What graphics card for a non gamer

[foges]

Im building a new computer and im not a gamer, ill be using it for schoolwork and probably for some modeling apps (starting my electrical engineering degree in a few months). I was thinking that i could save a bit on the graphics departement and spend a bit more on cpu/ram, etc.. What would you guys recommend as the minimum? my screen resolution is 1200x1600

 

[akhilles]

I got it brand new for $10 + shipping on ebay. Fine for 2D.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadronvs.html

Don't know what apps you run. Take a look at these:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_family.html

 

[Chosonman]

ok you gave him links to a $10 card and to Nvidia's professional series which start at $1000...

I would look for a used 7600GT, 8600GT, 2600XT, 2600Pro, X1950 for around $50
You can probably find some on your local Craigslist or maybe ebay

 

[Jax Omen]

HD3450 is like $30, IIRC.

 

[DerekWilson]

if you're doing EE and you don't need proe wildfire (if you'll just be using cadence or pspice (or hspice) or something) then you'll be fine going with lower end graphics and uber CPU (until they come out with GPGPU spice etc anyway) and lots of RAM.

i really haven't tested all that stuff with CPU vs. RAM though -- if there's a trade off there i'm not sure what you'll wanna go with.

 

[chevmaro]

if your building a new computer just get something with onboard video. I know the onboard video on my G31 works just fine.

 

[shangshang]

if you ain't doing any 3d graphics, just get an el cheap video card, or use onboard video if the mobo has it, and save your money for a quad core.

 

[foges]

Thanks for the reply. I am building a new system, but will probably buy my friends ip35 pro mobo that he has a spare of, so it doesnt have on-board graphics. Ill probably get the Q9450 and 4 gigs of ram.

What would be the benefit of using a workstation / quadro card?

The HD3450 seems to go for a relatively reasonable price, is it any good? (not in comparison to top of the line cards, but to watch full HD videos and do some cad and other things on a 1600x1200 monitor)

 

[TurtleCrusher]

The 3450 is an AMAZING card for HD movies and 2D applications at any feasible resolution. You might want to pick one up that has 512mb as BluRay and most HD movies go beyond 1080p. It'll require more than a 256mb buffer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121250 HD3450 512mb $42.99, $32.99 after rebate.

And dont be fooled, these guys can game much better than everyone gives it credit for.

 

[foges]

Sounds good, too bad i dont live in the states, the 512mb version costs 62 $ here, prety much exactly twice as much.

Something i forgot to ask, is this card linux compatiable/ what ones are?

 

[akhilles]

Like I said, I still don't know the apps you run. So I gave you two opposite choices. The NVS is fine for business & 2D. The Quadro is good for 3D. The major difference between a Quadro & a gaming gpu is that workstation cards are made for precision whereas gaming cards are made for speed. If you game on Quadro, you'll be lagging. If you do 3D rendering on gaming gpu, you'll be lagging.

 

[RallyMaster]

Originally posted by: foges
Im building a new computer and im not a gamer, ill be using it for schoolwork and probably for some modeling apps (starting my electrical engineering degree in a few months). I was thinking that i could save a bit on the graphics departement and spend a bit more on cpu/ram, etc.. What would you guys recommend as the minimum? my screen resolution is 1200x1600

Well, to be honest, for electrical engineering stuff, I don't think you need much more than an AthlonXP 2500+, 1GB of RAM and Ti4200. That was what I ran last semester at Purdue and still was able to game a little (CS Source and Xpand Rally). The majority of the work for me included MATLAB plots, Excel spreadsheets, PSpice circuit simulations and maybe circuit diagram or two per week. If you're not intending on gaming at all, just get a standard dual core without any great graphical bells and whistles. I'll be retiring that AthlonXP this summer though and instead taking my current Athlon64 X2 4200+, 2GB RAM and 6800GS to campus for the year.

 

[HumblePie]

Rage 128

For a non gamer just about any vid card will work so long as you aren't using obscene resolutions for your monitor.

If you are trying to do 19x12 or higher then you'll need a decent vid card.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Jax Omen
HD3450 is like $30, IIRC.

I got a 3450 with GDDR2 ram and passive cooling for 30$-10$ MIR.

For an absolutely silent card you can't get a better deal then that.
Too bad OpenSolaris doesn't have proper drivers for it (i use it on a fileserver). But windows does.

Any used card at those prices is going to be old, out of warranty, likely to break soon, loud, and power hungry in comparison.