How low can I go?

[WalterMitty]

First off, Hi, not a newb, but the new account would seem so...

I am in the process of building a new system for the Photoshop graphics work and eventually back to video editing. I am going to be running the likes of CS5, Lightroom 2 or 3 ( I am not sure if I will upgrade yet), and probably Vegas Video (the system I learned on so I am wary of changing up). I was reading about the video card compatibility issues with cs5 open gl support, and wanted to know if perhaps someone would chime in on how inexpensive I can get off video card wise and still be able to max the settings in the software. I know the the motherboard has on board graphics, and I will start out using it, but I suspect that it will not be sufficent for optimum performance.

The build particulars are:
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H
8gb (G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)) X 2)
Raptor drive (150GB) and eventually an SSD for the operating system
and a 4gb gigabyte pci ram drive for the scratch disk.

I work with alot of raw files. Excuse me, that should have been ALOTTTTTT!!!!!!! So being able to output files faster per item really pays off after you have hand processed a couple of hundred of them.

Thanks in advance for whatever help you might be able to lend.

Rob (aka WalterMitty)

And of course, I am, like the rest of you, bent on performance.

 

[Sikkyu]

unless you have a specific ATI card in mind this might be better in the video card forums. unless something changed with adobe, i believe they only support cuda enabled hardware. so workstation based nvidia cards (quadro)

My info might be outdated but thats all I got right now.

 

[WalterMitty]

I am not looking that far into a weighty card. I know that several consumer cards are supposed to be capable of doing an adequate job with CS5.

Oh, and I have an affinity for ATI cards. I just haven't advanced beyond my XT1900. So I am behind the curve a bit here.

 

[Sikkyu]

I am not looking that far into a weighty card. I know that several consumer cards are supposed to be capable of doing an adequate job with CS5.

Oh, and I have an affinity for ATI cards. I just haven't advanced beyond my XT1900. So I am behind the curve a bit here.

Looks like only premiere and after effects can use cuda, if your not using those that it looks like any video card will do.

the HD5k seriers is an obvious choice.

if you game at all with less then a 23" monitor a 5770 or a 5850 would be very powerfull, anything higher, and you will probably want at least a 5850 if not a 5870.

great thing is they are low power(compared to similar nvidia cards) and extremely powerful.

5670 ~ 100$ <--- if you dont game at all get one of these
5770 ~ 145$ <--- solid performing card similar to a 4870(what I use)
5830 ~ 220$
5850 ~ 300$ <<-- best bang for the buck
5870 ~ 380$

the 5k series also supports ATI stream if adobe ever decides to support it as well.

I game on a 27" monitor and if I were to upgrade it with be a 5850/70

 

[WalterMitty]

Thanks for the input. Now I need to weigh the alternative uses of the machine against the card of choice. I do game a little, but all of them are old. Just like me.

 

[Dangman]

Out of curiosity, what PSU will you be using?

 

[USMCGrunt]

I am not looking that far into a weighty card. I know that several consumer cards are supposed to be capable of doing an adequate job with CS5.

Oh, and I have an affinity for ATI cards. I just haven't advanced beyond my XT1900. So I am behind the curve a bit here.

Not sure what you mean by weighty?? I would say that if your gonna be using it in a professional way and don't want to fork out for a Quattro then a GTX 275/285 would be a good choice imo. That way you don't have to shell out the big bucks (assuming thats what you mean by weighty) and you still get a relatively fast card that your pro. software can take advantage of.