Graphics card and video editing

[ShermDog]

Will upgrading the graphics card improve video editing performance? I've read different views on the subject here on the forum and hope to get a definitive answer. I have a dual 2.0 G5 with the nVidia 5200 64MB. Will upgrading to the radeon 9600 XT 128 MB or 9800 Pro SE 256MB improve performance when editing video using FCE? What about running Photoshop?

 

[Jigglelicious]

Nope, neither of those have anything to do with the graphics card - they only use the CPU. So buying a faster video card would not speed up either of those programs.

 

[Mechcozmo]

The GPU doesn't have much to do with video editing. It is pure CPU power+RAM.

Motion is different, but that's a long story.

If you have at least 1GB of RAM you should be fine.

 

[Hoef]

Nope, neither of those have anything to do with the graphics card - they only use the CPU. So buying a faster video card would not speed up either of those programs.

I agree although it makes me think why Apple would offer faster graphics in the first place. Not to play those few games I hope?

 

[cluthz]

I agree although it makes me think why Apple would offer faster graphics in the first place. Not to play those few games I hope?

Motion. The only (?) pro-app that needs a good GPU. The next few years we'll see apps take more and more advantage of the GPUs.

There are also apps like Cinema 3D (3d editing) which also offloads much to the GPU.

 

[badehette]

The reason Apple offers the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL, is that its the only card capable of runnig their new 30" displays. And without the dual-dual DVI, only one of them could be used per Powermac

 

[Mechcozmo]

I agree although it makes me think why Apple would offer faster graphics in the first place. Not to play those few games I hope?

And for Core Image... and for Core Video... and for Exposé... and for Quartz Extreme...

OS X is off-loading more and more stuff to the GPU, because the CPU doesn't need to be tied up with it.