What graphic cards would be great for this monitor for photoediting?


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zoossh

zoossh

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i'm thinking of upgrading from my old graphic card (hercules ATI radeon 3D prophet 9000 pro) to optimise the new monitor that i intend to buy soon, but wasn't sure if it is indicated or if the new graphic card is going to make much differences. my budget is sub-$500.

http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l204wt.jhtml

LG L204WT widescreen monitor

Resolution 1680 x 1050
Pixel Pitch 0.258 x 0.258
Brightness 300 cd/㎡
Contrast Ratio 2000:1(DFC)
Viewing Angle 160/160(H/V)
Response Time 5ms
Display Colors 16.7M
Video Signal RGB Analog, Digital
Sync type Separate, Composite, SOG
PC 15 Pin D-sub, DVI-D
DDC DDC/CI
Functions f-Engine, sRGB, Auto Resolution, HDCP
Dimension(W x H x D) 466 x 384 x 226 mm
 

I think most current graphic cards with 256MB of video memory should be good enough. You probably need more video ram if your screen is one of those large widescreen LCD with very high resolution.

If you are still using CRT than the video card selection is more critical. Because the video output is analog (VGA connector) the card's filters and electronics play an important part in displaying video quality. I remember Matrox was well regarded for Photoshop editing. But now with LCD with DVI connectors, everything is digital and the Digital to Analog conversion is eliminated.

I personally have used a few generatons of ATI Radeon cards because their D/A electronics was better than Nvidia.
 

Tumbleweed said:
I think most current graphic cards with 256MB of video memory should be good enough. You probably need more video ram if your screen is one of those large widescreen LCD with very high resolution.

If you are still using CRT than the video card selection is more critical. Because the video output is analog (VGA connector) the card's filters and electronics play an important part in displaying video quality. I remember Matrox was well regarded for Photoshop editing. But now with LCD with DVI connectors, everything is digital and the Digital to Analog conversion is eliminated.

I personally have used a few generatons of ATI Radeon cards because their D/A electronics was better than Nvidia.
Click to expand...

what is video ram? is it something on the graphic card or on the mobo or do you mean the sdram inserted on the mobo (mine is 1GB)?
 

DIscussed soo many times liao..unless you using an antique card otherwise a graphic card is NOT of importance to photoshop. Ram and processor is.

And just to add. You'll need to run eg.WINXP PRO SP2, and then enable the '3GB switch'. Otherwise PS is NOT using your available ram. Do a search.
 

zoossh said:
what is video ram? is it something on the graphic card or on the mobo or do you mean the sdram inserted on the mobo (mine is 1GB)?
Click to expand...
Video ram refer to the memory that on your graphic card.
 

one thing I would like to add...with larger and more high definition screens popping up, some of them might require a different DVI plug called a dual-link DVI...it looks the same as the usual single-link DVI but has more pins...at the moment I think only the monster 30" 4Mpixel Dell screen needs it but to future proof, might want to get a card with dual-link DVI...recently, graphics card makers have extended dual-link support to even their lower end cards so should not be too difficult to find say a Nvidia 7300 or something similar that has dual-link DVI...:)
 

For something that comes at a good price and yet have decent DVI quality output, consider getting a Geforce 7300GT base graphics card around S$200 only but is already very fast in many games. You probably won't play that much games so this card is more than enough for your use in photoediting. So long you buy decent brands such as Asus, Leadtek, etc, the output quality in terms of colour and sharpness will be good. Can also consider any card based on ATi Radeon 1600 series.
 

Any decent video card in the 180 - 250 range should be good enough. It's for photo editing right? Just make sure it has a minimum of 256MB RAM.
 

16.7million colours = 24bit

1680 x 1050 X (24 bits / 8 ) bytes = 7.056Million Bytes
7.056M / 1024 = 6.891MB

You only need 6.891MB of video memory to run your monitor for 2D graphics.

Windows XP only runs very basic 3D graphics, so maybe add another 10mb that you need for your graphics card.

Essentially you only need at the VERY most 20mb of video memory.

Note: Photoshop DOES NOT use your video memory in any way.

The current graphics card on the market are called 3D Graphics Accelerators. They accelerate/are only useful for 3D graphics (basically game play ONLY).
Pros doing actual 3D graphics wouldn't be touching these "cheap" consumer/gamer cards as they're useless in doing actual work. Look to the Quadro FX or FireGL line instead, but those useful cards will cost more than your monitor.

If you're just doing normal stuff (surf net, do photoshop, etc) you will notice ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE in any area using a $90 card or a $900 card. In fact, you won't be able to tell if you're using a GF2 card or a 7900GT.

What makes a difference is your DVI connector though. Get a card with DVI connector. I don't think your current card has one.

128MB of ram is more than enough.

Forget about future proofing. By the time Windows Avalon comes out, you'll basically need a whole new system to support half the features it has. As it is, graphics card that are supposed to support Avalon's standards are just coming out only.
 

Mod should really consider putting some of these info into stickies...been repeated too often..
 

firestone said:
Mod should really consider putting some of these info into stickies...been repeated too often..
Click to expand...
ditto.
but another problem is that most people dont look at stickies.. so we'll probably have to tackle this again. sigh.
 

BTW, is this LG L204WT out in the stores already??

How much is it selling?
 

Try the 6800GS (AGP) 512MB cost only $300 plus.
From Xpert Vision.
I using one.
Best Value.

Last of the AGP with 512MB!
 

I'm happily using my Matrox Millennium G400Max for the last few years for my machine. I'm not a gamer, can't be bothered about DirectX9.
 

To point out again..for those buying a graphic card to photoshop?

I am only using a cheapo 32mb old graphic card if you believe but my system is running very fast even when photoshop. Buying an expensive card makes no difference to a cheapo card for photo editing..
 

Any graphics card that can support your native resolution and 32 bit colour will do :).
 

my 2 year old plus (bought in jun 2004) vga card already got 1 vga and 1 dvi video output and can use on my 20" widescreen at 1680 x 1050
 

do urself a favor n stick to ATI. all X-series, 8 and 9 series cards can support 19*12 dvi so unless u want game, pump up ur mem with those cash or change to conroe to appreciate a significant reduction in processing time (or should i say instant). 128MB video card is more than enough less u do CAD.

u should keep ur old card.
 

thanks all. really. luckily i dun do any gaming....
 

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