Do I need a Graphics Card at all ?

[swimswithtrout]

I do not game, zero zilch, don't even own one.

I do some light video processing, 90% of my use is Photoshop, and I'll occasionally stream 1080/720p video from the web.

The heart of my new build will be a SB 2500k .

If I don't "need" an extra GFX card, I'll just get a Z68 series board that can use the extra graphics power of the k series CPU, beef the memory up to 16Gb and just use the stock fan if I want to OC at all.

Is this a sound solution for trying to build a PS workstation for <$1000 ?

 

[jyjjy]

Nah, you should be fine on the graphics built into the processor.
BTW memory is cheap these days but that doesn't make 16gb of it any more useful. Stick to 8 or under unless you just have money you don't particularly want to have any more... and even if that is the case I'm totally willing to give you my paypal address and put it to use in better ways.

 

[plasmastorm]

If you are doing multi layerd images in photoshop then a graphics card could cut down rendering time drastically.

Try it with just the onboard and if you think it's not good enough you can always buy a card later.

 

[swimswithtrout]

That was my first thought.

Would a 5670 be OK as an add on ?

 

[swimswithtrout]

Nah, you should be fine on the graphics built into the processor.
BTW memory is cheap these days but that doesn't make 16gb of it any more useful. Stick to 8 or under unless you just have money you don't particularly want to have any more... and even if that is the case I'm totally willing to give you my paypal address and put it to use in better ways.

Since the on die graphics needs memory, as well as my PS renders, video renders ,etc. an extra 8 GB of RAM is still 1/2 the price of any graphic's card that is better than the on die chips AFAIK.

 

[mactronix]

The way i see it is this.

If you are going to be doing projects that would need 16GB of Ram then you would benefit greatly from having a discrete GPU, as said it will speed things up quite a bit.
16GB of ram wont help that much compared to 8GB and a low level GPU. The 5670 is a low end gaming card really and i would consider it overkill for what you need a GPU for, i would expect that a card that costs about the same as the extra 8GB of ram to be up to the task.

Mactronix