Which Video Card?

askme2flashu · September 29, 2006

I just can't seem to get my head around this whole video card thing.

I am running Windows XP, with a AMD Sempron 3000+,1.80 GHz Processor w/ 2GB RAM, on a MSI K8MM-V motherboard.

The motherboard has one AGP 1.5V 4x/8x slot and three PCI 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots. (support 3.3v / 5v PCI bus interface) Does not support PCI Express.

I installed the Matrox Millenium G450 16MB AGP 4x Dual Head Video Card, but when I tried to calibrate my monitor (using Monaco Optix xr) I got a message saying, Your display device or driver does not support color table correction. So I updated my drivers, no good. Time to upgrade my video card.

I use this computer only for editing and printing photos. I am using Photoshop CS2. I would like to upgrade this whole system sometime next year maybe.

Here's where I get lost.

AGP vs PCI, should I just go with a AGP card now and upgrade to PCI Express card with my new system? Or get a PCI card?

Do I need 512 MB memory, hard to find on AGP.

Is a dual head better than DVI dual output, or are they really the same as the tech from Monaco told me?

I don't want to spend big bucks on gamming technology that I'll never use.

Could someone please recommend a good card that will run CS2 and let me calibrate my monitor.

TIA,

-M-

ian408 · September 30, 2006

askme2flashu wrote:

I just can't seem to get my head around this whole video card thing.
I am running Windows XP, with a AMD Sempron 3000+,1.80 GHz Processor w/ 2GB RAM, on a MSI K8MM-V motherboard.

The motherboard has one AGP 1.5V 4x/8x slot and three PCI 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots. (support 3.3v / 5v PCI bus interface) Does not support PCI Express.

I installed the Matrox Millenium G450 16MB AGP 4x Dual Head Video Card, but when I tried to calibrate my monitor (using Monaco Optix xr) I got a message saying, Your display device or driver does not support color table correction. So I updated my drivers, no good. Time to upgrade my video card.

I use this computer only for editing and printing photos. I am using Photoshop CS2. I would like to upgrade this whole system sometime next year maybe.

Here's where I get lost.

AGP vs PCI, should I just go with a AGP card now and upgrade to PCI Express card with my new system? Or get a PCI card?

Do I need 512 MB memory, hard to find on AGP.

Is a dual head better than DVI dual output, or are they really the same as the tech from Monaco told me?

I don't want to spend big bucks on gamming technology that I'll never use.

Could someone please recommend a good card that will run CS2 and let me calibrate my monitor.

TIA,

-M-

If you plan on upgrading, don't bother spending a lot on the video card unless you think you'll re-use it.

I have a simple ATI Radeon 7000 with dual displays (one digi, one analog). Works great for me. It's a PCI card too.

Anthony · September 30, 2006

I would be interested to hear comments about video cards suitable for 2D graphics work (Photoshop etc.) too. There seems a great deal of emphasis on gaming and 3D graphics capability which like the OP doesn't happen to interest me either.

with Vista on the horizon and with it being time soon to review my current kit, I am starting to pay attention to current specs and what there is out there for an almost wholly graphics orientated capability (I know my business stuff will run on anything).

Although some folks might not agree, I am going to stick with a PC based setup rather than a Mac - partly because of a pretty heavy investment in software (titles and knowledge) and partly because I need to have a PC for work orientated things.

Any/all comments gratefully received.

Anthony.

DudeX · September 30, 2006

This is my first post to the forum. That said, here's my advice.
For Photoshop CS2, you do not need an expensive video card. However I would recommend an ATi card because their drivers support separate profiles for each display (when using the dual monitor connections)
Also some ATI cards support 10 bit output depending on the model. I would get either an X600 (Xxxx series) or (X1xxx series) X1600 since the drivers are more up to date.

If you're looking to the future, I would recommend getting a PCIe card and get an ATi FireGL 300 with Avivo. It has a high bit precision internally and output. By the time Vista comes out, Photoshop CS3 will be released shortly after, and it will take advantage of the high bit display as well as DirectX10 of Vista (according to the rumours). This card is also inexpensive as well as it is under 200 dollars. It comes with 128MB of RAM, which is enough for the framebuffer (what gets drawn to screen) and potential processing effects for Photoshop CS3.

wxwax · September 30, 2006

Good first post, dude.

askme2flashu · September 30, 2006

Not a good post as Ati doesn't seem to make APG, DVI-2, 512 MB cards.

And what good is a PCI Express card when my motherboard doesn't support it?

I know this isn't an easy question to answer, or I would have found the answer myself. It seems as though everytime I look for information all I get it gammers crap.

Thanks for the input, but I'm no closer to an answer.

DudeX · September 30, 2006

Follow this link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1069609639+1068309611+1069109631&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=

This will give you a list of video cards that have:
256 MB of video ram, 2 dvi connections, and a various price range.

You do not need 512MB of video ram since that's only for gamers, who need to load large textures for games, and for anti-aliasing effects.

At this point in time any of these video cards will be fine except for the 3dlabs card. I would go with the ATi cards because of the reasons cited.

If you don't get a new pc in the near future, 256MB of RAM is what Photoshop CS3 requires for DirectX support.

Art Scott · September 30, 2006

askme2flashu wrote:

Not a good post as Ati doesn't seem to make APG, DVI-2, 512 MB cards.

And what good is a PCI Express card when my motherboard doesn't support it?

I know this isn't an easy question to answer, or I would have found the answer myself. It seems as though everytime I look for information all I get it gammers crap.

Thanks for the input, but I'm no closer to an answer.

No sense in be littleing him for trying to help.....if you do not like the answer then just ignore him.....for me it was a very good post as it seemed it was for WXWAX also....
So yes it was a good post from someone new here that stated it was his first post....A lot of good helpful info was left by DudeX.

May I suggest that a trip to your nearest computer outlet or maybe an email to the manufacturer of your computer or motherboard might be appropiate or even trying the one of many Photoshop forums might provide food for thought for you.

Anthony · October 1, 2006

Art Scott wrote:

No sense in be littleing him for trying to help.....if you do not like the answer then just ignore him.....for me it was a very good post as it seemed it was for WXWAX also....
So yes it was a good post from someone new here that stated it was his first post....A lot of good helpful info was left by DudeX.

May I suggest that a trip to your nearest computer outlet or maybe an email to the manufacturer of your computer or motherboard might be appropiate or even trying the one of many Photoshop forums might provide food for thought for you.

I'll second that...

Anthony.

Which Video Card?

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