Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Need advice on basic graphics card
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ebuehrens   08-25-2008 at 04:14:56 AM

I need to run an astronomy software package ( Starry Night Pro 6 ) that has graphics requirements beyond my current Matrox card.

SNP needs a video card of > 96MB VRAM, and OpenGL 2.0 capability.

I will also use this machine for a fair amount of image processing with Photoshop and some specific astronomical image processing packages.

I am running WXP SP3 on a Dell PowerEdge 830 server. I currently have a Matrox P650 LP card w/ 64 MB of VRAM. I'm running two digital monitors, so dual DVI supporting large screen (>1280x1054) is a must. The Dell has a 420 watt power supply. I clearly don't need high-end gaming capability, but the current card is not cutting it and I'd rather not replace again in a year. What can / should I get that will meet my needs?

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invisik   08-25-2008 at 04:18:32 AM
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1st whats ur budget?

------------------------------ intel core 2 quad q6600 @3.2ghz msi p6n diamond (X-FI Extreme sound) 6gig of OCZ+CoRSAIR oc 900mhz Nvidia gtx 260 sli @ 730/1465/1250
Lite-On Blue-ray Western Digital 7200rpm 500gb Antec 500 Earthwatt Window vista 64-bit
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IH8U   08-25-2008 at 04:47:33 AM
- 0 +

Try these

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161074
$95 (ATI X1550 PCI) I wouldn't use it for any games tho (low profile)PCI, with 2 DVI ports
2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814195048
$170 (ATI V3600) Should also work in your PCI-X 8 slot (recomended if you have the money, and if it fits)
3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150260
$90 (XFX 8600GT, same issues as the V3600, but should still work in an 8X slot)

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xNEM3S1Sx   08-25-2008 at 05:17:38 AM
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Go with the nvidia if you do Photoshop, as CS4 is going to have the ability to run via your graphics card, and process images faster. It is certainly able to run on nvidia cards, but I'm not sure about ATI cards. The 8800 GT is a few dollars more than the 8600 but considerably faster, but both support CUDA, and you probably wouldn't notice the difference between the two cards, when compared to the CPU. In the end it depends on what your doing with the cards. (not sure if 8800gt comes in anything but PCIe 2.0 x16)

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