Advice on graphics card for my 'new' machine please

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Tomahawk66

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#243384 9-Dec-2018 13:55

My old Win 7 SFF machine died a few weeks ago. I've replaced it with a refurbished (cos can't afford a brand new set up) machine running Win 10 pro.

So far so good, except I've discovered unfortunately that the inbuilt graphics are not good enough to handle the photo editing I like to do using a very resource hungry programme called Topaz Studios. I have other good programmes that do work fine on this Win 10 machine but really want Topaz again.

I've been searching and searching for graphics cards that will be compatible and are now in a bit of a fog!!!

The specs of this machine are: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2Ghz CPU, Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H motherboard, currently has 8 GB of ram and I can upgrade it to 16 Gb when I get a new graphics card. It has a 500watt power supply and is in a mid tower case.

I need a card that has 2 GB of ram and doesn't need its own power supply. I won't ever play video games, I just edit photos.

Suggestion, advice, greatly appreciated.

Thanks :-)

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#2142050 9-Dec-2018 14:47

gtx 1060 or 1070

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#2142054 9-Dec-2018 14:50

btw i am not sure if GPU is your limiting factor (and therefore whether it will make much difference in your situation)

photo editing is 99% CPU and you should have 8GB of RAM (which you do)

it also writes a lot to the disk, so an SSD will be important but it's rather expensive.

GPU is the 1% but it does contribute when it wants to display something on your screen (that's when the GPU is mainly actively used, to render the image to put on your screen)

* my software is about 2 years old so something might have changed in the last 2 years but I doubt it

PANiCnz

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#2142098 9-Dec-2018 16:01

The GPU requirements for that software are actually quite intense:

Based on the above it looks like you may as well buy the best card your budget can allow. Something like the GTX 1060 might be worth considering. The 3GB version can be had for under $400.

Tzoi

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#2142099 9-Dec-2018 16:02

Batman:

gtx 1060 or 1070

These cards require separate power and aren't powered just by the PCI-E slot

Lias

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#2142100 9-Dec-2018 16:03

From their recommend hardware specs:

Recommended Nvidia is 2gb GTX 750 TI, Optimal is 4gb GTX 960 or better, Recommended AMD is 2gb R7 360, Optimal is 4gb R9 380x or better.

So translating that into currently available models, for Nvidia you'd be looking at a 2gb GTX 1050 as the recommended, or a 6gb GTX 1060 as the optimal.

For AMD you'd be looking at a 2gb RX 560 as the recommended, or an RX 580 as the optimal.

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#2142101 9-Dec-2018 16:05

PANiCnz:

The GPU requirements for that software are actually quite intense:

Based on the above it looks like you may as well buy the best card your budget can allow. Something like the GTX 1060 might be worth considering. The 3GB version can be had for under $400.

I'm looking at https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004759908-Topaz-Studio-Minimum-Requirements-and-Recommended-Hardware

You appear to be looking at the page for A.I Gigapixel, not Topaz Studio?

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#2142106 9-Dec-2018 16:38

i am pretty sure that my statement still holds true. even most current video editing doesn't use GPU much. the CPU does all the computing, the GPU puts a picture on the screen. but in that 1% of the time that it puts the picture on the screen, yes it helps speed up putting picture on your screen. in that case get a 1050/1050ti? does that need separate power? [but do not underestimate CPU* and SSD for the other 99% of the time!] *most softwares are not optimized for multithreading so clock speed trumps number of cores >2-4.

i have used topaz before (though it's an old version) but not in a while. iirc my 1060 never goes more than 50% when i do heavy photo editing. it spikes when it has done all the computing and wants to show me the end picture on the screen (or whenever it puts a picture on my screen). the other times it sits at 0%.

Tzoi

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#2142160 9-Dec-2018 18:04

It's the rendering mostly for video editing that uses the GPU is my understanding

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#2142162 9-Dec-2018 18:07

uses "some" GPU ... youtube a few comparisons and video editing maxes out at 1070 GPU, and beyond that there is no improvement in rendering times. CPU (6+ cores all maxed out) is still carrying the main load.

Tomahawk66

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#2142170 9-Dec-2018 18:24

Lias:

From their recommend hardware specs:

Recommended Nvidia is 2gb GTX 750 TI, Optimal is 4gb GTX 960 or better, Recommended AMD is 2gb R7 360, Optimal is 4gb R9 380x or better.

So translating that into currently available models, for Nvidia you'd be looking at a 2gb GTX 1050 as the recommended, or a 6gb GTX 1060 as the optimal.

For AMD you'd be looking at a 2gb RX 560 as the recommended, or an RX 580 as the optimal.

Thank you Lias :-)

I clicked on the link for the GTX 1050 It looks quite long. How do I ascertain if it will actually go in the case? And do you know if that card will be compatible with my motherboard ?

Tomahawk66

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#2142173 9-Dec-2018 18:30

I've been on a site that helps you find compatible components for your machine and can't find the GTX 1050 on it for the motherboard I have?? http://www.pc-specs.com/mobo/GigaByte/Gigabyte_GA-B75M-D3H/1013/Compatible_GPUs

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toejam316

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#2142174 9-Dec-2018 18:32

A GTX 1050 will work fine, I wouldn't worry about that website. Just make sure you get one that physically fits in the space within the case.

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Tomahawk66

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#2142179 9-Dec-2018 18:41

Lias:

PANiCnz:

The GPU requirements for that software are actually quite intense:

Based on the above it looks like you may as well buy the best card your budget can allow. Something like the GTX 1060 might be worth considering. The 3GB version can be had for under $400.

I'm looking at https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004759908-Topaz-Studio-Minimum-Requirements-and-Recommended-Hardware

You appear to be looking at the page for A.I Gigapixel, not Topaz Studio?

Yes.... phew.... almost had a nervous breakdown.... those are not what I need, I just need 1 GB as the minimum as shown in the above link.

Tomahawk66

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#2142183 9-Dec-2018 18:47

toejam316:

A GTX 1050 will work fine, I wouldn't worry about that website. Just make sure you get one that physically fits in the space within the case.

That's what I am unsure of..... it's only a mid tower case and I've never done this before.....

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#2142185 9-Dec-2018 18:49

Tomahawk66:

toejam316:

A GTX 1050 will work fine, I wouldn't worry about that website. Just make sure you get one that physically fits in the space within the case.

That's what I am unsure of..... it's only a mid tower case and I've never done this before.....

Find out the type of case, do some googlin' to find the max GPU dimensions.

Find a GTX 1050 model you like the look of, rinse and repeat.

Failing that, pop in to a PC shop and tell them what you need, they'll charge you a bit for labour and cost the card higher, but they'll make it work without a problem.

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