Graphics card advice please?

[ziggy1971]

Since I'm building my new PC, I'm currently using the integrated graphics on my Core i7 2600K.

Other specs:
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V Pro
RAM: 16GB G-Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz
OS Drive: OCZ Agility 3
Data Drives: Western Digital

I want to offload the graphics to a discrete card, but not sure what would suit me best.
Here's what I normally do:
- Edit videos/audio
- Edit photos
- General word processing, Excel, Databases, etc.
- AutoCAD
- Running 2-3 monitors
- I'm sure there's more, but definitely not for games.

I'm not a gamer (seems like all graphics cards are aimed towards that though)

I guess I just want to remove the load from the CPU without losing any quality.

I'm thinking of getting an EVGA GeForce GTX 650 SuperClocked 2GB or 1GB.

Would this be an improvement over the integrated graphics?
Is the card worth the price? ~$120-150

I'm looking for any opinions/advice,
Thanx for now,
Cheers

 

[computernoob29]

i would get a amd 7850 or 7770 it will outperform the 650 by quite a bit. the gtx 650ti is coming out in the next couple weeks so you might want to hold out for that

 

[misclik]

ill just use newegg for examples...

You should be looking at Firepro by am or Quadro by NVidia if you are not gaming. These cards are a little more costly, but provide a big performance boost for cad and the likes.

The two that stuck out in that price range
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133354
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195096

These cards may seem more basic... (they are) but they are meant to be used for professional tasks, not gaming and are very optimized for that. like take a similarly priced gaming and workstation card.. you can expect to see at least 150% better performance w/ the work card than the gaming one.

this is an old thread, but it gets the point across.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275559-33-gaming-card-workstation-card

some reference shopping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008333%204017&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICED&PageSize=20

 

[ziggy1971]

Thanx for the help guys.

Because I'm on a budget, this has been a slow build for me. (Also learned a lot about the computer parts along the way.)

My system is similar to the one listed here (under Sandy Bridge):
http://www.videoguys.com/Guide/C/DIY+Systems/Videoguys+DIY8+Hex+Core/0x094b1737e0a06c495e5178a167fbdbd7.aspx

They suggested a GTX 570, so a few years later, I looked at the specs of each card (GTX 570 vs. GTX 650) and being a video card noobie, assumed that the GTX 650 would be more that adequate for my needs; well maybe not. You'd think that after 2 years you could buy an older card for better prices

Guess I keep looking for more info.