• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Do I need a fancy Graphics card ?

steveinspain

steveinspain

steveinspain

Associate
Joined
20 Oct 2008
Posts
586
Location
Cornwall
I don't play games - main use is photo editing and internet or music, so my need for a fancy graphics card is minimal - is that right, or have I got it wrong ?
Currently I have one of these -
Asus ATI Radeon 3450 Vcool Silent 512MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (EAH3450/HTP/512M)

I have a 24" dell monitor if that makes any difference, and am getting very sore eyes despite having a calibrated monitor - would a better card help in any way ?
 
Expensive graphics card are generally aimed at gamers (or CAD but they have different model numbers etc), so won't make any difference for your use. Some will be aimed for those that want to output to HDTV or projector (and similar).
 
Like Duke said, high end Graphics cards are for gamers or 3D modellers and people like that. For what you want you wont need something amazingly expensive. Also, about your eyes, how long do you use the PC for every day and how close do you sit to it?
 
Silenced said:
Like Duke said, high end Graphics cards are for gamers or 3D modellers and people like that. For what you want you wont need something amazingly expensive. Also, about your eyes, how long do you use the PC for every day and how close do you sit to it?
Click to expand...

At present I am sat infront of the pc for about 4-5 hours a day - often for only 10-20 mins at a time, but overall, 4-5 hours. I guess I hold my head about 30-50cms away, maybe slightly more. I do wear glasses for reading, and had an eye test about 8 months ago. My eyes feel like I am looking at a very bright light for too long - if I am out in the sun (I live in south Spain, so we get some !) I find my eyes get to feel worse sooner, like I cannot take too much light. I used to do some demolision work, using oxcy-acetelyn to cut sheet steel with, and if we didn't use a cutters mask, we got what we called 'Arc-Eye' - this feel the same but not as serious, if that makes any sense to anyone !
 
Last edited:
steveinspain said:
At present I am sat infront of the pc for about 4-5 hours a day - often for only 10-20 mins at a time, but overall, 4-5 hours. I guess I hold my head about 30-50cms away, maybe slightly more. I do wear glasses for reading, and had an eye test about 8 months ago. My eyes feel like I am looking at a very bright light for too long - if I am out in the sun (I live in south Spain, so we get some !) I find my eyes get to feel worse sooner, like I cannot take too much light. I used to do some demolision work, using oxcy-acetelyn to cut sheet steel with, and if we didn't use a cutters maks, we got what we called 'Arc-Eye' - this feel she same but not so bad, if that makes any sense to anyone !
Click to expand...


Hmm, well that seems strange, I think you should lower the brightness on your monitor so maybe that will help you.

You probably have more sensitive eyesight than others, I can sit in front of the PC for 16 hours a day at the weekend and 7 on week days.
 
My wife's rig: intel DG31PR and E2200 (using on board grahics) looks just as good watching vids online as my GTX 285. Mainly because most internet vids are only streamed at a certain quality anyway. Now gaming is a whole different story.

Also it can be in the eye of the beholder. Some people can watch poor quality vids and not even notice as they are far more too involved in the actual content of the vid vs. the quality. I was perfectly happy watching TV on bunny ears, but for some reason I feel the need to have the BEST gaming graphics I can afford.
 
Do you sit in a dark room with the only thing on being the monitor?

Has your eye problems recently started? How long has it been going on for? Did you buy that monitor recently?
 
Ninja Please! said:
My wife's rig: intel DG31PR and E2200 (using on board grahics) looks just as good watching vids online as my GTX 285. Mainly because most internet vids are only streamed at a certain quality anyway. Now gaming is a whole different story.

Also it can be in the eye of the beholder. Some people can watch poor quality vids and not even notice as they are far more too involved in the actual content of the vid vs. the quality. I was perfectly happy watching TV on bunny ears, but for some reason I feel the need to have the BEST gaming graphics I can afford.
Click to expand...

Very true. Personally poor quality video's just annoy the hell out of me since they're all squarey.

And you feel the need to have the best gaming graphics you can afford because you need some way of making up for something else. Lol na, but still, I feel the same too, you just need it just for the fact you can have it.
 
My eyes started to get bad about 5-6 years ago - we moved out here 7 years ago, so maybe the harsh sun is making it worse. I got the new monitor about a year ago as I thought it might help. I'll try lowering the brightness, and I do always try to have the main light, a 300w uplight, on full...
Hell, maybe my wild youth is catching up with me....
 
Most TFTs on default settings are far far too bright to be good for the eyes... and the ambient light in the room can also make a huge difference... (a dark room is bad).

Another issue could be near point stress which is causing eye fatigue, and will eventually make you persistantly more short sighted.
 
Yeah, i've found every TFT screen i've bought has the settings far too bright, even in the most well lit room. I find the colours are easier to distinguish when these settings are toned down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom