Which GPU would you recommend for my specific rigs and unique computing needs?

[soarwitheagles]

Hi guys!

Ok, I have a couple of questions and was hoping I could glean some good advice from friends here....

Both of my present rigs are listed in my signature below.

I no longer do any intense gaming [simply have other priorities and a wife that helps me choose more important aspects of life], so I do not need the best of the best GPU's.

I presently have a 460 GTX and a 450 GTX and I am considering upgrading my GPU's [and yes, I know, perhaps this is total overkill dude].

I like to upgrade in every area of computer components for a couple of reasons:

1. Extreme addiction to speed [not methamphetamine, but, rather fast rigs] because I utterly hate wasting time due to slow CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.
2. Resale value of the entire rig each time I upgrade to a new machine every 6-12 months [note: most of the components I receive are much lower than wholesale prices or free after selling lots of items].

I would like to know if bigger cards will use more power at idle and low end usage than lower end cards.

Here are some of the "leftovers" I have at the moment:

XFX 6870
XFX 6770
XFX 240 GT
Galaxy 460 GTX 1 GB
Galaxy 220 GT
Gigabyte HD 6450 512MB
Gigabyte HD 4650
EVGA 210
MSI R5450
MSI N520GT

All of these cards are still brand new, sealed in the box, and sitting on my workshop desk doing absolutely nothing.

I would like to make the best choice for each of my present rigs, keeping in mind energy conservation without sacrificing speed in any way, shape or form.  My GPU needs are minimal.

Here are my computer usage types for the GPU:

Occasional video rendering
HD Movies
HD TV
Internet surfing

Ok, ball is in your court!

Which GPU would you recommend for my specific rigs and unique computing needs?

Can you help me make an educated decision?

Thanks,

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Hi again Soar,

Well there are two main things to consider here as I see it. Firstly is your actual needs. As you say they are not high now so just about any GPU will meet your needs on an everday front. Even the lower end cards have enough power nowadays to run the normal internet surfing and office type jobs  at no speed loss whatsoever.

Secondly is the resale value. This is more complex in as much as you are coming into the realms of  psychology here. Most people will want the biggest and best even if they actually have no use for it, so you have to take that into consideration when decideing which graphics card to instal. There is a lot of hype involved in this area of the market.

[soarwitheagles]

Thanks DM!

Ok, one more question: would a lower end card [such as the XFX 240] also work well for watching HD movies and rendering a video every now and then?

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

I don't do video rendering so absic or Allan would be the boys to ask about that but almost any card will do the other things you mentioned.

[Aussie Allan]

  Hiya  soarwitheagles

  GTX-460 (or is it the 480) is the lowest card in Nvidia's line up that will support CUDA/Mercury/PhisicsX ...... it'll run rings around (the other!) if the app your using supports it.....3D as well

  If your not into fast processors, 3D rendering in a blink, and snappy Video transcoding ...... buy anything that's left

  Aussie Allan

[soarwitheagles]

  Hiya  soarwitheagles

  GTX-460 (or is it the 480) is the lowest card in Nvidia's line up that will support CUDA/Mercury/PhisicsX ...... it'll run rings around (the other!) if the app your using supports it.....3D as well

  If your not into fast processors, 3D rendering in a blink, and snappy Video transcoding ...... buy anything that's left

  Aussie Allan

Aussie Alan,

Thank you for your reply and sorry I did not see this earlier...

Ok, I am not sure that I am reading/hearing you clearly...

Are you saying the 460 would be better to use than the 6870?

Please let me know because I am preparing tear my systems apart to upgrade the PSU's.


Thanks,

Soar

[Aussie Allan]

 Hi again Soar

  At the end of the day it's your decision, but read these couple of links will see a better informed decision is made......here a snip out of one ......

  “Adobe CS5 powered by GeForce GTX 480 hardware has enabled us to achieve same-day edits with our in-house video production,” said Chris Morley, CTO of MAINGEAR. “In seven years of designing and selling high definition post production workstations, I’ve never seen so much get done in so little time and for so little money. The ROI with SHIFT powered by NVIDIA running Adobe CS5 is amazing.”

...... the second Utube link is a cracker to show the actual difference between the two beasts.....as in CUDA acceleration and the UN-supported, non-accelerated cards.

  It also comes down to how many CUDA cores your card has.....Number 7 chart will cover all Nvidia cards you may have......http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm#Note_1

  http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/287926-15-nvidia-quadro-radeon-adobe

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqXQDgVRPoA

  Have fun mate and so your in the loop....keep your eye on this link as well for something exciting in early 2012........http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,7271.15.html

  Aussie Allan