Best Video Card Running Dual Monitors (2560 x 1600) For Photography

[sbaed01]

I am planning to run dual monitors as follows:
Dell 3008WFP 2560 X 1600
Dell 2407WFP 1920 X 1200

I will use it almost exclusively with Lightroom and Photoshop CS5.
I will not use it for gaming or any 3D work just photography.

What is a good video card with at least 1GB storage that can handle this comfortably without overkill i.e. generate unnecessary heat +noise. Price is not an issue?

Would NVIDIA GTX 470 be an example of overkill?

 

[jitpublisher]

+1. Photoshop does not need much of a video card to work well. Fast processor, multiple cores, fast hard drive and lots of main memory is what makes photoshop fly.

 

[welshmousepk]

as above, a gt220 would do the job well.

though it may be worth getting a 5 series card so you have the option of adding a third monitor down the line. if that isn't important to you though, a gts220 should handle the task fine.

 

[sbaed01]

Thanks for the input. I did not realise that you can run dual monitors 2560x1900 and 1920x1200 on such a relatively low end card.

This will free me up to purchase more memory etc.

I have decided to go with the Nividia GT 220.

I assume that the 2560x1600 connects to the DVI port and the 1920x1200 connects to the VGA port. Or does this not matter wich connector the different monitors are connected to?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

I also note that some GT 220 cards come with a fan. Is it advisable to get one with a fan? OR is it not nescessary to get the fan option

Thanks again for the replies and the money I save by not spending on unescessary features

 

[notty22]

Newegg has been having some great prices on the gt 240,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261061&cm_re=gt_240-_-14-261-061-_-Product
Its only a little more than the 220's and with rebate cheaper.
You should be able to use hdmi and dvi for your outputs.
the 240 has twice the cuda cores (stream processors) as the 220, so that should help with any cuda programs you might encounter.

 

[4745454b]

Speaking of which, what version of PS are you using? Rumor says the next version will support CUDA. You might want to get the GTS250 so you can use it. Would make applying filters and such a lot faster.

 

[magnetman]

I am planning to run dual monitors as follows:
Dell 3008WFP 2560 X 1600
Dell 2407WFP 1920 X 1200

I will use it almost exclusively with Lightroom and Photoshop CS5.
I will not use it for gaming or any 3D work just photography.

What is a good video card with at least 1GB storage that can handle this comfortably without overkill i.e. generate unnecessary heat +noise. Price is not an issue?

Would NVIDIA GTX 470 be an example of overkill?

sbaed01

Did you ever get this setup working? I'm doing similar to your original question and I'm curious how this is working with whatever video card you chose.

Thanks

 

[Emperus]

For lesser heat and noise along with more accurate color metrics and improved stability, you may look into some workstation class cards.. The ATI FirePro V4800 is an excellent buy at a very decent price..

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

photoshop users tend to prefer Nvidia and a silent GT 220 can handle your two monitors without any issue...

Professionals didn't prefer nV, not for Photoshop, sure for Premiere, but that's a different story, for Photoshop it was usually anything but due to image errors. they've only recently been ok.
As for the GT220, for once I agree with Notty, get the GT240 for the price, especially if doing any of the OGL accelerated stuff like smooth AA scaling and zooming.

makes no difference on which port you connect each monitor be it VGA, DVI, HDMI, Display port.

Really? How is that 30" 25x16 going to work on VGA?

DVI to the 30" and VGA or DVI to the 24". [:jaydeejohn:5]

 

[Timop]

Speaking of which, what version of PS are you using? Rumor says the next version will support CUDA. You might want to get the GTS250 so you can use it. Would make applying filters and such a lot faster.

Theres also rumors it will support OpenCL, so its all speculation.

^^
ATI cards support OpenGL accelerations for PS just fine, just get oddles of RAM or a fast HDD/SSD.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Speaking of which, what version of PS are you using? Rumor says the next version will support CUDA. You might want to get the GTS250 so you can use it. Would make applying filters and such a lot faster.

PS won't go CUDA, in CS5 (current version of PS & Premier) only p1 part of 3 in the Mercury Playback Engine uses CUDA and for Premiere only. Adobe already mentioned the next version will be OpenCL, they couldn't do it this time because OpenCL was so delayed so they went with CUDA this time! But next will be OpenGL (currently what everything else in CS5 uses) and OpenCL.

Just another reason to go with the GT240 over the 220.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Argh Timop beat me to it, st00pid slow iPad !!