Graphics Card

[bluestu]

Hi – first post and not too pc literate so apologies if I get this wrong.

I currently have an HP PC with a integrated graphics card and 2 gig of RAM. I have just purchased Pinnacle’s Studio Plus version 10.6 for editing video from my camcorder. The product suggests I need a Graphics Card with it’s own memory (256 mb would be good but can make do with 128mb).

My PC has a PCI Express slot so my question is which card should I buy. I looked at the product list and was overwhelmed by the choice. I won’t be playing any games so that is not a requirement for me – just for video editing.

Re budget i'm really just looking for good value but not top spec if I don't need it. Cards ranged from £25-£300+. Can I expect something suitable for around £50?

Any suggestions or advice would be very much appreciated.

Stu

[Belso]

POV Nvidia 7300LE-128Mb PCI-E

http://www.aria.co.uk/productinfocomm.asp?ID=22349&SpecialStatus=1

£33 should do you well mate :D

or

Sapphire Radeon X300SE HM 512MB PCI-E

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=25016

Around £35

Either will do what your after and dont cost too much!!

[bluestu]

Thanks Belso that's great - one last question if you don't mind. If I wanted to go to 256mb of ram on the card which one would you suggest then?

[Belso]

Sapphire Radeon X300SE HM 512MB PCI-E

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=25016

Around £35

:D

There nice cards for the cash!!

[LJ]

There would be absolutely no reason to go for a card with loads of memory if you're not playing games - that extra memory over about 64MB is only used for storing textures and pixel shader programs. It's a common misconception that more video memory = more windows you can have open at any one time. In fact, the graphics memory is only used to store the pixels you see on the screen (the state of the rest of the windows that are hidden is handled by the operating system).

If you're using Vista, then you'll use more graphics memory per window you have open (because of the 3D accelerated desktop), but if not then you really don't need to worry about it. Any of the cheap 256MB cards will do you fine (even 128MB cards would be OK for you).

[bluestu]

Thanks for your help guys