GFX card memory question for new i7 build

[stev]

As research for a new i7 build i've been considering the GFX card. I read somewhere that the use of a high end GFX card with a lot of onboard memory is actually counter-productive to performance as it eats into the available system memory. I can't remember exact figures but I think it was along the lines of: if you have a card with 512mb of memory then roughly 1GB of system memory is reserved for the card
If this is correct then should I be looking for a card with less memory so I can get the most use out of the 3-4gb XP supports?

[fenderrocker]

256mb seems to be the sweet spot for video cards (unless your gaming at a high resolution, or rendering 3D/video). My xfx 9800 gt is pretty loud, so if that could be an issue, look into fanless cards or get an aftermarket cooler with a quiet fan.

[albee1952]

My i7 system is working just fine with a $37 fanless nVidia 7300LE 256 card. The only quirk it had related to an SLI message(I could click OK to close the message and all would work fine). The solution was getting a new driver from nVidia instead of the card manufacturer driver(MSI). BTW, running a pair of 22" LCD's, one on the DVI connector, and the other (VGA) port feeding an active VGA splitter so I can mirror the edit window in the next room on a 25' VGA cable.

[stev]

hey thanks. I was considering the possibility of using the card from an old tower build I did years ago. Its a gigabyte GV-R92S128t and has the ATI Radeon 9200 SE chipset and 128mb of memory. The card is probably ancient by todays standards but I definitly won't be gaming on the machine..... Protools only for the i7 build .....so unless there was a worthwhile performance gain to be had by upgrading the card the money saved would be great. heres the card spec:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=1120

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by stev

hey thanks. I was considering the possibility of using the card from an old tower build I did years ago. Its a gigabyte GV-R92S128t and has the ATI Radeon 9200 SE chipset and 128mb of memory. The card is probably ancient by todays standards but I definitly won't be gaming on the machine..... Protools only for the i7 build .....so unless there was a worthwhile performance gain to be had by upgrading the card the money saved would be great. heres the card spec:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=1120

Probably will not work as it is an AGP card. The AGP interface is pretty much dead with almost all motherboards these days going with PCI-e graphics.

[stev]

ahhh...i see. Didn't realise that. thanks anyways.

[fenderrocker]

Woah! the 9200?!? I think that was my first video card, probably got it back in '03-'04.

It sucked back then and it sucks now, lol. You don't really have to spend very much. I would go with what Albee has.

As for AGP, it stands for advanced graphic port, and back when it actually was "advanced", it was what any enthusiast would use. It had a much higher bandwidth than PCI...

but now we have PCI-Express 2.0, which is ridiculously fast compared to AGP. AGP is outdated and I haven't seen it on a board in the past 3 years. I've heard there are less compatibility issues with ATI cards, so I would do a little research, but definitely try to get a fanless, since a lot of these chips get quite hot, so the system revs up the fans which is not to friendly to my condenser mics in the room. Plus, it's [bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep]ing annoying.

Anyway, you won't be able to salvage your old card if it's AGP, so check out newegg, slickdeals.net, and amazon. Find a decent card (pref fanless) in your budget, and RESEARCH IT!

I didn't do any research before building my system, but thank God it worked. I can't imagine the disappointment when everything's hooked up and then somethings goes wrong with Pro Tools.

Ok, I'm going to bed. Good luck.

Jimmy C

[rhythmtechnologies]

im using an ati radeon 128mb pci. the nvidia that came in my i7 was just not working right with PT (512mb). since i changed to the ati all has been well.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by rhythmtechnologies

im using an ati radeon 128mb pci. the nvidia that came in my i7 was just not working right with PT (512mb). since i changed to the ati all has been well.

Out of curiosity is that a old PCI card or PCIe?

[cwsand]

Originally Posted by albee1952

the other (VGA) port feeding an active VGA splitter so I can mirror the edit window in the next room on a 25' VGA cable.

Just curious - what do you use the monitor for in the next room??