graphics cards

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sean90291

Veteran
I'm running my Avid Xpress Pro 5.0 on my desktop and I'm not totally happy with the performance. I have a feeling my graphics card may not be fully up to the job. Can you recommend a graphics card? (Yes, I know Avid publishes their 'required specs'...but I find the lists confusing and daunting and even harder to research the graphics cards they list--because graphics cards seem to be changing daily! And so, I ask you savvy, knowledgable Avid users to suggest a really solid video card.)

I'm currently running a P4 3.0 Ghz, 1.5 Gig RAM computer with the ATI Radeon 256 MB PCI Express card. I have a feeling I need an Nvidia card that will work with the rest of my system. Recommendations? Thank you!!!!
 
Something from the Nvidia Quadro line. Whatever works with your system or budget.

I've heard good things about the Nvidia GeForce 6600, but have never used it and it's not specifically qualified.
 
I'm using the Quadro FX 4500, and am happy with it. I had a problem when I tried to install the latest and greatest driver. It locked up the Avid during initialization stages, but going back to the original driver solved the problem and I've been happy since.
 
Good call Mike (and I can't believe it slipped my mind since we just talked about this in another thread).

Sean, whatever Nvidia you get, make sure you install the Avid qualified drivers. That version is listed on Nvidia's website. This will give you peak performance.
 
For avid, you must forget ATI. You must consider Nvidia (I strongly suggest nVidia in the quadro line) or Matrox (parhelia series)
 
Thanks krestofre. For budget reasons, I would like to go with a Geforce card. You reference the Geforce 6600, and I have found two versions. Which is the one you think you've heard good things about (I do understand it's not specifically an Avid supported card):

the XFX Geforce 6600 / 512MB DDR2 / PCI Express / SLI / Dual DVI / TV Out / Video Card? (retails for about $175 in Canada)

or the XMDIA GeForce 6600 GT Card? (retails about $249 in Canada)

Edit...actually I just found more versions of the GeForce 6600 cards. Man, these cards are confusing:

- Diablotek NVIDIA GeForce 6600 / 256MB DDR / PCI Express / DVI / VGA / HDTV / Video Card
- NVIDIA GeForce 6600 / 256MB DDR / AGP 8x / DVI / TV-OUT / Video Card
- Diablotek NVIDIA GeForce 6600 / 512MB DDR2 / PCI Express / SLI / DVI / VGA / TV-Out / Video Card
- NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT / 256MB DDR3 / AGP 8x / DVI / VGA / TV Out / Video Card
- BFG GeForce 6600 GT / 128MB GDDR3 / PCI Express / Dual DVI / Video Card
- eVGA GeForce 6600 GT A30 / 256MB DDR3 / PCI Express / SLI / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
- Asus GeForce 6600 GT / 128MB DDR3 / PCI Express / VGA / DVI / TV Out / SLI / Video Card

(And, man, what would I do without you guru guys.)
 
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Basically they're all the same card with the exception of Manufacturer and either AGP or PCI Express. So the first thing is to determine what kind of video card slot you have on your motherboard. AGP or PCI Express? That might make your decision right there.

Aside from that Asus is a very good manufacturer, so I'd recommend them.
 
Cool. Thank you krestofre. I know my Asus motherboard likes PCI Express. So perhaps I'll go with the Asus one. Funny, the prices vary between all those cards (like by one or two hundred bucks)!
 
sean90291 said:
Cool. Thank you krestofre. I know my Asus motherboard likes PCI Express. So perhaps I'll go with the Asus one. Funny, the prices vary between all those cards (like by one or two hundred bucks)!
Click to expand...


Well, perhaps I was over-generalizing, since there are several different configurations. You can get it with 128 MB RAM, 256, 512. That accounts for a lot of the price difference. For Avid 512 is likely overkill. 256 is a nice number.
 
Hey also there is a back driver thats made for avid. If you go to the Nvidia site they have a bunch of drivers and who oked them for their application. Avids recommended driver is an older driver but it works great. I have to keep switching between the old driver and the new ones for other important things like... gaming. :) But yeah, that recommended driver really makes a big difference.
 
Okay, I bought a MSI nVidia Geforce 6600 GT (only 128 MB) to go with my P4 2 GIG RAM system...and voila...after one day of hard labour it's working beautifully with my Avid Xpress Pro 5.0. Thanks for all your advice guys.
 
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