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Graphics Cards

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SteezySanders
Posts: 174 - Karma: 112
Hey ns! i am looking at getting a new labtop and i know Nvidia GeForce is a really good graphics card. What about the Intel HD 4000? basically I'm wondering what i need to know about graphics cards, what are the top 5, what are their specific uses. I'm not a huge gamer i mostly will be using it for video. I really would like real time srcubbing while im editing video. Thanks! +k for good advice!
Nov 22 2012 5:15PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
It depends on what you're doing. If its for say gaming, the intel integrated HD4000 graphics won't do very well but for things like encoding video the cpu matters more. I'd say look for a laptop with dedicated/discrete graphics.

What's your budget? What program do you use?

A program like premiere pro cs6 supports cuda acceleration which is the graphics card accelerating the rendering in the timeline. If you get a dedicated nvidia graphics card (ie gtx660m) it will be faster, but it totally depends on what your budget is.
Nov 22 2012 7:44PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
Also, I'm assuming its Pc, right?
Nov 22 2012 8:51PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Intel HD graphics are worthless, sounds like you're looking at 13" mbp? Also there are tons of different GPUs there really isn't just a top 5
Nov 22 2012 10:10PM
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gusestomp
Posts: 1377 - Karma: 746
I mean.. if in a mbp, make sure to get like a nvidia 650 or something.

PC, look at reviews and just pick out a graphics card that is built for your needs.
My of my favorites have to be for PC, are like

-AMD 69, 68 series graphics card
-Nvidia 650 and up
Nov 23 2012 10:05PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
With a 13" mbp you have no choice though. All the standard cards that come in 15" mbps are legit though so dont worry about it. Im guessing youre using fcp so cuda acceleration isn't a big deal for you.
Nov 23 2012 10:10PM
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SteezySanders
Posts: 174 - Karma: 112
my budget is like $800-1000. i use sony vegas pro 12. I also use photoshop cs6. and ya i have a pc. Sry for the delayed reply
Nov 26 2012 2:42PM
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erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,325
You can get a really really high end graphics card with 2GB's for like $400. I don't really see the need to spend more than that if you're just doing video.
Nov 26 2012 3:29PM
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jeano
Posts: 333 - Karma: 104
raedon 7950 by sapphire best reasonably priced card on the market
Nov 26 2012 8:08PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Also depends on what you're doing
Nov 26 2012 8:18PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
This. I assumed he meant laptops, but for desktops even a $100-200 cheap 1gb gpu will speed up editing a lot (eg a gtx 560 or 570). integrated hd4000 graphics suck.
For cs6, there is nvidia CUDA acceleration (not sure about vegas, it probably has opencl which is in nvidia and amd gpus) and only nvidia graphics cards speed it up. If you're using premiere pro for example, the mercury playback engine only does cuda in nvidia gpus.
You can probably get by with a 6870 or 6850 for ~$150-200, but you could upgrade to a more expensive $400 one. Remember if your doing cs6 get nvidia, if ur using fcp or vegas or wahtever, the sapphire/amd ones are better.
Nov 30 2012 5:12PM
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1337
Posts: 31038 - Karma: 29,003
sapphire? Surely you jest
Nov 30 2012 5:17PM
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jeano
Posts: 333 - Karma: 104
find me a better card thats cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006
Nov 30 2012 11:13PM
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1337
Posts: 31038 - Karma: 29,003
anything that isn't made by sapphire, first of all will be better
second, sure thing! the Gtx 580 and Gtx 660 ti can both be had under $309 AND are superior cards
Nov 30 2012 11:17PM
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jeano
Posts: 333 - Karma: 104
nah, i'm running the gtx 580 right now and my boy has the 660 and returned it to get the 7950

its a great card. not that great of a name, but it performs great
Nov 30 2012 11:19PM
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1337
Posts: 31038 - Karma: 29,003
660 ti > 660

we're talking video I'm assuming. If you're using anything with a mercury playback engine/CUDA acceleration then the nvidia chipset cards will squash amd
Nov 30 2012 11:23PM
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jeano
Posts: 333 - Karma: 104
oh i didnt mean like straight up for video i meant like in general.. lil video, lil gaming, etcc
Nov 30 2012 11:25PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
The 660ti is like #6 on the top video card list according to benchmarks
Dec 1 2012 12:17AM
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jeano
Posts: 333 - Karma: 104
and saturn has 60 moons
Dec 1 2012 12:25AM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Just saying, nvidia cards are good too
Dec 1 2012 12:33AM
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jeano
Posts: 333 - Karma: 104
no i completely agree i swear by nvidia cards but the sapphire 7950 is a fucking amazing card if you actually take time to look at the reviews and specs
Dec 1 2012 1:42AM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Most definitely, but the nvidia cards are bar none the best for adobe, its wild how much CUDA accel works.
Dec 1 2012 2:06AM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
If you're using cs6 (cuda acceleration) the 5xx series are better, something about the 600 cards is slower (I think its that the cuda cores are clocked slower or something, not sure). You might want to check out this deal at newegg, a 560 ti 448 core for only $160. It's essentially the same thing as a gtx570 if you overclock it, and its $60 off approx from its normal price. A 660 would probably be better for gaming, but the 600 cards are supposed to be slower for computing with cuda, so i'd get a 500 series card
you could always go with something cheap like a 9800gt and then upgrade when you need it, you might just need a faster hard drive/more ram/faster processor or something.
just my .02
Dec 1 2012 4:44PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-14-130-738-_-Product
Dec 1 2012 4:50PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Check out this link:
http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

In most tests, the new 660 was the same speed as the 570. But, overall, regardless of cuda cores, theyre all within a 2-3 second range of each other (in on certain test for timeline render specifically). So ya, you can save a little money buying the gtx570 or the 560ti. I went with a 660ti vs a 570 (wouldve saved like $50 if i got the 570) just because I got a really good deal on the 660ti with my build. Plus, according to this benchmark test (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html) the 660ti beats out the 570 but not by much, the 580 still prevails over the 660ti but the 580 is a BEAST.
Dec 1 2012 4:55PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Also, I like how we all keep talking about desktop GPUs while the OP wants a laptop recommendation ha
Dec 1 2012 4:58PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
lol
Dec 1 2012 5:03PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
Did you specify what your budget was? If you're around $1000, the lenovo y580 is pretty good, 3rd gen quad i7, dedicated nvidia gtx 660m (not the gtx660 desktop, lol), 8gb ram, 1tb hdd.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/
this site has reviews for nearly every laptop and graphics card (they have a heirarchy chart on the side bar i believe. You can google radeon HD6547 or whatever number it is and then notebookcheck and they will most likely have an article on it.
Dec 1 2012 5:06PM
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eheath
Posts: 61098 - Karma: 118,246
Just to add something else for reference, 5xx series supports two displays while 6xx is up yo 4 displays and has 3d support(although who cares)
Dec 1 2012 7:59PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
rly? Didn't know that. But yeah, who's going to use 4 displays for editing anyways, and 3d is just a gimmick.
OP what is your budget?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4903662&CatId=4935
pretty nice 2gb gddr5 gtx660m graphics, 1080p screen, 15 inch, quad core i7 processor.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?sb=:000001C9:000093E0:#.ULqu7YPAeSo
decent gtx650m gddr5 graphics card, 768p 14 inch screen, quad i7 cpu
Dec 1 2012 8:41PM
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