Which video card if you had the money?

kosstheory wrote on 5/10/2002, 12:26 AM
I'm building a non-linear editing system for a friend, and I need to determine which video card to purchase. I've been using the Matrox G-450 for my own system, and it worked well until their most recent driver updates, now the TV out doesn't work right anymore. So, I'm a little concerned about using that card. There's gobs of info about video cards on the net, in fact, a little too much. So, I figured I'd ask the "pros" in this forum what they think.
So, what do you guys think? If price were not a consideration, which video card would you seriously consider investing in and why? How does it benefit non linear editing, and what are the other benefits. I've kind of decided that going for a dual output card is unnecessary, because you can use the IEEE output to feed the video to a camera and then output from the camera to a monitor. However, any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated. I need some sound advice.

Thanks

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 5/10/2002, 6:09 AM
If you're using IEEE 1394 output fo driving the preview monitor and printing to tape, then your video card needs are very modest indeed. NLE doesn't require anything fancy at all. I've run Vegas very well on a $40 8MB ATI rage card. All you need is enough memory to cover the resolution and bit depth you want.

Don't discount the idea of a dual display system though. Having the second display can be very useful for increasing your workspace area. You can drag the explorer pane, the mixer, and the preview window over to the second monitor and leave the first monitor entirely for the timeline. This gives you a lot more room to work in.
kosstheory wrote on 5/10/2002, 10:52 AM
So, are you saying that the more on board "video card" memory that the card has the higher the resolution can be? If so, what card would you recommend for very high quality resolution?
BillyBoy wrote on 5/10/2002, 12:08 PM
Like Chienworks said, video cards aren't that big a deal as far as overall importance for video editing. If you want to expand your desktop by dragging some elements to a second monitor either pick up one of the newer dual headed graphic cards like the Matrox (I have it) or just add a second video card if you're running a later Window's version like XP that supports multiple monitors. Hint: One card would be AGP the other needs to be IDE. I have always been partial to Matrox video cards. They march to a different drummer ie chipset, and it seems the colors are just a tad richer and the sharpness maybe a little better. This of course has no bearing on how a rendered video file will come out.

However if you use your system for other things other than video editing, like I do tons of work with Photoshop for still images, a "good" video card is important. As to on board memory unless you are also heavy into gaming, 32MB (DDR memory is a plus) should be more than enough. Also cranking up to maximum color depth is probably over kill. For example the Matrox G550 supports up to 32 bit, but I set mine at 24 bit which is plenty for most uses. Also think about upgrading to a flat panel LCD monitor. I've had a ViewSonic VG175 ViewPanel for several months now and I'll NEVER go back to some old clunky CRT monitor again. Not only do you reclaim your desk, the brightness,contrast is vastly superior. The only down side to such monitors is they operate best at a specific resolution. The 18.2 inch VG175 default resolution is 1280 x 1024. At that setting small text and images are razor sharp.
kosstheory wrote on 5/10/2002, 12:17 PM
so, you think the Matrox G550 is a good idea for NLE systems? I'm a little affraid of investing in more matrox card, because I'm having trouble with my G450, and the support hasn't been the best. I don't want to run into the same problems if I get this guy a G550. :S

Thanks for the info.
BillyBoy wrote on 5/10/2002, 12:27 PM
Works for me. :-) One thing about video cards... always be on the watch for newer drivers. Most video card companies crank out newer (better?) video card drivers every six months or so. Word of caution, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Same advice applies to BIOS upgrades. Some people just have to have the latest video driver, BIOS upgrade. Doing either can cause more problems then fixing one or two minor issues. So unless you have a specifc problem, don't try to fix what is working OK. Hope that isn't too confusing. A common problem is having some older video drivers remain on your system which may cause untold problems. If you do find it necessary to upgrade drives make sure the old one is completely gone. Newer cards come with better uninstall utilities. If not, then usually best to remove driver from Device Manager, start over with generic VGA driver, then install the new driver.
vinmangraphics wrote on 5/10/2002, 2:00 PM
For most non-gaming purposes, an 8Mb is enough memory.
1600x1200 pixels = 1,920,000 pixels
at 4 bytes per pixel (32 bit color)
that uses 7.32Mb of display memory.

That said, I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND getting an 8Mb card, however. There's really no need, as you can get very cheap 32Mb cards. The reason cards come with all that extra memory these days isn't for standard 2d acceleration. It is for storing textures, lighting, and buffering for 3d images (Direct3D and OpenGL) which is used extensively in modern games.

Even if you want to use your system for 3D modeling in addition to video (like I do) ... the video card only accelerates the on-screen preview. The actual high-resolution rendering is a processor task and has nothing to do with the video card.

Additionally, an important factor is the supported resolution and refresh rates of the video card. Just because a card has enough memory to support a particular resolution / color-depth doesn't mean it does it well. You wouldn't want to get stuck running your monitor at 60Hz because your card doesn't support your desired resolution at a better refresh rate.


- vin




Cheesehole wrote on 5/13/2002, 4:47 PM
>>>trouble with my G450, and the support hasn't been the best

yeah the matrox cards are good performance wise and visually, but they are not good in the compatability department. the best bet for compatibility and "no problem operation" is NVidia. they have the best drivers of the bunch.

I recommend a GeForce2 MX with 32MB
BillyBoy wrote on 5/13/2002, 5:22 PM
One of my neighbors has a Nvida card and it is causing him to pull his hair out with all kinds of random on screen artifacting, flashes, weird characters, system hangs and so on. Compatibility depends much on driver version and what other hardware it has to live with in your system.
Cheesehole wrote on 5/14/2002, 1:21 AM
>>>One of my neighbors has a Nvida card and it is causing him to pull his hair out with all kinds of random on screen artifacting, flashes, weird characters, system hangs and so on. Compatibility depends much on driver version and what other hardware it has to live with in your system.

none of that sounds like driver issues at all. he might have a bad card. has he tried swapping it out? I doubt it is a fault of the NVidia drivers. the only time I've seen the problems described here is in the case of bad video RAM or a defective video card in the system. also voltage problems, bad RAM, or a bad slot could cause that. is the power supply up to the task? trouble free operation with other video cards?

almost forgot! also check the AGP timing. if it's too aggressive these types of problems can occur. try turning of turbo mode, or aggressive driving.
DataMeister wrote on 5/14/2002, 2:19 AM
I would go with nVidia cards also. If you want dual monitor support then go with the new GeForce 4 chips. They are supposedly better designed for dual monitors than the older chips.

For cheap pricing go with a GeForce 4 MX. Otherwise go with one of the GeForce 4 Ti boards.

As far as drivers go, nVidia drivers are supposedly the best in the business. In fact the head developer for the upcoming game Unreal 2, said nVidia was the only company he trusted with drivers. When he has programing problems with other cards he assumes it is "their" fault, but with nVidia he assumes it is his error. That right there says a lot.

If you are wanting a fairly cheaply priced card I recently found a good featured Leadtek dual monitor card at Allstarshop.com for a good price.

www.allstarshop.com

GeForce4 Ti 4400 $259

I hope some of these ideas help.
JBJones