Best graphics card?
 

Hi, i have an Antec case, Asus 920 extreme 2 mobo, 6GB ram, (not sure of graphics card), running win 7.

I mainly play video films/editing etc.

What's the best graphics card i can get, and also would it be beneficial to upgrade to 12GB ram?

Any comments welcome, thanks

Re: Best graphics card?
 

What is the CPU?

If you don't know what is inside your PC try using software such as Everest which will give you the details.

As for RAM, have a look in things like task manager while you are doing your editing. If you see that it is getting maxxed out then more might be a benefit, but it may depend on the size of the files you are working with.

Re: Best graphics card?
 

For film editing itself it's also very dependant on the software used and whether it's CUDA (or similar) compatible, if not then the gfx card isn't gonna make that much difference. Be warned though that Cuda plugins for some editing software is rediculous money and all it is is effectively a link between the software and gfx driver

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Thanks for the quick replies, my CPU thing says this:
(Intel(R) core (TM) i7 CPU 920 @2.67GHZ, 2668 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 logical).

Hope this helps

Re: Best graphics card?
 

cpu is excellent. More ram would help if you are doing heavy encoding in something like Premier. Both ATI and Nvidia do as kymmy says but also as kymmy says getting it to on none specifically designed software isnt always easy. I am sure as time goes by GPU computing will become more mainstream.

Did you buy the system pre built? with s 920 is should be paired with something half decent anyway. You could overclock the cpu the i7s like that lol

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Thanks, i had the pc built to my spec at the time about 6 months ago, it seems ok still but was wondering if it was worth 'upgrading' just for the sake of it really just to see how fast i can get it, more 'want' than 'need lol.

With overclocking i assume i would need better cooling systems :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Question still stands what video editing software are you using? Also are you a game player, if so what's your choice of games you're thinking of

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Video editing is still new to me and trying to get more into it and at the moment just 'editing' downloaded films etc, (yes i pay for these), so will delv deeper into the software side of things, and also not really a game player but interested in doing so, time permitted, so I'm now thinking for now I may have the 'tools' on the pc all ok for what i do :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

tell what gfx you have then :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

I have Nvidia Geforce 9400 GT, is that good?

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Old card and a budget design even in it's day. It's certainly nowhere near the latest and greatest.

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Ok cool, what's a good one to get?

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Old or not is it really that relevant to what the OP is doing with the PC? An all singing all dancing latest spec will not make that much difference to him atm as he doesn't play games and neither does he have CUDA capability on the video editing (unless he goes out and buys something like Adobe Premiere CS4/5 with the CUDA plugin for £1000 altogether)

Currently until he settles on what he's doing with the PC or starts playing games all a new card is going to do is to make his aero desktop a bit faster assuming he's on win7..

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Thanks Kymmy, I have some thinking to do, and I also have the Aero theme turned off :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Then a new card isn;t really gonna do much for you. First decide which way you want to take the PC and it's uses and then people will have a lot better idea as to what can help you whether it be a graphics card or something else :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Indeed. You need to decide what are your needs and priorities. You asked if the card was good and I answered. However, it may still be perfectly adequate for the work you are doing currently. Your money may be better spent elsewhere.

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Thanks for all the replies, I will decide which way I'm going with the pc then see from there about graphic cards, mobos and ram etc. :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

you wont need to change mobo or cpu. Seems a strange choice of GFX though. Was it the builder who pointed you to it? perhaps he had it spare and wanted to shift it lol

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Ok thanks, if I remember rightly he may have suggested the graphics card after I told him what I was doing with the pc at the time, I think I will upgrade the graphics card but have no idea of a good one these days, any suggestions?

Re: Best graphics card?
 

you did mention playing a few games ? give us a ball park figure.

Re: Best graphics card?
 

I have no idea of price, I'll have to research but don't have a clue on what's a decent card

Re: Best graphics card?
 

thats why I am asking what sort of spend you would consider the range is £40 quid to £1000( to get one better) so unless you want to narrow it down somewhat

Re: Best graphics card?
 

What card is in your system Zing?

Re: Best graphics card?
 

5870 :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Ok thanks, would I get a decent one for say £200ish?

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Ati 5850 for that price :)

edit actually the 5830 but dunno much about that.

If you are only gonna be a casual gamer there is the 5770 which is equilvilent to the 4870 which was my last card and very capable and available for around £120

Re: Best graphics card?
 

Thanks for all the help, I'll look into those :)

Re: Best graphics card?
 

i can second the 5870 as i also have one. does the job nicely. not even hinted at struggling on anything yet.

Re: Best graphics card?
 

5750 is also a pretty capable card and comes in at £95 at the moment though I got mine for £78 4 weeks ago.

Re: Best graphics card?
 

I have a 5770 and it's taken everything I've thrown at it so far