68xx/69xx and video editing/ 3d performance

[Dropmachine]

So!

I am going to upgrade my current card (250 gtx I think, or GTS, I dunno) with something new. I am thinking the ATI front, so I can run a bunch of monitors. Ideally I'd like to run a 27 center, with 2x24" on either side, and a little 19" to test websites on.

I am a gamer, but am also moving from illustrations into video production, and learning 3d stuff too (Maya and 3dMax).

So what I want to know is if the 68xx or 69xx series of cards is a huge downgrade from a dedicated workstation card for video and 3d. I can't imagine it matters at all for photoshop, but who knows.

Any ideas?

Also, anyone know if that monitor config will work out? I have dual 24" now, I figure adding the 27" in the middle will be just lovely.

 

[Dropmachine]

Nobody? Tryin to sort this out so I can buy a vid card this week, any help would be appreciated.

 

[Triggaaar]

So what I want to know is if the 68xx or 69xx series of cards is a huge downgrade from a dedicated workstation card for video and 3d. I can't imagine it matters at all for photoshop, but who knows.

I use an old (over 5 years) 6600GT, and it makes no difference to the speed of Lightroom 3 (which is very fast on my OC i7), and I imagine the same is true of photoshop. The work is done by your cpu etc, you don't need a modern card for that kind of work.

 

[Dropmachine]

Thats kind of what I was figuring. I was sure Photoshop wouldn't gain much, I was more curious about the Video and 3d bit. Think I'd lose a lot to a workstation card?

 

[exar333]

The GPU absolutely does matter for Photoshop CS5. CUDA has some huge advantages for speeding up functions. I don't remember all the cards supported, but its most mid-range and higher cards from NV.

 

[Genx87]

Look into the programs you plan on using and see if they have support for GPU acceleration. Most likely it will use CUDA. But maybe also OpenCL. But then you need to see which cards are supported. It may be they require the professional level cards for these functions to be useable. But if they can use a GPU do it. I use Ripbot 264 to trancode bluray movies. Take about 6ish hours on my E8400@4Ghz at 100% CPU utilization. Then I tried I believe Mediaexpress that utilized my GTX 470. Just about an hour for the same work load.