Hi folks. I'm not a gamer and not that au fait with the more high-end gaming GPUs and their real-world power requirements and I'm just looking for a steer.
BACKGROUND:
I am a heavy Photoshop user doing often using very large files and doing large format graphics etc, and also looking to do some 3D modelling (e.g. Blender) and video work (Premier) and I do audio recording and editing work so my system needs to be basically silent (which it is currently). I run a dual monitor setup (DP and DVI) and had a silent Radeon HD7750 which worked fine until I upgraded from Photoshop CS5 to Photoshop CC and now CC2014. Photoshop became so unstable as to be completely unuseable, even with complete removal and reinstalls, latest drivers, etc. To cut a long story short, there was no solution and I had to pull the card and currently am using the Intel HD4000 integrated graphics on my AsRock Z77 Extreme 6 mobo (Core i7 3770k and 16GB RAM). It is stable and fine with PS, but it lacks grunt for big files and some processing work.
POWER:
I have this PSU with connectors:
http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/silent-pro-m2/silent-pro-m2-520w/
PCI-E 6+2 Pin x 2
520w
And my board has:
- 24 pin ATX power connector
- 8 pin 12V power connector
- SLI/XFire power connector
I have max two slot height available.
PLAN:
I read that nVidia cards may well work better than AMD on my system. I know that ideally I would get a Quadro card but they are just stupidly expensive. So I am looking at GTX cards. As I understand it, memory bandwidth is more important than raw amount of memory. I've been going round in circles looking for a balance of performance/quietness/power requirements. Can anyone recommend a silent/very quiet card that would give me an appreciable boost in performance for what I want to do and which my system can power adequately?
Appreciate any advice..
CHeers
BACKGROUND:
I am a heavy Photoshop user doing often using very large files and doing large format graphics etc, and also looking to do some 3D modelling (e.g. Blender) and video work (Premier) and I do audio recording and editing work so my system needs to be basically silent (which it is currently). I run a dual monitor setup (DP and DVI) and had a silent Radeon HD7750 which worked fine until I upgraded from Photoshop CS5 to Photoshop CC and now CC2014. Photoshop became so unstable as to be completely unuseable, even with complete removal and reinstalls, latest drivers, etc. To cut a long story short, there was no solution and I had to pull the card and currently am using the Intel HD4000 integrated graphics on my AsRock Z77 Extreme 6 mobo (Core i7 3770k and 16GB RAM). It is stable and fine with PS, but it lacks grunt for big files and some processing work.
POWER:
I have this PSU with connectors:
http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/silent-pro-m2/silent-pro-m2-520w/
PCI-E 6+2 Pin x 2
520w
And my board has:
- 24 pin ATX power connector
- 8 pin 12V power connector
- SLI/XFire power connector
I have max two slot height available.
PLAN:
I read that nVidia cards may well work better than AMD on my system. I know that ideally I would get a Quadro card but they are just stupidly expensive. So I am looking at GTX cards. As I understand it, memory bandwidth is more important than raw amount of memory. I've been going round in circles looking for a balance of performance/quietness/power requirements. Can anyone recommend a silent/very quiet card that would give me an appreciable boost in performance for what I want to do and which my system can power adequately?
Appreciate any advice..
CHeers