Does a 1GB Graphics Card Make Sense for a Non-Gamer?
I’ve been doing some research into video cards and I need to gain some knowledge on the subject from experts like yourselves. I have an ATI Radeon 2600 (256MB) graphics card in my early 2008 Mac Pro. I drive two displays (a 24″ and 19″ display) as part of my setup. I primarily work with tools like Photoshop, Sketchbook Pro, Corel Painter and Maya.
Would it make sense to update the video card to a 1GB ATI Radeon 4870 for a non-gamer like myself? Or is it better to keep what I have? What advantage (if any) would be gained if I sprung for the upgrade? Would I notice any overall improvement in day-to-day OS related tasks in Mac OS X Lion?
Thanks in advance,
–Krishna
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Tell me what you think!
Vivek
October 21, 2011 at 11:11 pmCheck out the Maya website. I vaguely remember that many 3D packages use the graphics card memory to store textures for OpenGL. This could speed up previews and interaction with Maya. Not sure if it helps with rendering speed.
Molotovich
October 22, 2011 at 12:41 pmI can tell you this, the more video memory you got, the less ram is used for rendering, you will notice the gains when you use photoshop or use 3D.
I have a 2gb card, and video playback is good
Daniel
October 22, 2011 at 9:24 pmThat’s and old card you got there… First, you have to know that memory is the least important thing in a card. I can have a 1GB or less VGA that whipes the floor with a 2GB one.
You can get a Radeon 6870 (Last gen) for $170, I don’t know your budget but that’s a GOOD card. It’ll improve your overall experience with your design tools and Full HD video playback.
If that’s too much money that 4870 would be fine though… It’s just a little old (like 2008) so in a couple years it’d be ancient tech lol.
Krishna
October 22, 2011 at 10:22 pmyeah, the 2600 is what originally came with my Mac Pro when I first bought it. I figure anything with more than 256MB of video RAM would be a huge step up (particularly for that resource hog — Photoshop CS5.5.)
Aljiro
October 23, 2011 at 5:25 amI got a Sapphire ATI 5750 Vapor X and it works great. I can open large files with Photoshop and it runs pretty smooth. It can also play most recent games at a decent resolution. :D
MasterMacMaverick
October 24, 2011 at 8:36 pmOk, having only 256Mb for two huge monitors is way underpowered. Especially for graphics intensive apps like Photoshop and the like.
These apps sort of ‘depend’ on the system having the Video card processing power to render what you need. Boiling it down to, the more Video memory you have, the faster the rendering speed you will get.
Now this also works in conjunction with the amount of system RAM that you have installed. Best way to think of it: the more (you can afford) the better.
As for your related article of video artifacts, having a clean system will be the very first thing to help out a system that is struggling to process all the necessary data/info that it needs to. Having more memory in the video card will allow more information to be processed; and you will find that real-time rendering will be VASTLY snappier.
This is stated from my experience and training. Hope it helps!
Krishna
October 25, 2011 at 10:58 amThanks, MasterMacMaverick
To clarify a few points:
The video artifacts I was experiencing with my Samsung display happened suddenly after working flawlessly for months. I tested the display on 3 machines (one was a Macbook Pro with 512MB of video RAM) – including a clean-install setup, and the video artifacts appeared each time. It was definitely the display, not the video card.
MasterMacMaverick
October 26, 2011 at 7:12 pmThx. Wasn’t sure. I feel better.