Video Cards for intensive video editing and gaming.

MarshallBryant

Junior Member
May 7, 2015
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Hello, I am currently in the market for a new graphics card and graphics cards are what I'm the least knowledgeable about concerning pc components. I mostly do video editing (currently in 1080 but going into 2k and 4k in about a year) I do things in after effects as well. I also enjoy games. I don't particularly care about being able to play crisis 3 at 4k 60fps though. My main focus is power for my editing and renders. I'm kind of feeling that whatever card I get for video editing will be good for games so I'm afraid being specific is irrelevant but I've herd that there are differences in cards you get for video production and cards you get for gaming.
 

MarshallBryant

Junior Member
May 7, 2015
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What software? Adobe CC? I don't think GTX 970 is officially supported: https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html

Unless someone with experience using GTX 970 with Adobe CC can testify that it works properly, I would go with a safe bet - GTX 780. There's one on Amazon for $337 shipped: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LZVNXA2/?tag=pcpapi-20

I use cc, and I already know how to apply a graphics card fix, it's pretty simple. My issue is I don't know when a card becomes "out dated" like my iPhone 5s is on its last leg as far as being up to date is concerned but it isn't out dated. My 7770 I would say is outdated but I can still play most of my games at acceptable settings. I would've figured 780's were outdated
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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Is 2gb vram still going to be okay to edit and do work in after effects at 4k?

Yeah, 270X handles 4K fine. But you don't get CUDA acceleration unless it's an NVIDIA card.

You do get OpenCL support on AMD cards though, but I'm not sure how Adobe CC or AE utilizes OpenCL. Is it purely an alternative to CUDA, or does it speed up different things than CUDA? If someone knowledgeable about this could clarify, that'd be great.

270X doesn't seem to be on the supported GPU list either though. If buying a card for OpenCL acceleration I would go with R9 290 4GB - best value for money high end card by far.
 
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lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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I use cc, and I already know how to apply a graphics card fix, it's pretty simple.

In that case, go for it. GTX 970 is a great card and will last a good while before it needs upgrading. Hopefully you're running a suitably fast CPU.

I would've figured 780's were outdated

Why would the top card from last generation be outdated already? It's still a lot faster than the 270X suggested above... 270X is just an overclocked 7870 which is just a lower TDP 6970 - now 3 generations old. And 270X isn't outdated, it's a decent mid range card for 1080p gaming.
 
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MarshallBryant

Junior Member
May 7, 2015
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Yeah, 270X will handle 4K fine. But you don't get CUDA acceleration (to help render times and applying effects etc) unless it's an NVIDIA card.

You do get OpenCL support on AMD cards though, but I'm not sure how Adobe CC or AE utilizes OpenCL. Is it purely an alternative to CUDA, or does it speed up different things than CUDA? If someone knowledgeable about this could clarify, that'd be great.

270X doesn't seem to be on the supported GPU list either though. If buying a card for OpenCL acceleration I would go with R9 290 4GB - best value for money high end card by far.
In my expierence open cl is fine. See my concern comes from a microcenter rep (who's word i take with a grain of salt) he told me to get a 970 over a 290x. I'd actually been looking at a 290x for a while. I'm also concerned about the 970 not being able to utilize that other 500mb lf vram properly. I mean I know the card is still probably great and gives amazing performance but if the box is advertising 4gb of vram I want to get my 4gb of vram and utilize it properly. But back to my main point, it seems to be 290x and sacrifice CUDA or 970 and sacrifice 500mb for the cuda cores
 

nvgpu

Senior member
Sep 12, 2014
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http://www.anandtech.com/show/9241/amd-announces-oem-desktop-radeon-300-series

Truth be told I’m a bit worried to see a fresh Pitcairn part in 2015; Pitcairn has been a workhorse for AMD, having now survived into its 4th generation of cards. However at over 3 years old and based on GCN 1.0, it lacks more modern functionality such as the ability to decode 4K H.264 video files, AMD’s improved power management technology, and support for AMD’s Freesync technology.
You don't want to get a Pitcairn/Curacao GPU, period. It can't decode 4K H.264 or 4K HEVC, it's slower than a GTX 960 which is much more power efficient and supports modern hardware decoding features and HEVC encoding.
 

MarshallBryant

Junior Member
May 7, 2015
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In that case, go for it. GTX 970 is a great card and will last a good while before it needs upgrading. Hopefully you're running a suitably fast CPU.



Why would the top card from last generation be outdated already? It's still a lot faster than the 270X suggested above... 270X is just an overclocked 7870 which is just a lower TDP 6970 - now 3 generations old. And 270X isn't outdated, it's a decent mid range card for 1080p gaming.

As I said before, I lack in gpu knowledge. This is the first time in almost 3 years I've looked at them seriously because I can finally afford a good one. I'm not aware of the release cycles and what not
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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But back to my main point, it seems to be 290x and sacrifice CUDA or 970 and sacrifice 500mb for the cuda cores
Not just that but - 290X and get 100 watts more heat output, along with the fan noise needed to cool it.

Go with the GTX 970. Preferably a version that is quiet at full blast.
 
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MarshallBryant

Junior Member
May 7, 2015
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Not just that but - 290X and get 100 watts more heat output, along with the fan noise needed to cool it.

Go with the GTX 970. Preferably a version that is quiet at full blast.
Noise isn't a huge concern, I'll take a lot of power with a lot of noise :p. But I do appreciate the help!