What is a Good VIDEO CARD for Windows7 w/Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 ??

[George D.]

As I continue to learn Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 and NeatVideo, it has come to my attention that I just may need a better/faster VIDEO CARD for my Windows7 PC, especially after I'm able to afford, purchase, and start using AE CS5.5

After watching a little of Brad Allen's tutorial I can see that I probably DO need a better video card. I don't know the card I have right now, but will find out and update this post.

Does anyone know of a good, "reasonably priced", Video Card that will make APP CS5.5 and AE CS5.5 work better and faster? Please give me the brand, model, price, and source, but please don't even bother to tell me of a card that costs in the thousands of dollars, 'cause there's no way I can afford that. The RedRocket would be perfect, but I'll be flapping my arms and flying to Mars before I can afford THAT. :001_unsure:

Thanks for your help.

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[Barry Gregg]

I just had a Windows 7 system built with a GTX 580 video card, with 3 gb of ram. The card was $548. and the system is really fast and solid running CS 5.5.

[Peter Stadelmann]

I just had a Windows 7 system built with a GTX 580 video card, with 3 gb of ram. The card was $548. and the system is really fast and solid running CS 5.5.

+1 Have the same card with Windows 7 and cs.5.5. Fantastic performance!!!

[George D.]

I just had a Windows 7 system built with a GTX 580 video card, with 3 gb of ram. The card was $548. and the system is really fast and solid running CS 5.5.

Thanks.

I'll look into it.

Since there are so many brands, etc, out there, can you give me the EXACT one you have?

Are you also saying that your PC has only 3GB of RAM, or are you referring to the card alone? I ask, because my PC has 12.0 GB of RAM.

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[Mike Tiffee]

No he's saying the video card has 3GB of RAM. Something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130751

[Jeff Kilgroe]

He's talking about the video card having 3GB of RAM. Which is one of the more common configurations of the nViida GTX580 video card. I would highly recommend this card as well. It will become your primary display card and replace whatever you have now. You do need to see what you have now before you upgrade though. If you already have a GTX480, as an example, an upgrade to the 580 is probably not going to get you much. Also be aware that working with R3D files, the video card does not accelerate any of the wavelet decompression or debayer process, this is entirely done on the CPU or the RED Rocket (if you have one). So, depending on the specs of the rest of your system, you may run into other bottlenecks. The GPU helps accelerate much of the process that comes *AFTER* decompression and debayer/decode of your most common codecs. Of course the speed advantage is still very noticeable because that acceleration helps keep the load off the CPU so that it may work more on those decompression and decode operations.

nVidia is also set to release new video cards in the coming few weeks. However, depending on your system configuration, you may or may not benefit from them. If you have PCIe v3.0 slots, then you may find some advantages to waiting for the upcoming GTX670 or GTX680 cards. However, it will probably take some (several weeks) time for Adobe to profile them and get them on the certified list withe the proper settings for best support. Some tweaker will probably beat them to it and post the settings, but we can't know for sure how it will play out until the cards start to actually ship. And, depending on the rest of the system, a GPU like the 580 may very well be all it can handle... Like I said above, you could have bottlenecks elsewhere. And those can still hamstring a fast GPU.

[Mike Tiffee]

^^^ pro advice right there

[George D.]

What about this one guys? It's a better price. Will it do the same job?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Mini-HDMI-Lifetime-Warranty-015-P3-1580-AR/dp/B004B8VL64


Thanks.

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[Mike Tiffee]

It's a better price because it's half the RAM.

[George D.]

It's a better price because it's half the RAM.

Oh, I see.

Well, scratch that one.

Thanks.

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[Mike P.]

Has anyone ever explicitly tested how vRAM differences affect performance in CS5.5? I was under the impression that, after a certain point (1GB) it really doesn't play a major roll and that the speed/bandwidth is what really counts.

Conversely, if you're dead-locked on a 580, it only makes sense to spend the additional $50 to get double the RAM.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I would think the 1.5GB version of the card would work just fine. 3GB really kicks in with demanding 3D applications and games, even then, 3GB is overkill in most situations unless you crank up the texture resolutions all the way, even then, 3GB is quite a bit.

OTOH, I have not done any comparative testing, nor do I have knowledge of the internal workings of Premiere CS5.5... So, it's hard to say how efficiently it uses the available video memory. So, on that note, I agree with Mike P. For $50 more, I'd buy the 3GB version. Better resale value too, if that's a concern.

[Yannick Verry]

The 3gb won't bring that much, and probably bring nothing most of the time if you don't require high resolutions textures in your project.
Sure it's only 50$ extra, but at some point one need to think what he needs and what he doesn't.

[Artino Ahmadi]

Hi Jeff what do you recommend for cpu's? i'm looking at that same 3gb 580 card, intel 3930k, rampage iv extreme mobo, and the 32gb gskill memory kit here; http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231507

what i can't figure out is whether to wait for the new ivy bridge cpus or go ahead with the x79 LGA 2011 system.