Budget GPU for Photography

[jimfoto]

1920 x 1200
i5 2500 on h67 board
8gb ram (expanding to 16gb)

No gaming
No 3D
Need DVI
Need open GL

Photoshop rendering of 500mb files
minimal hd video editing (not doing any now but would like to)

It looks like there are a number of 1gb cards for under $100 and I've had some chipsets recommended but the brand reliability and other features are a mystery to me.

HD 4550​

HD 5450​

GT 220​

HD5570​

HD 5670
​

 

[Avalon]

I'd probably get an XFX HD5570 for that sort of usage. Does Photoshop use GPU acceleration at all?

 

[OCGuy]

Cheapest one you can find.

 

[jimfoto]

I'd probably get an XFX HD5570 for that sort of usage. Does Photoshop use GPU acceleration at all?

It does "Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0"

I've got no clue what it means and don't know if it applies to 2D rendering but it does use it.

I was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102875

 

[Rezist]

Didn't nvidia get a few cuda only things in adobe photoshop?

 

[rockyjohn]

Here is an explanation of what CUDA is designed to do – note that the first article is almost two years old and the second one year:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-cuda-gpu,1954.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-cuda-gpgpu,2299.html

And an overview with FAQ from Benchmark Reviews (almost 2 years old):

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=187&Itemid=1

Nvidia CUDA 2.0 Delivers Photoshop Plug-in Acceleration
8/22/08
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/nvidia-cuda-photoshop,news-2436.html

Cuda significantly accelerates Photoshop CS4 and Premiere CS4
9/25/08
http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/389996-cuda-significantly-accelerates-photoshop-cs4-premiere.html

Adobe announces GPU accelerated Flash
6/3/09
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/06/03/adobe-announces-gpu-accelerated-flash/1

NVIDIA CUDA-enabled Applications Roundup
6/12/09
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=719

NVIDIA CUDA video editing application round up
7/8/09
http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=732&Itemid=29

ATI Stream vs. NVIDIA CUDA - GPGPU computing battle royale
8/07/09
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=745

Adobe Sneak Peek: Major GPU Acceleration for Video
11/27/09
http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/11/adobe_sneak_peek_major_gpu_acceleration.html

You can find recommendations for inexpensive multi-media non-gaming upgrades for video cards at different price points at this site:

http://www.upgradevideocards.com/

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Use the integrated graphics.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Use the integrated graphics.

Yes.

 

[1h4x4s3x]

Oh.my.God, the CUDA nonsense again as in every damn Adobe thread.
General rule of thumb. If you need CUDA, you'll know it beforehand.

 

[FalseChristian]

I CUDA been a contender. I CUDA been somebody!

 

[Arkadrel]

Isnt Photoshop like 95% OpenGL...and 5% CUDA?

Not everyone that uses Photoshop needs one of the plugins thats CUDA only accelerated. Unless your useing like Beauty Box, professionally for long periodes a day, buying a card with cuda for photoshop isnt really a big plus.

Chances are you ll use photoshop without ever haveing to use a plugin thats only for cuda.
AMD cards do the OpenGL parts, and Directcompute ect just as fine as nvidia cards.

@rockyjohn

Why link a artical about acceleration of flash videos? you can do that without CUDA too you know? and what does it have to do with photoshop?

CUDA video editing, meh... there are other GPU acceleration methodes to do that too (stream/directcompute/APP/OpenCL ect).


Truth is... unless you need to use a program that only supports CUDA, there are alternatives, that work just as well (with gpu acceleration).


^ IF above annouys anyone sorry about that, just tired of hearing "Photoshop = OMFG you need CUDA" when its usually not true, there are very few plugins for photoshop that use CUDA, and most of photoshop doesnt use it.

 

[akugami]

Cheapest one you can find.

:thumbsup:

Get the cheapest video you can find (within reason) and it'll be more than enough for anything you'll need.

While the latest Photoshop and the rest of the CS5 suite may contain some CUDA GPU acceleration, it's not in any great order of magnitude. You're better off investing in a beefier CPU than anything. And with such large files, a lot of RAM and a SSD (sold state drive) for faster reading and writing files is in order. If you want to play it safe, get a cheap nVidia card but IMHO, it's no big deal.

 

[Brutus04]

For Photog, I would use the on-chip grapics... "The visual features built into the 2nd generation Intel Core processor family deliver everything you need to enjoy a stunning and seamless visual experience. Intel Quick Sync Video and newly-added Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) make media processing incredibly fast. New built-in Intel HD Graphics delivers discrete 3D graphics performance without the needed cost and power of a discrete graphics card, and features Intel Clear Video Technology than enhances video playback, image quality, and color fidelity for a premium visual experience. What’s more, add another dimension to what you see on your PC with Intel InTRU 3D technology which supports stereoscopic 3D Blu-ray playback in full 1080p resolution over HDMI 1.4"

R/ Brutus

 

[Vdubchaos]

Integrated graphics, no dedicated GPU needed

 

[SickBeast]

OP you might as well go with Sandy Bridge's integrated graphics because in all likelihood it's going to be supported by Photoshop in the future to accelerate plugins, similar to CUDA.

That said, SB is probably overkill for you in terms of a CPU. What would really be a nice setup for you would be a cheap AMD quad core with a ton of memory. I would go with 16gb of ram because it's cheap right now and it will benefit your work enormously, far more than any GPU would.

You're also going to want a good hard drive setup. That's really beyond the scope of this thread, but LMK if you need some help.