Best GPU for photo-editing?

[michaelahess]

Good point TheGreatGrapeApe, just get something from a reputable company, a real ATI for example.

 

[bourgeoisdude]

This particular Asrock mobo is fine, that I disagree on. Support is great and stability is great. This one they got lucky on--inexpensive components but rock solid. It didn't win 16 different "best buy" awards for nothing...

 

[michaelahess]

Ok, I've just had a bunch fail over the last year, glad you got a good one!

 

[bourgeoisdude]

Ok, I've just had a bunch fail over the last year, glad you got a good one!

I find that brands really aren't the big deal--it is the models. This exact ASrock model board is fine, however others aren't so fine. In general ASUS makes stable boards--however that one with the KT333 chipset and AGP 4X slot (don't remember model) sucked horribly.

The ASrock 939 Dual SATA-II is rock solid, trust me.

 

[cleeve]

My 939dual-SATA2 has been awesome. I've overclocked it a bit and it hasn't even so much as hiccupped.

Once I get around to voltmodding it and putting on my XP-90 cooler, we'll see what it can do...

 

[joefriday]

Since I do so much Photoshop and so little gaming on this one machine, I find the integrated graphics board to be more cost effective.

If you're serious about it, integrated will sap your performance, so pay the extra few bucks and get an add-in card. Remember non-integrated boards are usually cheaper than integrated boards, thus the cost difference will be very small like $20 (X300's are $40 or less not 75), but it's worth it rather than buy expensive memory and CPU and have them crippled by shared memory performance.

You're right to a certain degree, but the performance hit will likely be less than 5%, assuming he has adequate system memory left after the igp takes its share. Definately not owrth the cost of a graphics card. IGP's are the way to go for bang/buck ratio.

 

[Son_of_Blob]

The Matrox Parhelia wins hands down for 2D photo editing, especially when used with an aperture-grill 21" monitor, Sony, Philips "P" series or Mitsubishi Diamdtrons (or other CRTS that use Mitsibishi tubes, though check for quality electronic components that allow for 100HZ plus refresh rates) Even better, the Matrox dual-head capabilities allow you to edit the photos on one screen and have all your tool pallettes on a second screen (which can be any old 17"+ el cheapo).

Nobody beats Matrox for 2D sharpness or colour depth. For the ocassional 3d game for the kids, maybe a MOBO with inbuilt 3d engine will be enough, failing that, buy them an Xbox or something.

Oh yeah, at least 2gig of ram is essential too.

 

[woodchuk]

Wow, I'm having a tough sell I know for the smaller form factor, and I can't find the Tom's article with benchmarks showing the only hit whatsoever is in gaming with this chipset. It works for 2D only and sucks completely at any game newer than HL1. And it is true the onboard 128Mgs memory comes out of 2Gigs but in graphics benches the little boards are the exact equivelent and slightly superior in usable bandwidth, being a newer design.Rendering speeds approximate 9800 series which works for me, but you really need a fast processor and ideally a 150 Raptor HD. When I apply sophisticated masks and special effects the video chip can only render as fast as the numbers are crunched and saved.

Had a bad Asrock board or two, now I try to stick to Asus/MSI/Gigabyte, that's just my experience.
Right about prices, looks like $60-80 for these boards

 

[Foxxx]

Oke.

This is what i learned. For photo-editing there is no big difference in GPU as long as you get one from a A-label with a minimum of 64 Mb.

Integrated GPU is out of the question.

2 Gb RAM is a must.

If i'm doing more than photo's and want to play a game once and a while a X1300 PRO 256 Mb seems the logical choice.

If i'm planning on multitasking i should get a X2.

I narrowed my choices down to these 3:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/products/graphics_overview.php?gpid=123

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/vga/vga/pro_vga_detail.php?UID=699

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=8&l3=234&model=784&modelmenu=1

Must say that my TFT Acer 1916W (widescreen) does not have a DVI.

One last question: I could get a NVIDIA 6600 or 6600 LE with 256 Mb for the same price, would this be prefered over the X1300 PRO?

Peter

 

[bourgeoisdude]

DON'T get the 6600LE, the 6600 is decent for the price though. Just don't get an Inno3D like I did

 

[theboomboomcars]

I am talking about ram. The more ram the better. Your memory bandwidth is measured in GB/s and your hard drive is measured in MB/s. So get lots of ram.

 

[cleeve]

I tried editing photos on an integrated setup once, I found the display to be wiry and had slight interference. Just low display quality.

That's noit necessarily the case with all integrated setups, but that's taught me it's worth it for my eyes to spend the $50 to get a cheap discrete card.

 

[woodchuk]

Don't know how I got to be a fanboy for integrated video which has so many shortcomings we all agree, but most of what I'm doing right now is still editing on photos. I have two machines I use, one has nVidia2 integrated video and the other has a late model ATI 128 Mg video card, and I have Photoshop on both and you really can't tell the difference on the Samsung CRT. What does make a big difference is dual processor and 2 Gigs, if you try it you won't want to go back, I guarantee.

It's been several years since integrated 2Mg cards looked bad and I was pleasantly surprised on this one machine to upgrade processor/memoryand not have to spring for a dedicated card. Since I don't work professionally I don't get the great (e$pensive) Matrox card which dosn't mean I would turn down one as a gift
If you have an extra you don't need.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Just something to consider when dealing with DB-15/VGA/Analogue output. Integrated cards have to deal with interference on the motherboard far more since they aren't direct connect.

A good example is this review from Xbit;
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/chipsets/display/int-chipsets-roundup_13.html

And if he's doing any gaming, even casual like he mentions, then integrated is out of the question, far too often they just crash.

In this month's CPU magazine they show that the integrated does sap performance, but you're right, it's far less than it used to be. However if picking a part I'd still pick one with additional discrete memory that can operate without using the system memory, like the RX480.

Still I would say for good picture quality go with an add-in card. Everyone's different, but I don't like some of the limitations of some integrated systems (some do not even run at certain resolutions, like the Intel model or when using WS on some of the ATi and nV under Linux).

Also when you mentioned the GF6150, remember that DVI out can only cary the digital signal while the DB-15 carries the analgue, you can't run dual analgue monitors at once, even if it is a DVI-A monitor like my P260.