Views
490
Replies
15
Status
Closed
It’s time to replace my 6-year old system. Years ago, I would have bought the snazziest video card I could afford. Now I am concerned about wasting my money. I don’t want to go overboard.
I am not savvy enough to build my own system, so I am going to customize a PC system from Dell or Gateway (I am sure I have turned off some of you, but I know my limitations…). The choices of video cards for the systems in which I am interested are limited. The choices seem to be fairly high-end cards, probably best for gaming. I am not sure which, if any, is best for PS and which are overkill.
I will be doing very little gaming, so I don’t even consider that to be an issue. Mostly, I need a card for CS3 for still images (I don’t do any video work). I also use Capture NX (but CS3 is much better, of course…).
Advice in the various forums is confusing. Generally, it seems that most people say that one does not need too much power in the video card and that, in fact, some of the high-end cards with GPUs may actually be poor choices for CS3 use.
I also saw this post from David Dobish at Adobe saying:
"We recommend for best results using a Geforce 6000 series or higher GPU card or an ATI 1000 series or higher GPU card for usage with the 3D feature in PS extended.suggesting that the cards with the better GPUs (such as the nVidia 8800 series) are better at 3D."
But, I will not be using PS Extended or the 3D feature (at least not to my knowledge…)
I also have read a number of posts suggesting that ATI is a better choice than nVidia for PS work.
Here are the choices offered with respect to graphics cards for the systems in which I am interested:
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB
ATI Radeon CrossFire 512MB
ATI Radeon X Pro 256MB
So, not only do I not want to spend more than I need to on a graphics card, I don’t want to get a card that is not only expensive but also the wrong card for doing PS work.
Suggestions and advice would be most welcome.
(I did try to run searches in the Adobe forums on this topic, but the site is running PAINFULLY slow this morning for some reason, so I gave up and submitted my own post.)
Geoffrey
I am not savvy enough to build my own system, so I am going to customize a PC system from Dell or Gateway (I am sure I have turned off some of you, but I know my limitations…). The choices of video cards for the systems in which I am interested are limited. The choices seem to be fairly high-end cards, probably best for gaming. I am not sure which, if any, is best for PS and which are overkill.
I will be doing very little gaming, so I don’t even consider that to be an issue. Mostly, I need a card for CS3 for still images (I don’t do any video work). I also use Capture NX (but CS3 is much better, of course…).
Advice in the various forums is confusing. Generally, it seems that most people say that one does not need too much power in the video card and that, in fact, some of the high-end cards with GPUs may actually be poor choices for CS3 use.
I also saw this post from David Dobish at Adobe saying:
"We recommend for best results using a Geforce 6000 series or higher GPU card or an ATI 1000 series or higher GPU card for usage with the 3D feature in PS extended.suggesting that the cards with the better GPUs (such as the nVidia 8800 series) are better at 3D."
But, I will not be using PS Extended or the 3D feature (at least not to my knowledge…)
I also have read a number of posts suggesting that ATI is a better choice than nVidia for PS work.
Here are the choices offered with respect to graphics cards for the systems in which I am interested:
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB
ATI Radeon CrossFire 512MB
ATI Radeon X Pro 256MB
So, not only do I not want to spend more than I need to on a graphics card, I don’t want to get a card that is not only expensive but also the wrong card for doing PS work.
Suggestions and advice would be most welcome.
(I did try to run searches in the Adobe forums on this topic, but the site is running PAINFULLY slow this morning for some reason, so I gave up and submitted my own post.)
Geoffrey
How to Improve Photoshop Performance
Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!