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what card for video editing?

I'm building a new system. The spec below is what I'm thinking of getting. I'm looking for video card. I'm not a hard core gamer, but I would like to do a lot of hi-def video editing using Adobe Premiere and Sony HDR-HC1. Adobe site recommends nVidia QUAD FX series. I'm seriously thinking about PNY Quadro FX 540. Any comments or recommendations?

TIA.


1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Motherboard = ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
RAM = Corsair XMS Twinx2048-3200c2
PSU = Antec TruePower 2.0 550W
etc.

2) What is your budget?

$200-$500

3) For how long are you planning to have this new card?

1-2 yrs

4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- a) Hard-Core Gaming - LOVE GAMING!
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.
--- c) A cheap-o card on which I might be able to game sometimes, not much power needed.
--- d) My grandpa wouldn't care what kind of a card it is, but he'd like to watch DVD's.

Mainly for HD video editing using Adobe Premiere.
 
Right now I'm personally looking at 3 options 1) no upgrade and wait till I build a new system in about a year and a half or so, 2) eVGA 6600GT or 3) BFG 6800 GS OC. there's about a $60 difference between these two cards...less if I choose a different brand 6600GT. So I'm just wondering if I should upgrade, buy one of the two I listed, or if there is another option I should consider

1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = P4 2.4C o/c 3.0
Motherboard = P4P800 DLX
RAM = 1gig
Current Vid card = 9600XT 128mb
PSU = 550 W
5 HDs of various sizes, 1 DVD burner and 1 combo drive
etc.

2) What is your budget?
225 CDN

3) For how long are you planning to have this new card?
between 1 and 1.5 years

4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.
 
New vid Card

Im looking into getting a new vid card in 1-2 months. I was wondering what would be the best cards for my system and budget.

My COMP Specs:
CPU = 3200 amd 64 processor currently running at 2.0 ( want to overclock as soon as i find reliable help, which i expect ill find here)
Motherboard = Asus, a8n-vm csm, it has a pci express slot x16 and 1
RAM =2 gig at the moment, soon buying 2 more
PSU = only 300, yet i am looking to upgrade that to atleast 500, maybe 600

currently im running an onboard nvidia geforce 6150 gpu


What will it be used for? Gaming, gaming, gaming, and more gaming
my budget is 200-500 as i will be saving over a few months if needed
 
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1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU =A64 3200+
Motherboard =DFI LP UT NF4 Ultra
RAM =OCZ Premier PC3200 2x512mb+512(2x256)generic/samsung
PSU =Antec 350W?
HDD=Maxtor 250Gb SATA 7200rpm



2) What is your budget?
Cheap, have to build a system(cou,mobo,gfx,ram,psu)get a laptop and an lcd screen for $1500CAD

3) For how long are you planning to have this new card?
If its crap then only as long as I have to. If its not bad then as long as I can before I must upgrade(probably until December)

4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.Must be a competent upgrade from an R8500 LE 128mb

Basically my main concern is keeping it under or near $100CAD.
Thanks
 
Hey guys, I dunno where LogRus has been, but I'm a lil busy right now, I'll help some of you guys out once I get back this afternoon.
 
1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:
CPU = Opti 165
Motherboard = ASRock 939Dual
PCI-E / AGP = Either :)
RAM = 1GB (2x512 in DC) GeIL PC3200
PSU = ThermalTake PurePower 430w (Might swap in Ultra X-Finity 500W or Antec 400W)
OS = XP Pro, SP2
Current Video = PNY GF 6800 128MB

2) What is your budget? Ideally < $120
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? A while- a year or two.
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings. I mostly rip DVDs & play Far Cry or HL2.


I'm debating between, essentially, the 6800, X800, X800GTO, and X1600.
 
I have a lot of load on myself in college and @ work so I'm sorry for being "out of date". Below are not complete searches, but its something I knew before, "Googling" and "NewEgging". I will look for more time and research some more info. IF you have more updated info about Vcards @The moment, PLEASE HELP THIS THREAD! Thanks :).

PLEASE NOTE: Look at the suggestions below more like @ something you should consider and look around for rather then buy atm. I will revise the post as soon as I'll get more time.
Extra help would be highly appreciated!

arkhile said:
1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = Opteron 146
Motherboard = DFI Ultra-D
RAM = 2GB G.Skill
PSU = 500watt Enermax Liberty

2) What is your budget? 250
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? 1 year
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- a) Hard-Core Gaming - LOVE GAMING!

There is a nVidia 7800GTX going for $250 w/FREE shipping in OCForums classifieds (killer deal)! If only you'd be able to get there.. otherwise, I'd suggest going for something in the 7800GT area or maybe 7900GT if they ever go lower in prices.

triet said:
I'm building a new system. The spec below is what I'm thinking of getting. I'm looking for video card. I'm not a hard core gamer, but I would like to do a lot of hi-def video editing using Adobe Premiere and Sony HDR-HC1. Adobe site recommends nVidia QUAD FX series. I'm seriously thinking about PNY Quadro FX 540. Any comments or recommendations?

TIA.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you really need a Quadro for VIDEO edition? If I'm not mistaken, Matrox manufactured cards should work better in Video/Picture edition area? I will have to research some more in this matter and get back to this thread. NEED MORE HELP ON THIS ONE!


Bulwark said:
Right now I'm personally looking at 3 options 1) no upgrade and wait till I build a new system in about a year and a half or so, 2) eVGA 6600GT or 3) BFG 6800 GS OC. there's about a $60 difference between these two cards...less if I choose a different brand 6600GT. So I'm just wondering if I should upgrade, buy one of the two I listed, or if there is another option I should consider

1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = P4 2.4C o/c 3.0
Motherboard = P4P800 DLX
RAM = 1gig
Current Vid card = 9600XT 128mb
PSU = 550 W
5 HDs of various sizes, 1 DVD burner and 1 combo drive
etc.

2) What is your budget?
225 CDN

3) For how long are you planning to have this new card?
between 1 and 1.5 years

4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.

CDN prices are my weak spot as I'm not really familiar with their pricings. But looking at your current setup, something like X800GTO or 6800GT/GS comes to mind.

Jdac said:
Im looking into getting a new vid card in 1-2 months. I was wondering what would be the best cards for my system and budget.

My COMP Specs:
CPU = 3200 amd 64 processor currently running at 2.0 ( want to overclock as soon as i find reliable help, which i expect ill find here)
Motherboard = Asus, a8n-vm csm, it has a pci express slot x16 and 1
RAM =2 gig at the moment, soon buying 2 more
PSU = only 300, yet i am looking to upgrade that to atleast 500, maybe 600

currently im running an onboard nvidia geforce 6150 gpu


What will it be used for? Gaming, gaming, gaming, and more gaming
my budget is 200-500 as i will be saving over a few months if needed

For a budget and system like this (+ more PSU power) ATi X1900XT looks very promising. And if I'm not mistaken we should see some price drops on them :).

MarX said:
1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU =A64 3200+
Motherboard =DFI LP UT NF4 Ultra
RAM =OCZ Premier PC3200 2x512mb+512(2x256)generic/samsung
PSU =Antec 350W?
HDD=Maxtor 250Gb SATA 7200rpm

2) What is your budget?
Cheap, have to build a system(cou,mobo,gfx,ram,psu)get a laptop and an lcd screen for $1500CAD

3) For how long are you planning to have this new card?
If its crap then only as long as I have to. If its not bad then as long as I can before I must upgrade(probably until December)

4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.Must be a competent upgrade from an R8500 LE 128mb

Basically my main concern is keeping it under or near $100CAD.
Thanks

Ouch.. I'm bad w/CDN $'s atm. Should revise my knowledge in this area :p. But again, looking at the budget/setup ratio, it seems that if its possible to find nvidia 6800 or ati X800 series, most of them would suit you well for the rest of the year. That is if its possible to get such cards at the price set.

laserkitty said:
1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:
CPU = Opti 165
Motherboard = ASRock 939Dual
PCI-E / AGP = Either
RAM = 1GB (2x512 in DC) GeIL PC3200
PSU = ThermalTake PurePower 430w (Might swap in Ultra X-Finity 500W or Antec 400W)
OS = XP Pro, SP2
Current Video = PNY GF 6800 128MB

2) What is your budget? Ideally < $120
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? A while- a year or two.
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings. I mostly rip DVDs & play Far Cry or HL2.


I'm debating between, essentially, the 6800, X800, X800GTO, and X1600.

Altough it looks like the card you have atm should be pretty good for the stuff you do, maybe you should try ATi for the HL2 and FarCry so ATi X1600 Pro?

I need reviews! :D. I will have look around for the reviews and tests of the possible cards that you should consider. I am like a computer with about 3 weeks of outdated database atm :(...
 
Thank you,
I appreciate the help, i was also looking at those yesterday, and a new PSU, this one is extremely weak.

Again, thanks.

Jdac
 
Hey first i wanted to say thanks for your time and effort to make my selection easier!

1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz HT Socket 939
Motherboard = Foxconn NF4K8AC-RS-1.0 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
PCI-E / AGP = PCI-E
RAM = Patriot Signature Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400
PSU = 400W
Current Video Card = Leadtek PX6200 TC-64-H Geforce 6200TC
etc.

2) Budget is = < $150
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? 1 - 2yrs
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.
I PLAN ON PLAYING ELDER SCROLLS IV a ton when it comes out. So what ever will play this the best for around $100-150 will be great!

Thanks again!
 
Shayne54@comcas said:
Hey first i wanted to say thanks for your time and effort to make my selection easier!

1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz HT Socket 939
Motherboard = Foxconn NF4K8AC-RS-1.0 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
PCI-E / AGP = PCI-E
RAM = Patriot Signature Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400
PSU = 400W
Current Video Card = Leadtek PX6200 TC-64-H Geforce 6200TC
etc.

2) Budget is = < $150
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? 1 - 2yrs
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
--- b) Mixed = Some gaming but not much, a card that will let me play at least at medium/high settings.
I PLAN ON PLAYING ELDER SCROLLS IV a ton when it comes out. So what ever will play this the best for around $100-150 will be great!

Thanks again!

I think either one of these cards should suit you well:

1) ATi X850XT for $154 AR! ($169 orig price)
2) nVidia 6800GS for $154 AR! ($169 orig price)

Altough maybe you if I'm not mistaken, Elder Scrolls IV will be using SM 3.0? So if you'd like to take advantage of that feature, most likely go with nVidia unless ATi has something better to offer :).
 
Thank you for posting this thread

Wow, what a find. This is a spectacular thread. Thank you so much for having this up

1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB 90nm Rev. E San Diego (939)
Motherboard = DFI Lan Party UT NForce4 Ultra-D Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE-1394/PCI-E/SATA3G/DDR/ATX 64 939
PCI-E / AGP = PCI-E
RAM = 2 GB (4 pcs 512) DDR (400) PC-3200 Corsair XMS (TwinX1024-3200C2PT)
PSU = 400W
Current Video Card = Ati Radeon 9800 pro 128mb AGP (my old board just fried, so instead of rebuilding around my old card i opted to upgrade

2) Budget is = < 275$
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? 1 - 3yrs
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
Hardcore gaming (WoW, to CS 1.6, to Prince of Persia, to Quake IV)


Thanks in advance.

I've looked into both the PNY and ASUS Geforce 7600GT's .. if I go with one of these, what's the better option?
 
SemperFiGuy said:
Wow, what a find. This is a spectacular thread. Thank you so much for having this up

1) What are your system specifications? Give us full specs:

CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB 90nm Rev. E San Diego (939)
Motherboard = DFI Lan Party UT NForce4 Ultra-D Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE-1394/PCI-E/SATA3G/DDR/ATX 64 939
PCI-E / AGP = PCI-E
RAM = 2 GB (4 pcs 512) DDR (400) PC-3200 Corsair XMS (TwinX1024-3200C2PT)
PSU = 400W
Current Video Card = Ati Radeon 9800 pro 128mb AGP (my old board just fried, so instead of rebuilding around my old card i opted to upgrade

2) Budget is = < 275$
3) For how long are you planning to have this new card? 1 - 3yrs
4) What will the new Video Card be used for?
Hardcore gaming (WoW, to CS 1.6, to Prince of Persia, to Quake IV)


Thanks in advance.

I've looked into both the PNY and ASUS Geforce 7600GT's .. if I go with one of these, what's the better option?

Hmm, well first off, I'm worried about your PSU, it may not be powerful enough to support such a nice system...I can't stress enough the importance of a high-quality PSU, it'll make you OC higher, run more stable, and have less problems.

Anyway, about the video card, do you have a brand preference?

Right now I'm thinking a 7 series (7xxx) video card from nVidia, because they clearly seem to be the most future-proof/advanced.
 
SemperFiGuy said:
I've looked into both the PNY and ASUS Geforce 7600GT's .. if I go with one of these, what's the better option?

None! :D

For the budget, I wouldn't buy the 7600GT, I'd rather recommend 7900GT or X1800XT (note its ATi 1,800 series, not X800 :)) both of which go for around $299 @ the egg atm, but most likely they must go down in price pretty soon now! Also you should consider something like 7800GTX for the budget. From places like eBay maybe, or sometimes you see them for cheap after rebates.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm actually combining a new PSU with the graphics card order, I have an aging Antec 450W (not 400 .. replaced the stock cover with a smoked lexan one ... just found the data sheet I had saved on my computer) ..
Since I'm trying to squeeze both the graphics card and the PSU into one order, I'd like to try to keep the cost of the card in the 250 - 300 $$ range.

Let's say I went with the 7xxx series from nvidia .. any specific rec. on a PSU for the setup? IE brands / wattage? .. I don;t plan on dipping below the 7600GT mark as far as nvidia cards go, but if going to push out the extra cash I need to be doing it for something extra special.
It's been so long since I built / upgraded a computer thanks to military college that I'm out of the loop. To give you an idea -> the last time I built a computer PCI-E was still hardly available. I'll take all the help i can get in finding a new card. Thanks again for all the help.
 
SemperFiGuy said:
Thanks for the advice. I'm actually combining a new PSU with the graphics card order, I have an aging Antec 450W (not 400 .. replaced the stock cover with a smoked lexan one ... just found the data sheet I had saved on my computer) ..
Since I'm trying to squeeze both the graphics card and the PSU into one order, I'd like to try to keep the cost of the card in the 250 - 300 $$ range.

Let's say I went with the 7xxx series from nvidia .. any specific rec. on a PSU for the setup? IE brands / wattage? .. I don;t plan on dipping below the 7600GT mark as far as nvidia cards go, but if going to push out the extra cash I need to be doing it for something extra special.
It's been so long since I built / upgraded a computer thanks to military college that I'm out of the loop. To give you an idea -> the last time I built a computer PCI-E was still hardly available. I'll take all the help i can get in finding a new card. Thanks again for all the help.

Well, then 7900GT pretty much fits the bill, as well as X1800XT, but don't upgrade just yet, I feel that within next week we'll see major price changes.. or just follow the Cyber Deals thread with threads made by d94. He's pretty crazy about good deals around :).
 
--> SAPPHIRE 100154 Radeon X1800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM

Heads up, the egg wants $290 for this sucker, what do you think LogRus?

Also, would you rec. any specific brand of PSU? im going to be looking in the 450 - 550W range. ... I have until ~April 2nd to sit on my hands and wait for prices to drop, you really think we'll see a difference in the next two weeks?


Again, thanks a TON

EDIT: .. I have pulled the order on my components for now. I plan to place my order on or around April the 5th. I still plan to go with the same mainboard, and same RAM. But I'm going to wait to see if the AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 1MB 90nm Rev. E San Diego (939) drops to below $300 before then. If so, I'll go with this CPU. That X1800XT looks appealing as well, so I'm going to hold off on buying the video card also. I'll give it two weeks, in the meantime, since I have no brand-loyalty-brainwashing I have no nvidia / ati preference, all I want is bang for the buck.
 
Last edited:
CPU - Intel Celeron 2.30 GHZ Overclocked to 2.32GHZ
Motherboard - MSI p4mamv
RAM - 512mb DDR (Taken from brothers eMachines that he doesn't use)
PSU - FSP Fortron Source AX-400-PN 400W
Current Video Card - nVidia Geforce XFX PV-T64K-NT Geforce FX5200 128MB 64-bit DDR PCI Low Profile Video Card

My budget is roughly $250. If a card is recommended that is more than my budget, I will simply have to work more and wait longer to get what I need and be patient.

I would like to keep the card for as long as possible...if thats even possible.
The card will be used to play BattleField2. I don't play any other games really.

Any and all help will be greatly appreiciated. :)
 
XpLiCiTReaLiTy said:
CPU - Intel Celeron 2.30 GHZ Overclocked to 2.32GHZ
Motherboard - MSI p4mamv
RAM - 512mb DDR (Taken from brothers eMachines that he doesn't use)
PSU - FSP Fortron Source AX-400-PN 400W
Current Video Card - nVidia Geforce XFX PV-T64K-NT Geforce FX5200 128MB 64-bit DDR PCI Low Profile Video Card

My budget is roughly $250. If a card is recommended that is more than my budget, I will simply have to work more and wait longer to get what I need and be patient.

I would like to keep the card for as long as possible...if thats even possible.
The card will be used to play BattleField2. I don't play any other games really.

Any and all help will be greatly appreiciated. :)

OK so I'm guessing that's AGP? If so, the best cards to get would either be:

-the 6800GS (in production, and has possiblity to unlock pipes...goes for $200).

-a 6800GT (better than the GS)...hard to find now, but would be in your price range IIRC.

-If you really wanna push it, and your budget, get the 7800GS, it's THE strongest AGP card bar-none, but goes for $300. DO NOT GET an EVGA version, they are very faulty.

-Those would be ideal, because they both have Shader Model 3, and ATI's equivilants do not....if you want ATI, a x850 Pro or XT would probably fit, but I'm not totally sure of their pricing, may be too high....if it's too high, a x800XT might do also.


Sry that's the best I can do for now, I'm getting lazy on this thread.
 
SemperFiGuy said:
--> SAPPHIRE 100154 Radeon X1800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM

Heads up, the egg wants $290 for this sucker, what do you think LogRus?

Also, would you rec. any specific brand of PSU? im going to be looking in the 450 - 550W range. ... I have until ~April 2nd to sit on my hands and wait for prices to drop, you really think we'll see a difference in the next two weeks?


Again, thanks a TON

EDIT: .. I have pulled the order on my components for now. I plan to place my order on or around April the 5th. I still plan to go with the same mainboard, and same RAM. But I'm going to wait to see if the AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 1MB 90nm Rev. E San Diego (939) drops to below $300 before then. If so, I'll go with this CPU. That X1800XT looks appealing as well, so I'm going to hold off on buying the video card also. I'll give it two weeks, in the meantime, since I have no brand-loyalty-brainwashing I have no nvidia / ati preference, all I want is bang for the buck.

Looks like They're already dropping in price! :)

Check this thread for the links and read on for some interesting info: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=450254

g0dM@n said:
NewEgg.com

SAPPHIRE 100154L Radeon X1800XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
$289 + $4.89 ship = $293.89

SAPPHIRE 100134L Radeon X1800XT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
$339 + $4.89 ship = $343.89

Before you make a decision, see how much better the 512mb really is b/c I really don't know myself.

Don't waste your time looking at OEM right now as they are slightly more expensive.

I've been keeping my eye on the X1800XT 512mb for a while now... still contemplating if it's better than the 7900GT. Any ideas? I feel like the price will drop again shortly.


IMPORTANT Quote from the thread above:

blackfury said:
Looks like the 512 has HDTV and the 256 doesn't, that'd be a factor for me

Can anybody confirm this?
 
A few weeks back I saw and heard of some benchmarks that showed having 512MB over 256MB is better for memory-size-reliant games...BF2 in particular. Many of us know having 2GB system memory benefits BF2, and I assume that's why 512MB benefited also.


Then again, I don't remember how much of an advantage it was/is.
 
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