Do I even need a GFX card ?

I do not game...at all...zero...zilch....nada.

I don't even own a single game.

My display usage is roughly 50% PS editing, 25% streaming Youtube/Vimeo 1080p videos, and the rest general surfing with an occasional video render.

I'll be putting a i2500k in an ASRock Z68 PRO 3 mobo and seriously considering using just the on die graphics, but it was suggested to me elsewhere that the performance in PS with several layers could be enhanced with a cheap GFX card added onto the system.

AFAIK, the on die graphics on the i2500k are already better than a 5450. How much "better" would I need to go for an add on card or would I be wasting my money ?

On board would work fine if you aren't going to be doing gaming.

If it doesn't meet your standards, you can always get a graphics card later.

You could get a older graphics card like an 8800 which you can find cheap or just use the onboard. Its free.

If you really do 0% gaming, than 2500k on board graphics is Perfect for you, no need to waste money on additional card even older/cheap, plus it will increase power usage of your pc

vdgamer said:

If you really do 0% gaming, than 2500k on board graphics is Perfect for you, no need to waste money on additional card even older/cheap, plus it will increase power usage of your pc

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Plus it will make it run a lot cooler. My card heats my room up.

Well if he doesn't game it woulnt be a heat issue, that's why I didn't mention it, but yes heat is quite an issue when gaming, that's actually why I want to switch to water cooling, because playing game like witcher 2 turns my gtx 570 into hairdryer and that's one of the cooler powerful cards

Swimswithtrout said:

I do not game...at all...zero...zilch....nada.

I don't even own a single game.

My display usage is roughly 50% PS editing, 25% streaming Youtube/Vimeo 1080p videos, and the rest general surfing with an occasional video render.

I'll be putting a i2500k in an ASRock Z68 PRO 3 mobo and seriously considering using just the on die graphics, but it was suggested to me elsewhere that the performance in PS with several layers could be enhanced with a cheap GFX card added onto the system.

AFAIK, the on die graphics on the i2500k are already better than a 5450. How much "better" would I need to go for an add on card or would I be wasting my money ?

Click to expand...

You'll only really notice the addin card for things like Photoshop. My friend uses a GTX560 on a 2500K CPU. The difference using the discrete graphics in PS versus not (he has cs5 I think) is fairly significant. As someone else said you don't need to spend much. A used 8800 card like a GTS512 can be found for way under 50 bucks. Newegg is selling it's last remnants of 460 cards, incl a $99 Sparkle 460 which is recertified, but it is insanely high power graphics for the price. Recertified is less reliable IMO... but it's 99 bucks.

Yes the igpu will be slightly better than 5450. If you are currently using that and are satisfied, forget a GPU. As was mentioned if you ever do want one, the option is there. You can use both at the same time on Z68.

Just because you have better cooling... it doesn't change the heat output of the card. Your room will heat up anyway, no matter what water setup you have.

+1 to Theocnoob.
PS runs fine on the Intel graphics but the CUDAS on the nVidia cards makes it run much smoother and faster. One of the biggest upgrades for PS so far was adding an SSD to the system.

It's been a while but I believe the recommendation for CS5 is a minimum of 90-100 CUDA cores for the best results. The 560ti has 384.

Since your running a Z68 mobo, adding a graphics card will give the best of both worlds with Lucid making the decision on which GPU is best for the tasks your running at the time. I'd look at a GTX460ti or 560ti. The 560 would be a nice future proof option for an extra 90 bucks.

AS far as heat. LOL! I'm running PS right now on my i5-650 workhorse doing editing and have Firefox, music, and Thunderbird open and my Asus GTX560ti is running at 34c. In PS it basically idles unless I'm doing a lot of layers and then it shoots all the way up to about 38c.

stunt said:

+1 to Theocnoob.
PS runs fine on the Intel graphics but the CUDAS on the nVidia cards makes it run much smoother and faster. One of the biggest upgrades for PS so far was adding an SSD to the system.

It's been a while but I believe the recommendation for CS5 is a minimum of 90-100 CUDA cores for the best results. The 560ti has 384.

Since your running a Z68 mobo, adding a graphics card will give the best of both worlds with Lucid making the decision on which GPU is best for the tasks your running at the time. I'd look at a GTX460ti or 560ti. The 560 would be a nice future proof option for an extra 90 bucks.

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Thank you very much !! That sounds like the way to go.