Some Help (graphics card)

chrisc · 19 Nov 2013

Bought this today http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FSDOBJA/ref=nosim as a upgrade to a 7 year old dell. Im looking to use it for Lightroom 5 and very light photoshop cs6 use and its been suggested I put a graphics card in it.
Now I not looking to spend £100's on a card and I don't have the first clue about them so im asking for some advice on a card that would help this computer.

arad85 · 19 Nov 2013

You're fine sticking with integrated

neil_g · 20 Nov 2013

Lightroom doesn't use gpu acceleration

redsnappa · 20 Nov 2013

~~Get yourself a used NVidia GTX260 from eBay (£30.00 ish) and that will more than good enough to get GPU acceleration for Photoshop CS6 & CC~~

Sorry I missed the 7 year old Dell Bit. The PSU in you 7 year old Dell will probably would not have enough power to run a decent video card.

arad85 · 20 Nov 2013

redsnappa said:
~~Get yourself a used NVidia GTX260 from eBay (£30.00 ish) and that will more than good enough to get GPU acceleration for Photoshop CS6 & CC~~

Except "light use" CS6 is unlikely to use any graphics acceleration...

redsnappa said:
Sorry I missed the 7 year old Dell Bit. The PSU in you 7 year old Dell will probably would not have enough power to run a decent video card.

I think the suggestion was for a graphics card in the new PC (at least that's the way I read it).

chrisc · 20 Nov 2013

Thanks for the reply's guys. Redsnappa the card is for the new pc the Dell is ready for the bin lol

ancient_mariner · 21 Nov 2013

Integrated graphics will probably be tolerable. One thing you might find - this certainly used to be the case - is that image quality on a screen can be improved by using a moderately priced graphics card. IME colours were cleaner, images crisper, windows opened more smoothly, presumably because the NVidia or AMD drivers were better written and providing 2D acceleration to the OS.

I think the best thing to do is try it, see if there are shortcomings and then decide. Adding a graphics card is very easy.

arad85 · 21 Nov 2013

ancient_mariner said:
this certainly used to be the case

THose things don't apply unless you are connecting via 15-pin D-sub connector and using analogue outputs and I can't remember seeing a flat panel with analogue only connections. Digital is digital, whether it comes from a £700 graphics card or integrated. The last few generations of integrated graphics from both Intel and AMD are equivalent to mid range separate graphics cards of a few years ago and will be fine for 99% of the non-gaming population.

neil_g · 21 Nov 2013

what andy said, DVI/HDMi/Displayport etc provide a sharper picture over D-Sub.

otherwise there shouldnt be any difference between i5/i7 on board and pci-e gpu in terms of colour rendition (you are calibrating your displays, right?) or desktop performance.

redsnappa · 21 Nov 2013

Redsnappa the card is for the new pc the Dell is ready for the bin lol

Got ya, sorry mate. My original advise is still good then. Get yourself a used NVidia GTX260 from eBay (£30.00 ish) and that will more than good enough to get GPU acceleration for Photoshop CS6 & CC.

Before buying your video card you will need to open up your PC to to check that:
1: The main board has all the correct connectors & slots suitable for your video card
2: You have the space in your pc case to install it.
3: The PSU is powerful enough and has the extra power connectors that the video card will require.

Once installed and up and running you will notice a little extra zip when using programmes like Photoshop that use GPU acceleration.

neil_g · 21 Nov 2013

Although gpu is only used on some features (see adobe site)

mid_gen · 22 Nov 2013

You really don't need GPU acceleration for a bit of light Photoshop use. Waste of money.

The on-chip graphics on ivy-bridge/haswell intel chips is plenty for driving multiple monitors and some gaming.