graphic card

painfulcost

does anyone know which one is better for my comp a 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 or a 256MB Geforce 6600 graphics card. i am doing photo and video editing( amatuer capabilities only). Or should i go for the 512MB versions of the above? What does GPU means to brain deads like me ?

Cheers

sco0ter

painfulcost wrote:

does anyone know which one is better for my comp a 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 or a 256MB Geforce 6600 graphics card. i am doing photo and video editing( amatuer capabilities only). Or should i go for the 512MB versions of the above? What does GPU means to brain deads like me ?

Cheers

GPU is graphical processing unit and basically it means its the onboard CPU of the graphics card. Check out both facilities of cards. Yoou dont say a make (MSI etc) and different manufacturers install different ports. Check what you want it to do. Some have TV outs and DVI ports as well as s-video and inputs for video capture. Personally I use a 128 Geforce 6600 GT (MSI) and have never had a problem with video editing on that although if you get the 512MB version then it will be Windows Vista ready as this system requires a 512MB card to take full advantage of its enhanced graphics.

Xio_2

painfulcost wrote:

does anyone know which one is better for my comp a 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 or a 256MB Geforce 6600 graphics card. i am doing photo and video editing( amatuer capabilities only). Or should i go for the 512MB versions of the above? What does GPU means to brain deads like me ?

Cheers

Between the two cards, the 6600 is by far the better performer, although the X1300 is the newer of the two. For photo and video editing either of the cards will do as those tasks dont demand a lot of graphical power - for editing, the processor is far more critical. (On a side note steer clear of anything in the specs that mentions the terms TurboCache or HyperMemory if you want something of decent graphical performance).

Don't bother with the 512MB versions as they will be of absolutely no use to you unless you are gaming (and relatively heavy gaming at that) or planning on keeping the card for a while. The main task of the GPU is to process 3D rendering calculations, of which there are little to none in anything but games or 3D design programs. If you want to go for 512MB, and spend the extra money, I'd say just spend that little bit more and go for something I bit more powerful so it will last you a much longer...like an ATi X1800 based card for example.

Regarding Vista...Bear in mind that Vista is still in development and the current requirements are far from finalised. The visual part of Vista (Aero Glass etc) will require a decent graphics card with a speculated minimum of 256MB onboard to run smooth. However, the Aero theme can be turned off meaning anything from integrated graphics solutions upwards will be able to run it (obviously in graphics terms).