question on the matrox video cards.

[under9round]

i am beginning to experiment with photoshop 6.0
i do know that photoshop is 100% 2-d, and
i also know that matrox video cards are known for its superb 2-d performance.
my question is: will i see any improvement in working with photoshop
compared to my current voodoo3 2000 if i purchased a matrox video card?
also, if i will see an improvement in speed using photoshop w/ a matrox video card,
which one will you gys suggest?
is there any other computer component that will help speed up photoshop?
does monitor resolution slow/speed up photoshop/system performance?

thank you.

 

[sgopal2]

I've got the Matrox G400 dualhead card.

I use my system for web surfing and graphics editing on Photoshop primarily. The matrox card works very well for my needs (dual monitor is key).

I've noticed that Photoshop is a memory hog...more memory the better. I have 384 megs and it runs pretty well with up to 10 windows open of JPEGs (each about 1 meg in size each).

Hope this helps

 

[Shmorq]

Upgrading to a Matrox card might improve slightly since it has twice the memory of a voodoo3. But overall, increasing the system memory will have a bigger impact. Just get more RAM so Photoshop doesn't have to use your hard drive for its scratch file.

 

[Mday]

the matrox card will make things look much better... the higher ramdac, and higher quality of the 2d from matrox will do that =)

as for the functionality, if you want processes to go faster, get MORE RAM.... 512MB or 1 GB is a good amount for photoshop.

 

[xchangx]

I just got the g450 dh to do audio work, it's awesome!

Chang

 

[under9round]

thank you all for your help.
i guess i'll be getting more ram then, since ram is dirt cheap nowadays...
perhaps i will purchase a matrox g400 or 450 in the near future to make things look better.
hm... can anyone tell me the difference between g400 and g450. thanks alot.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

The G400 is slightly faster than a G450 32mb DDR, and overclocks higher. But the G450 has a faster secondary Ramdac for higher resolutions on the second monitor. If you don't plan on playing games, the G450 will do fine. If you plan on using dual head, I discourage getting the 16mb G450, as you'll only have 8mb per diplay when DH is enabled.

 

[under9round]

thank you!