Video Card advice

[Rory]

I am running Win7 64 with an nVidia 7900GS video card attached to two 30" 2560x1600 monitors: Dell 3007WFP and Dell 3011.  This is working fine - the 7900GS has two DVI ports.  However, the 7900GS is an older card and does not support OpenGL 3.3, a requirement for Lightroom 6 to benefit from the GPU enhancements.  I think the 3007WFP has to have a dual DVI connection to drive 2560x1600 but the 3011 has a display port in addition to the dual DVI.  This computer is used for photo editing and general use but not for video games.

Can anyone suggest a replacement card?  TIA.

[D Fosse]

Just for starters, I think I would look at NVidia Quadro or AMD FirePro, just to have 10 bit support in case you should want that down the line. Some of them are of course ridiculously expensive, but the lower end is quite reasonable.

Currently there is a wave of users with AMD cards who can't get OpenGL to work in Lightroom/ACR (myself included). Hard to say what the eventual outcome of that will turn out to be, but maybe NVidia is a safer bet for now. Seems to be no problems there.

[rmyers]

I ran an AMD Firepro V4800 for a couple of years.  I bought it when my nephew was building me a new computer and because it was supposed to run 10 bit in PS.  I never really got it to run 10 bit. I continued to use it and eventually forgot about the 10 bit thing.

It went out a year or so ago and I ordered another one.  I could never get the new one to install.  It didn't come with a CD.  After a fair amount of fettling, I sent it back to Amazon.

I ordered an NVIDIA K420 from B & H.  It came with a CD and practically installed itself.  I have been using it for quite a while.  The other day, I remembered the 10 bit thing and went and found the 10 bit test deal from NEC.  Guess what, it runs 10 bit!  It doesn't seem like a big deal.  I haven't noticed a difference, but I haven't really played with it.

Highly recommend the NVIDIA if you are are computere challenged like I am.

[Rory]

Thanks for the tips.  I'm looking at an EVGA nVidia 740.  It has two DVI ports.  I'm not interested in 10 bit at this time.  I compared it to 8 bit Lightroom which dithers, and I could not see enough difference to make me want to invest - as far as I know photoshop is the only software I own that would be able to take advantage of the 10 bit colour anyway.

[rmyers]

Thanks for the tips.  I'm looking at an EVGA nVidia 740.  It has two DVI ports.  I'm not interested in 10 bit at this time.  I compared it to 8 bit Lightroom which dithers, and I could not see enough difference to make me want to invest - as far as I know photoshop is the only software I own that would be able to take advantage of the 10 bit colour anyway.

I think you are correct about PS.  I went for 10 bit originally because I needed a card anyway, so I bought one that was supposed to be capable.  I spend very little time in PS, so it isn't something I care about, either. 

[Alan Goldhammer]

I'm running a NVIDIA GTX 660 which was optimal when I built my PC two years ago.  I've not upgraded to LR6 yet so I cannot say what the impact of this GPU might be.  I tend to upgrade PC components every three years if there is a compelling reason so I may just sit tight right now and wait for GPU prices to settle down a bit.