Photoshop.
I too, cannot believe some of the first replies in this thread.
If you want Photoshop to fly, more CPU's, or CPU cores, fast drives, and more memory is the ticket.

 

[rickpcnerd]

You dont need a powerful video card., this video card is powerful enough for photo shop, and High Def playback (GeForce 8400 GS Video Card
XFX GeForce 8400 GS Video Card $53). But you really want a Quad core for this task (Q9300 for $266 available in a few weeks).

 

[Guest]

Also lets not forget a fairly quick hard drive would be nice to. You want to be looking for something with fast read/writes not as much seek times. Photoshop will be writing back and forth to a scratch file at times so a fast hard drive will really help with this.

Any of the Raptors would be nice but a more affordable drive would be a WD 500AAKS model like this http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2795126&CatId=2459

Remember if you go with a Western Digital of a different size make sure it has the 'AAKS' in the model number somewhere. These are their fastest SATA2 drive out right now for the price range.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

If you can afford a few bucks more I would go with the HD2600 pro or xt model with a fan. The fans are very silent and as some users of the 2400 wish it came with a fan.

While I like the HD2600 and use it myself, if he is not doing any video editing or working with huge layered sets, then the HD2400 will be more than enough and it will easily handle the heat generated.
The only way I would recommend a fan is if it ejected heat outside the case a small fan will simple recirculate the even higher heat load back to the CPU, RAM, MOBO and HDD; passive is virtually unbreakable, thus reliable and stable unlike fans (small fans being the worst due to tiny cheap bearings usually) so unless that fan eject heat out of the case then there's no benifit to it because these cards even passively cooled don't heat up enough to cause failure under such a load.
Heck if you needed a fan it's a buck cheaper, but I would recommend against it, because for the work he's doing it doesn't add any benifit;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161191

Another thing to consider is power draw, which for someone working mostly in high-2D and idle will probably be on the low end of anyways, but if there's no benifit to the additional feature of the HD2600, then why use even 5 more watts if you don't have to, and same about spending an extra $20 for a card that doesn't add much?

I like having the additional power and if he were thinking of video at all then I'd suggest a little more power for the option of NLE acceleration in the future, but for his needs a basic HD2400 will likely be perfect, heck if he wanted a little more from his system, then I might recommend an HD3450;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102724

but only for the minor benefits it brings to the table like Powerplay.

 

[Urmom010]

I can't believe nobody has even mentioned a workstation card. They are designed specifically for intensive graphical rendering. As long as ur not gaming, any FireGL card will rip photoshop a new one. The HD series is good for gaming/photoshop, and Nvidia for me is straight gaming with some photoshop. FireGL/Matrox/Quaddro are straight graphical and best for photoshop. have fun

 

[ionrane]

While Photoshop CS3 and prior did not use the GPU, CS4 now does, so the graphics card now makes a big difference.
In fact, if your current graphics card is not supported you will get oddities like a cursor showing only 1/4 of a circle, and andanced CS4 features are not available. Unfortunately, few cards are supported, including most laptop graphics cards.
I bought a VAOI 3 years ago with the best graphics card I could find, on the assumption that PS used graphics acceleration. Nope, PS could not access it.
Now, with CS4, my video card and dedicated memory ought to get some mileage..but no. Though the nVidia card I have should be good, this is the laptop version (Vaoi has it customized), and as such VAIO, not nVidia is responsible for upating the drivers). And Vaio has done Nothing. So I am stuck with No OpenGL and a 1/4 cursor. Wasted $$!
Now I'm again shopping for a new laptop, and want to be sure the video card I get is supported. But how do I know which of the video cards are supported? --Adobe hasn't updated the list, since it was published with pre-release tested video cards! Don't want to get burned twice..

 

[CPoehl]

Ignore the first few posts in this thread they obviously have no Photoshop experience of note.

GPU power it limited in Photoshop and the thing you should concern yourself most with is the colour channel support with the large enough memory for the size of projects you plan on working with.

I would avoid a GF7 series card as it's limited in it's colour support, but with the GF8 and every Radeon card since the R9000-9700 you have support for 10bit per channel, similar to the Matrox cards that set the standard at the time. Because you want large panel support be sure to get one with at least one dual-link TMDS. Also a good idea to go with passive cooling if you can, for reliability sake.

IMO get an X1550 or GF8400GS or HD2400Pro;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127294

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134030

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125072

Only bother with a 512MB card if you're dealing with stuff like After Effects which can use more than 256MB if you're doing enough things, IIRC the FAQ knowledge-base mentions 300+ MB in CS3.

I am building a computer with/for a friend whose sole interest is Photoshop.

He's bought a $2400 Eizo monitor. We're building the computer around an i7 650.

I've read/understood your post here. Thank you! I'm trying to spend his video card dollar wisely. Your specific recommendations are now 18 months old. Would you have any current ones?

Many thanks in advance.

Chuck

 

[HamburgerHelper]

Along these lines, I'm helping a friend buy his first laptop. He's got a Nikon D300 camera and does zero gaming. He's excited about the Lenovo W700 and is going to get Photoshop CS4. I gather from above that he should stick with the 512M video card and NOT pay $700 to get the 1G version. Right? Also, should he upgrade to the Quadcore? One upgrade is $150 and the better is $1000.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[swtrader]

I am building a computer with/for a friend whose sole interest is Photoshop.

He's bought a $2400 Eizo monitor. We're building the computer around an i7 650.

I've read/understood your post here. Thank you! I'm trying to spend his video card dollar wisely. Your specific recommendations are now 18 months old. Would you have any current ones?

Many thanks in advance.

Chuck

Same here building a new PC for Photoshop can anyone recommend CURRENT video cards?

Thanks in advance

 

[swtrader]

Here is a list of TESTED video cards from ADOBE (see below). Can someone recommed one of these cards for photoshop *NO* gaming.


Windows graphics display cards
We recommend that you download the latest drivers from ATI, nVidia, and Intel.

nVidia geForce
nVidia 260 GTX 896MB
nVidia 9800 GTX 512MB
nVidia 9600 GT 512MB
nVidia 8800 GTX 768MB
nVidia 8800 GT 512MB
nVidia 8600M 256MB
nVidia 7900 GTX 512MB
nVidia 7900 GS 256MB
nVidia 7800 GTX 256MB
nVidia 7600 256MB
nVidia 6800 256MB

Quadro FX 4600 768 MB
Quadro FX 4500 512MB
Quadro FX 4400 512MB
Quadro FX 3700 512MB
Quadro FX 3500 256MB
Quadro FX 1700 512MB
Quadro FX 1500 256MB
Quadro FX 1400 -128MB
Quadro FX 570 -256MB
Quadro FX 370 256MB

ATI Radeon 4850 512 MB
Radeon x3870 x2 512MB
Radeon x2900HD 512MB
ATI Radeon HD 2400 256MB
Radeon x1900XT 512MB
ATI Radeon x1800 - 512MB
Radeon x1800 256MB

ATI Fire GL 7700 512 MB
ATI Fire GL 7600 512 MB
Fire GL V7200 256MB
ATI Fire GL 5600 512MB
Fire GL V3600 256MB
Fire GL 3350 256 MB

 

[Orpheus61]

swtrader, this is exactly my issue. I suspect it is now just not an issue of CS4 but also the operation of Windows 7. I'd be interested if you receive any good information.

For now I am likely going with Quadro FX 580 vs GeForce 250 GTS. I know these are not strictly listed on the Adobe list, but I think that is more a function of the fact that Adobe only tested a sampling of cards available.