Video Card Advice for CS6 (Win)

[Ed.Macke]

I'm currently using Premiere Elements, but am looking to buy the CS6 Suite with Premiere Pro. While I do mostly SD editing, my son wants to get into AVCHD editing and especially using AfterEffects.

Given that I currently have a homebuilt PC (specs at end of post) with only integrated Intel HD2000 graphics, I guess

• Question #1 is will I really need a dedicated video card, or is the HD2000 enough for what I want to do? Of course faster = better, but how much faster will it be for my money, i.e. bang for the buck.

• And Question #2 would be... if so, which card? I really don't want to spend more than I need, but I also don't want to go cheap and end up with a solution that's not much better than what I have.

I'm especially confused with Mercury Playback, AfterEffects, SpeedGrade, and what is truly needed. Looking at this page, they really push the Quadro GPU and Quadro SDI Output cards. But on the "officially supported" page, it lists GeForce GTX, Quadro FX, and Quadro cards.

What the heck? Can somebody help me wade through this alphabet soup of cards, and what supports what?

Let's say I went with the GTX 570... is 1GB enough ($300 for the EVGA version) or do I need 2GB ($340)? Would the 570 be good enough?

Or do I need to go to the GTX 580? At $430 for the 1.5GB and $480 for the 3GB, it's signficantly more money than the GTX570 so it better be significantly better than the GTX570.

Or there's the the Quadro 2000 or 2000D for about $400. It seems to fall between the 570 and 580 price-wise, but it's a different line. Also, cards only seems to be made by PNY... what's up with that?

I can look at tech specs and marketing hype until I'm blue in the face, but it's not helping me decide what I really need - and how cheap I can go

TIA!!

System Specs

---------------------------------------------------------------

Win7 Home Premium 64-bit

Intel i7-2600 (not overclocked, stock cooler)

Intel DZ68BC motherboard

16GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1333

SeaSonic 620W Power Supply

WD Caviar Blue SATA III 500 GB (programs)

WD Caviar Blue SATA III 500 GB (data files)

WD Caviar Black SATA III 1TB (video files)

Antec 1200 case w/ 6 fans

[lasvideo]

RJL- "Remember, a fast PC does not guarantee even good results, let alone great results.".

No, but in the hands of a seasoned professional, it sure doesnt hurt to maximize the effectiveness of the Mercury PlaybacKl Engine. When you need the confidence that your system can handle whatever a client throws at you (formats / effects / show lenghts) and you want to maximize the speed that you can complete projects (exporting / rendering) it certainly doesnt hurt to have a powerhouse at your beck and call. I much prefer that to an imac 

[Jim_Simon]

For an occasional user 50% faster does not mean much

No, it would.  But you didn't get 50% faster than the 560 with the 680.

[RjL190365]

Jim Simon wrote:

For an occasional user 50% faster does not mean much

No, it would.  But you didn't get 50% faster than the 560 with the 680.

Yes, Bill's "50%" figure is relative to the percentage points worth of improvement over software-only MPE. He was using software-only MPE as a starting point.

[Jim_Simon]

Ah, got it.