Best video card for Photoshop?

[easystreet]

I am not a gamer and would like to know what video card would be best for Photoshop? I have a Radeon LE.
I assume more video memory would be faster?......SDR or DDR?
ATI or N'Vidia?
I have never used dual monitors is that worthwhile?

 

[RSMemphis]

Video memory does not really matter for 2D as long as the card has more than 8.

Your Radeon LE will work just fine.

Some people claim ATI has better 2D picture quality than NVidia, could never verify that myself (i.e. I replaced an ATI with a NVidia card, and saw no deterioration)

 

[RSMemphis]

Regarding dual monitors:
It is nice, but I would not use it to have a picture spread out over two screens - that would drive me nuts.

It would be ok though if you need a different program or for manipulating two pictures at a time.

 

[rbV5]

<< I assume more video memory would be faster?...... >>



Naw, and actually your Radeon Le would be fine in photoshop. Dual Monitors is great for graphic applications, imagine your canvass on one monitor and your tools on the other... very nice. Matrox G400 are nice and inexpensive, Radeon 7500 are another nice dual head card and excellent gaming as well. The GF4 cards are worth a look as well with nView and better 2D quality than previous models.

 

[adamkmiec]

indeed, multiple monitors are wonderful for photshop you store your pallettes on one screen and work on the other. it's also a life saver for Dreamweaver UltraDev.

 

[Rand]

Dual monitor setups are very nice indeed for heavy PhotoShop usage.
Regarding video card, your Radeon LE is actually very suitable for PhotoShop.
I'd probably pass on nVidia as 2D visual quality tends to be somewhat lacking on many nVidia boards, though if your running in relatively low resolution this may not come into play.

Unless yor running dual monitors and doing some real heavy PhotoShop editing, then 2D performance also won't really be a factor as most any modern card is more then adequate for almost any 2D performance related tasks.

Personally, I'd tend to look for a Matrox G450/G550 for their top notch 2D, and multi monitor implementation.
As a secondary option, a Radeon 7500 would do very nicely.
If your looking to save money though, the Radeon VE is a very solid card for multi-monitor PhotoShop usage and available quite cheaply.

 

[adlep]

Hmm,
If you tend to stear at the monitor for a couple of hours would suggest you to get either Matrox or
ATI brand....
If you wanna buy a new card go to www.compuvest.com
I just have found over there a good deal for the Matrox card...
It is a Matrox Millenium G 450 16 Mb DDR with dual head for... $64.00 shipped
I can recomend this site because I have dealt with them before (got the original RADEON 32 DDR for $45.00 shipped)
and they have good prices for video cards.....