Graphics card for gaming or photoshop

[owiela]

I'm working in a computer retail store, and I got 2 questions from two different customers: "What should I be looking for in a graphics card for gaming?" (<-- i kinda know the answer to that one), and the other was "What should i be looking for in a graphics card for graphic design/photoshop/3d imaging?" Any help would be great. Thanks :]

 

[Sunius]

First of all, for gaming - check benchmarks, and select the one which fits the budget and the power supply.

For 3d graphic design, you want Nvidia Quadro cards.

 

[username-taken]

Quadro for 3D design is not always the correct answer.
A "normal" geforce would do fine as i've been using Maya with normal cards since GeForce3.

Its when you want to sync various video inputs with CGI or multiple renderings that you'll definitely need one.

 

[verbalizer]

do not go for the new Kepler cards if going the non professional route, the Fermi GTX 5 series is better for that.
nVidia and CUDA is optimal for Maya and other compute apps.

not recommending anything, just stating the advantages of nVidia here.
Radeon might be a professional option but not the Radeon HD series.