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Topic: Video / Graphics card ... which shall I buy!? - Page: 1

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Hey there, I have been a VDJ user since it first started out on the open market and I can honestly say it is the best tool ever!!
However it has now come to the point in my life where I want to build my own PC - I have made a start with a P4 processor, 1GB RAM and two 80GB HDD. What I want to know now is, what graphics / video card should I buy.
Please bear in mind I havnt won the lottery so I cant afford loads of cash, but I do have two monitors so want to be able to use the video option that VDJ.
Many thanks for your time

PHIL
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 3:56 pm
PeettiiHome userMember since 2006
hi
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 3:57 pm
DJ CyderPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2003
at least a 6600gt if you want to do video make sure it has gddr3 ram
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 4:52 pm
OK - forgive me for sounding dumb but what is a "6600gt"?

I know this topic has been covered a million times before but I thought as I was building a system from scratch it may have an alternate outcome!?...
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 6:23 pm
DJ CyderPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2003
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 6:32 pm
ATI has been working well for me.

I have a laptop with graphics by ATI and it works wonders.

prices have reently droped.
lots of features,
great performace,

for more info go to www.ati.com

DJ Shahar
www.djshahar.com
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 7:00 pm
ATI is my weapon of choice, got me one of these on order, should be here tomorrow :-

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115730

I'm VERY excited.

BUT.... I would seriously consider boosting your memory choice up to two gig.


 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 7:09 pm
OK, thanks for that - but looking at the ones you have all posted I can see a regular Monitor socket but the second is a white socket??? I have two normal monitors - will my second monitor fit into the white socket that looks different to the normal one?...
 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 9:45 pm
Nine times out of ten you get a converter with the graphics card, if not then just buy a dvi to vga converter:-

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=10FD

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DVI-to-VGA-Monitor-Converter-Adapter-HDTV-LCD-TV_W0QQitemZ120028494515QQihZ002QQcategoryZ72401QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

OR

You can buy leads that do the conversion for you :-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DVI-to-VGA-cable-2-Mtr-converter-M-M-adaptor-lead_W0QQitemZ270027732958QQihZ017QQcategoryZ41999QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem





 
Posted Mon 11 Sep 06 @ 10:25 pm
DJ-ALFPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2005
Nvidia 7600GT (recommended by Cyder) is the best choice for the money. You can go with 7600Gs also, but there is new Nvidia card that is even cheaper and can be very good:7300Gt. It should be around 100$, has 256Mb ram and it is a little slower that 7600Gs model. Consider Gygabyte or Asus model, Microstar is not that fast. The thing you all should avoid is Nvidia 7300Gs, it is very slow because of it's 64-bit bandwith (7300Gt has 128Bit).
Funny how one letter can be different.
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 4:53 am
DJ CyderPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2003
Careful there alf not all 7300gt's are equal

I've only seen one with specs good enough to hold up in VDJ its here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122008

I'm not sure how they are pulling it off either core clock on most 7300's is 350 mhz :(

The one i linked to however has a core clock of 520 mhz, so im assuming its highly overclocked and I wouldn't trust it. Better to stick with the 7600.
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 5:20 am
DJ-ALFPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2005
Cyder, I know that all 7300Gt are not the same. Cpu and ram clock speed is not the same because Nvidia didn't set specification for this model. It has G73 chip which is the same as on 7600 Gs/Gt models and the PCB (motherboard) is the same also. It is very hard to pick one because it can have ddr2 or ddr3 memory which is a big difference. I have a article test of 4 these models. The best is Gigabyte GV-NX73T256P - it is 7300Gt with 256Mb, Cpu clock is 450Mhz and memory is ddr2 at 800Mhz. The second best is Asus Extreme N7300Gt Silent - 256Mb ddr2 at 800Mhz and CPU at 400Mhz.
These cards cost around 100$ and it is a good solution for those who are low on the budget. If you have to spare another 70$, go for 7600Gt.
About that Leadtek WinFast PX7300GT Cyder has linked, I must say GO FOR IT! Because it has fan for cooling and the models I described don't, so the heat can not be a problem.
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 5:54 am
acw_djPRO InfinitySenior staffMember since 2005
Carefull,

GT is the letter to follow in an N-Vidia video card. GS isn't a good choice. 6600 GT is the minimum and 7600GT is the next generation on 6600GT videocard. 7300 and 7400 are the newer 6300 & 6400 video cards, and they are not all good. It's not only the chipset, it's the whole thing. 7600GT with DDR3 has more bandwith and more speed by FAR a 7300 or 7400 could give.

Talking about ASUS:
7300GT: Clock: 400MHz MemoryClock: 800MHz DDR2 Memory Interface: 128bits
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1193&l1=2&l2=6&l3=266
Bandwith: 10.7 GB/s Fill Rate: 2800 million pixels/sec Vertices/Sec: 350 millions

7600GT: Clock 560MHz Memory Clock: 1.4GHz DDR3 Memory Interface: 128 bits:
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1097&l1=2&l2=6&l3=271
Bandwith: 22.4 GB/s Fill Rate: 6700 million pixels/sec Vertices/Sec: 700 millions


7900GT: Clock: 520MHz MemoryClock: 1440MHz DDR3 Memory Interface: 256bits
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1074&l1=2&l2=6&l3=269
Bandwith: 42.2 GB/s Fill Rate: 10800 million pixels/sec Vertices/Sec: 700 millions

7900GTX:Clock: 650MHz MemoryClock: 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Interface: 256bits
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1062&l1=2&l2=6&l3=269
Bandwith: 51.2 GB/s Fill Rate: 15600 million pixels/sec Vertices/Sec: 940 millions


7950GT:Clock: 600MHz MemoryClock: 1430MHz DDR3 Memory Interface: 256bits
http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/winfast_px7950gte_tdh_1.html
Bandwith: 44.8 GB/s Fill Rate: 13200 million pixels/sec Vertices/Sec: 1100 millions


7950GX2: Clock: 500MHz MemoryClock: 1200MHz DDR3 Memory Interface: 512bits
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1187&l1=2&l2=6&l3=306
Bandwith: 76.8 GB/s Fill Rate: 24000 million pixels/sec Vertices/Sec: 2000 millions

Gigabyte, Leadtek, Asus, are good brands.
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 9:34 am
djcelPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2004
I would say ATI radeon X1x00 series
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 3:42 pm
My new card arrived today, the one I linked to here :-

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115730

Just finished fitting it and testing. It's a HUGE card so I had to move one of my hard drives. Fired it up and WOW, all I did was run visualisations in a window, but I stretched the window to full size on the 17 monitor and the colours were just stunning, beautifull saturation even for a window, and the movement was sooooo fluid even with the window stretched to full screen. The one I took out was no slouch, it was an ATI x1300 with 512 of ddr mem, this is an x1800 GTO2 with 512 meg of ddr3, it's made a big difference. Can't wait till Friday when I gig with it!

 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 6:33 pm
Yupp.. ATI got two thumbs up from me too :)
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 6:51 pm
I tried the X1600 Pro in my POS Dell and I found out that Dell has problems with the X1x00 cards. Don't quote me, but it didn't work correctly.
 
Posted Tue 12 Sep 06 @ 7:31 pm
OK, I'm all confused-sorta. I currently have an Nvidia GeForce 5500 fx with 256 Meg of RAM. I think I need to upgrade it for 4.0, so, if I wanted to get another Nvidia card...which one should I get? All of the "Be carefulls" here have me afraid to make a purchase! Can one of the team post a direct link to specific card's web page please?

My system now is a P4 3.0GHz
1 Gig Ram
Maya 44
and the Nvidia.

I wouldn't say I have an open budget, but will spend $200 if it's the way to go. I make my living with this software so it's worth it! :)
 
Posted Wed 13 Sep 06 @ 3:39 am
DJ-ALFPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2005
For $200 there is no mystery, go for 7600Gt 256Mb model with ddr3. You can't go wrong!
 
Posted Wed 13 Sep 06 @ 4:28 am
Thank you!
 
Posted Wed 13 Sep 06 @ 4:37 am
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