Graphics Card for Video Editing

[craigtorell]

I am trying to spec out a Dell workstation for video editing (using Avid Express or Premiere Pro). Besides needing a video capture card, do I also need a high-performance graphics display card in order to do video editing effectively? (Dell is offering me nVidia Quadro FX 500, 1000, or 3000, or ATI Fire GL X1 128MB). Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Far BETTER and FAR cheaper than any Quadro or FireGL would be a MATROX P series. If dell doesn't offer it, buy it seperately. Best choice for 2D and TV.

The P650 should do you nicely and the P750 would allow you triple monitor suport source/tools/output. Both of those cards would be cheaper than even the Q-FX500 which is a DOG, and a VERY expensive one at that!

Here's a run down of the Matrox cards.

<A HREF="http://" target="_new">http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/comp_chart/gseries_pseries_parhelia.cfm</A>

That would be the best solution for video editing, even if you had to buy the cards seperately. The cards you have listed are far too expensive for their worth. They are for 3D-animation more than video editing.

For the price of the Q-FX500 you should be able to easily get a Parhelia which would be the best pro-sumer solution you could get IMO.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[Crashman]

He's right, you don't need a strong 3D card for video editing, you just need a decent card. Heck, I'd go with a cheap gaming card if it weren't for your super quality requirements, where Matrox is king.

Heck, I'd still go with a cheap gaming card, just because they're cheap. It's your CPU that does the work, and my eyes aren't perfect enough to tell the difference between the latest cards in 2D mode.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
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[cleeve]

Depends what you're using for video editing... the new Adobe Premiere PRO uses Direct3d hardware for realtime editing.

But stay away from the expensive quadros and FireGLs... they offer you no benefit over the stock cards.

If you're using Premiere PRO, I'd recommend a newer Radeon (9500 or higher). If you're using older versions of premiere or other editing software, go Matrox or Ati... any cheap card with a decent RAMDAC will do (Radeon 7500, 9000, 9200, etc.)

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9500 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(hardmodded 9500, o/c 322/322)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>2600+</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 2400+ w/143Mhz fsb)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,055</b></font color=red>

 

[timberwolf1]

I don't think you need an extremely high performance card to do video editing. I'm using an old Leadtek WinFast GeForce MMX 440 with Premiere and I've no problems.


Gary Hendricks
<A HREF="http://www.digital-music-guide.com" target="_new">www.digital-music-guide.com</A>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The Geforce 4 and below are TERRIBLE 2D cards, the quality is dramatically poorer.

People don't notice the difference between alot of things (eg; Intel audio and an M-Audio/Audigy card).

But for video editing, if you want true representation you need a good quality card, even an FX5200 would have better image quality than any Gefore 4 (or any radeon under the R7500).

And for those who can't tell the difference, stick with a modern integrated solution, they will do just as well as a GF4 for 2D.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The thing is I haven't seen anyone show any significant improvements with performance between an R9600+ versus an R9000/9100/9200 etc. So I'm not sure exactly how resource hungry it is. Remember the matrox cards CAN do light duty 3D, just not play games as well as the others. I'd think the P650 would be able to handle the requirements of Adobe P-Pro, but I could be wrong, I just doubt it's THAT resource intensive in the 3D field, I think it's more like effects and such. However of course this will all change with the advent of PCI-0EX where ATI says that the VPU will be able to handle video processing for editing to speed things up significantly.

MMMmmm... AIW PCI-EX, now that's the ticket.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[Crashman]

Wow, if Premier is using Direct3D, those OGL cards he listed would be an even MORE horrible choice as they sacrifice D3D performance for the sake of OGL performance.

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