custom graphics card_dual monitors, HD video, smooth web browsing, photoshop,

[jagmint]

Hi,

This is my second thread, my first being (http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2128965/setup-computer-trading.html#13259752), through which i got some idea for buying monitor from "Maxor1", "n3cw4rr10r" and graphics card choices from "hans_pcguy".

Gaining knowledge from that thread i came to know that ground basic graphics card is of not much value. Hence i have increased my budget for graphics card to 7200 Indian rupees (120$), "hans_pcguy", gave some good graphics card models but unfortunately i could'nt find them here in my place.

(I primarily postponed to upgrade to LED monitors ( i have right now 2 CRT monitors, one i purchased used (17 inches)for 16$ (roughly around 1000 INR), hence i could spare money for a decent graphics card)

My Desktop configuration is as follows.

Motherboard: Asrock G41M-VS3 R2.0 (has only 1 vga port, that's all no DVI), has 1 x PCI express x 16 slot and 1 x PCI slot.
Integrated graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator x 4500, Pixel Shader 4.0, Direct X 10, Maximum shared memory 1759 MB, Supports D-sub with max resolution up to 2048 x 1536 @ 75Hz

Processor: Intel Core 2 duo 2.66 GHz processor
RAM: Transcend 8 GB DDR 3 RAM 1333 MHz (2 sticks of 4 GB each)
Power supply: Solitaire 500 W
Graphics card: On board graphics card with shared memory, no separate graphics card is installed
HDD: 200 GB Seagate HDD
OS: Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit


My main requirements are

1. Connecting 2 or 3 monitors for extended display (right now only 2 monitors, in future if price drops i will buy another monitor (preferably new LED)).
I am doing equity, futures & options trading and want to have dual displays for ease of use.

2. Web browsing
i want buttery smooth web browsing experience. I recently got a high speed connection. But if i open more web pages the computer hangs and stutters for a while.

3. Entertainment
a. I want to watch Full HD movies, videos, etc without lags, hangs or stutters
b. I want to use TV tuner card to record TV shows for watching later. The TV tuner card records in HD.

4. Photo editing
I am learning photoshop and corel painter, i also use inkscape, serif drawplus as well. I have good drawing skills and want to improve digital graphics skills

5. video editing
if its possible, (people say my CPU is not powerful for video editing). I want to use blender 3D for non-linear video editing

6. Overall computing experience should be smooth and lag free. You people know well what i am talking about.

I am not much into playing high end games so i can compromise in the gaming area.

Please help me to buy a graphics card that will satisfy all the above mentioned usages.
If you have any suggestions or find something wrong please enlighten me.

Thank you very much

Jag

 

[hans_pcguy]

The best way to help you would be to start with helping you understand the Radeon naming system.This is how I would explain it. The old system (since you would presumably be buying something a little older) Goes like this: In Radeon HD 4650 "4" "6" "5" "0". The "4" is the generation it was made, 3 older 4 newer 5 newer yet etc. The "6" stands for the major power group. 9 the highest then 8,7,6 and so on. The "5" is a minor power consideration. 9 highest then 8,7,6 etc. So a Radeon 4870 would be older but more powerful than a Radeon 5450. What you could expect to get a good deal on on a reasonably good graphics card would be something like a Radeon 4670, 4770, 4850, 5670, 5760, 5770,(the 58xx cards are all pretty high power consumption, I would stay away from them) 6670, 6770, 7750. You can Google these cards and the Nvidia equivalence. Before you buy just Google the card and see the performance, size and power consumption. I use the Radeon 4670 for my standard when building a computer. If it compares well to that card, you should be able to buy it for under $40. Also watch out for power consumption. I would recommend that you stay under 80 or 90 watts. You could push that up a little if you get a really good deal. If you have more questions feel free to ask.