Comp Geeks! Need help with vid card purchase!

[el stumpo]

Ok, I'm not too shabby with computers, I have all kinds of three and four letters after my name, but I'm really a software guy.

I bought the wife a new pute. Nothing too crazy, but I thought pretty good for the $ - Core 2 Du E4700 (yea, only 2mb cache, but hey... read on), 4GB and 500GB. It has an onboard HDMI port but I'm not using it and need a DVI (it only came with a sub-d connector) as well to run dual screens. Oh, $399+tax=~$440

Now I'm looking at upgrading the video card. We don't play COD4 (whatever that is, I just see lots of references to it) or WoW (I know what that is). I'm looking for a card to off-load video to give as much ram back to the CPU (bad news it max 4GB on mobo ) We do lots of pics and I'd like to get back into video editing.

I'm looking at a 1GB 8500 GT (~$70 - yes, says 512MB, but I bought the 1GB version) but then I found a 512mb Radeon 4640 $50-$10MIR. Now I find Radeon 4540, 4340 all in the same range.

Ok, almost done... questions:
In order, what is more important: DDR3/DDR2, # of stream processors, amount of RAM, core clock, 64/128bit?
For $50, I can get 512 DDR3 but 64-bit or I can get the aforementiond 1GB 8500 GT or 512MB DDR2 60 stream proc 64-bit or a 512mb, ddr2 16 stream 128-bit or even Radeon 3650, 128-bit, 1gb, 120 stream $50

This is too much work for $50, so what do you recommend I look at when purchasing? ???

Thanks!

 

[dadofthree]

Buy a Mac

 

[el stumpo]

Oh, I do have a PCIe x16 slot available and the PSU is 300W. The sales rep at TigerDirect said I could run the 8500 GT with a 300w even though it says it needs 350w.

 

[el stumpo]

Buy a Mac

Nothing against Macs, but too rich for my blood. I do have Ubuntu dual-booted though!

 

[WWJD]

since you are NOT a game player, I would not sweat this decision very much at all. ANYTHING will do. just pick your price point and select one here:

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: Jan. '09 : Best Cards For The Money: December Review/January Updates - Review Tom's Hardware

 

[mymaster]

since you are NOT a game player, I would not sweat this decision very much at all. ANYTHING will do. just pick your price point and select one here:

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: Jan. '09 : Best Cards For The Money: December Review/January Updates - Review Tom's Hardware

+1, if not gaming go with the cheaper, the high end games require the card.

 

[djsin]

i like my dual screens, it allows me to watch my p_ _n while surfing...lol

 

[Hectic]

Many lower end cards will support dual screens. IMO you're really overthinking this. Buy whatever card you feel comfortable with, its not going to matter much for what you're doing. As far as what to look for in a card, look for ram and core clock first, realize that 90% of the time, if you're going to find a nicer card, you're going to spend more money, as a cheaper card with "good numbers" probably A) uses really cheap POS memory and components and B) Probably has some awful bottleneck that will slow down your system.

Also, try Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!, they're normally pretty cheap, maybe you can get one of last year's nicer cards on clearence. For what you say you're doing, see if you can find a nVidia 7950gt, its old, but when it was new, it was a higher end card, I'm sure you can find one dirt cheap somewhere.

 

[el stumpo]

since you are NOT a game player, I would not sweat this decision very much at all. ANYTHING will do. just pick your price point and select one here:

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: Jan. '09 : Best Cards For The Money: December Review/January Updates - Review Tom's Hardware

Problem is, there is only card below $80 and the rest are higher... my price point is much lower

It was good reading though! I think the 4640 is the front runner now, from what I've read, the difference for normal people b/t .5GB and 1GB is not appreciable.

 

[dadofthree]

Nothing against Macs, but too rich for my blood. I do have Ubuntu dual-booted though!

"Good luck" Taken

 

[Cookie]

Nothing against Macs, but too rich for my blood. I do have Ubuntu dual-booted though!

No offense to Macs out there, for half the money you can build the same PC. And, if you are booting Ubuntu,, you are getting into real world OS rather than the run of the mill 'belly button' computers OS's. But, if you are into Linux 'people' software, then you are already further ahead of the game than previously mentioned. Macs are nice, but for my same money,, it will be with buildable systems, for sure.

Have you tried Newegg.com for your card or other device purchases? Just an option.

Whether you want a dual or single graphics card setup, your best bet is the 8800 GTX by Nvidia. It's the most feature-rich (DirectX 10 compatible) and highest performing (highest frame rates). Some of the manufacturers for this card are EVGA, BFG, and Foxconn, just to name a few. Physically, all the different brands are nearly identical. However, the GPU cooler, accessories, warranty, included software, and customer service may vary from one to another. Nvidia recently released the ULTRA version, which is basically a manufacturer overclocked version (if you don't want to overclock the GTX yourself). EVGA's ULTRA version uses WATER COOLING, so be sure you have a water cooling setup before purchasing this model. Some other makers have ULTRA versions that use air cooling. I would look at these if that's what you have in your system. IF you have even more money to burn, get a second card (assuming you have 2 PCIx x16 slots) and set them up in SLI mode.

Want THE best,,, try here for a look at the Nvidia 8800 Ultra

New NVIDIA GeForce® 8800 Ultra Enables World's Fastest Gaming Platform

 

[Skywalker]

Ubuntu rocks! I have done Linux now for about 5 years with Mandrake/Mandriva, SUSE, RED HAT and now my fav is Ubuntu. If everyone only new what they are missing they would download Ubuntu today!

Nothing against Macs, but too rich for my blood. I do have Ubuntu dual-booted though!

 

[Cookie]

Ubuntu rocks! I have done Linux now for about 5 years with Mandrake/Mandriva, SUSE, RED HAT and now my fav is Ubuntu. If everyone only new what they are missing they would download Ubuntu today!

I SO AGREE!!! wHOA!

 

[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

256 bit, everything else should fall into place, frame rate etc... you might want directX 10 support as well?

really depends on what you are doing with it...

 

[WWJD]

Problem is, there is only card below $80 and the rest are higher... my price point is much lower

It was good reading though! I think the 4640 is the front runner now, from what I've read, the difference for normal people b/t .5GB and 1GB is not appreciable.

below $80? now you are comparing Yugo's and Go-Karts! Just buy something already. It will work fine. Use the onboard AND a plug in card if you want duel screen. Unless you are doing GAMING or CAD, you won't need more than 128 to 256 meg of ram on it. I'm an AVID [Livid?] gamer and .5GB is way more than I need.

and I +3 the newegg.com suggestion also. it's all I use anymore