Need Graphics Card Advice... again.

AutoDMC · Post by **AutoDMC** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:03 pm

And quickly!

Howdy, folks.

I'm not a real graphics card nut... despite the last time I was here and asked for advice on Graphics Card Advice, I still have a DirectX 2 Card

But this time, it's advice for the Video Production Company I work for, Video-7 Production Company, Inc.

The only tech they trust out here on the lake had a family emergency and is not available, and the graphics card in one of the editing stations is causing trouble.

We need a new graphics card, and we need it quick! I needed some advice on this front.

We mainly use Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing, After Effects for motion graphics... and we are running WinXP all around.

The machine in question runs a 64 bit processor.

We were looking at two possibilities:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... TC-B1zrat3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... verturesmx

We need a card that can handle the best possible OpenGL and DirectX, because we use alot of video acceleration. But we also need it at a basic price. The president of the company already bought a new Gfx card for the computer, and it's having issues.

I've heard that we need to use Nvidea instead of ATI becuase it supports OpenGL better... is this the case?

Any advice would be helpful, as I am the one being looked to for advice on the matter... and I want to keep my job! HAHA.

Thanks in advance.

afecelis · Post by **afecelis** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:40 pm

Well, I also do video editing on my machines and then I download my vids via firewire directly to miniDV (pyroplatinum card) or (depending on the client) to VHS using an old-but-very-useful MiroDC30pro analog capture card. I've always used Nvidia cards for the other work without a problem, but I must warn you that problems may come up with any card you plug in (agp or pci-havent tried sli yet) but not because the card is bad but because of irq conflicts (shared irq #, etc). So if you dont have tons of extra pci cards and stuff things should go smoothly. As a personal comment, I've had problems with ATI; bad drivers, weird graphics, weird opengl acceleration and one card died after 3 uses. So I'm a deep loyal Nvidia fan.

The conflicts I mention may come up when you plug in a card and you got extra pci capture cards installed like Matrox, or DPS or Pinnacle. Since they're both for video stuff (but different purposes) they tend to confuse the system.

as a final comment, the video-rendering process is more cpu than gpu dependent; you don't render a timeline in opengl or dx, it just uses your main processor for that, so instead of a huge chip in your gpu I think you guys got more than enough with that 64 bit processor you mention.

I'd say go for the 6600 you posted.

AutoDMC · Post by **AutoDMC** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:21 pm

Thank you, afecelis!

We just use the Firewire system in Premiere Pro to capture the video, so there wouldn't be conflicts on that.

We have an ATI card in there now, but it's pretty new, so we didn't really know what was up. The president wanted to try another card, so we will

We'll go ahead and try that 6600. Thanks!

As an sidebar...

What's the newest version of OpenGL? 1.5?

What's the BARE MINIMUM I need to see all the features in Irrlicht? My current card has no OpenGL support, and the DirectX support is less than worth it. I'm looking at a new card, and I need to keep the price down as far as possible.

I'd like the latest OpenGL and DIrectX support. I also need the "pixel and vertex shaders", etc. What are the "buzzwords" I have to look for. (I already planned to get a Nvidea card...)

Thanks.

latentdisposition · Post by **latentdisposition** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 7:33 pm

What's the newest version of OpenGL? 1.5?

Actually it is 2.0. It was released in September of last year.

From Irrlicht's features page it says that it currently supports OpenGL 1.2 and Pixel and Vertex Shaders 1.1 to 3.0.

I hope this helps.

Midnight · Post by **Midnight** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 8:03 pm

latent disposition

Is that just a complex term for lazy? ROFLMMFAO hahahaha!

Niice..

I love the sig also it's putting words to the very core of my being.

etcaptor · Post by **etcaptor** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:41 am

I got geForce 6600, pci-e. Have no troubles, good FPS. With ATI I has only problems - they won't update their drivers, also has bad Linux support. And bad working Macrovision support for their tuners

. My previous ATI tuner claims that I recording a copyright protected material, when use my analog camera with it. On the job I have ATI too and get these problems again with SVHS camera. ATI won't help me. I was forced to search tolls for hacking of their drivers, to use recording fuctions of my tuner. I will never buy ATI card!

afecelis · Post by **afecelis** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 12:50 pm

whoa! that's another good tip to know!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:05 pm

both ATI and Nvidia are flawed gems

Nvidia has released many buggy drivers lately, but on the other side ATI only has 7 drivers out this year so far.

Nvidia tends to run much hotter than ATI cards, make sure you have a well ventilated case. The 6600 has a better price/performance ratio I think. Both offer Linux drivers but has I don't have a Linux machine I don't know if they are any good.