1080p HD graphics cards...

Someone talk to me about the above.

Want to upgrade to a new screen, and a card to give me top notch graphics.

I'm not a gamer, just want a nice crystal clear screen for photoshop duties, and i want run a massive resolution (1920x1080 etc).

Are those graphics cards a plug and play operation? Will they fit in a standard computer running vista? Why do the have memory chips attached to them?

Anyone recommend one?

Thanks chaps.

You need to know what graphics slot is in your computer AGP, PCI or PCI-E
If it is a modern computer it should have a pci-e slot. Just take out the old card put in the new one and install the drivers that come with it.

Try this card it should tick all your boxes.
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...R3+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=38524

Most modern cards will drive that screen no problems, infact all probably will.

It just depends on what games you wish to play.


If you say it's a 'vista computer' then it's going to be PCI-E setup, but then so are pretty much all cards now.

Just check you have a slot there. Make and Model of computer if you didn't build it yourself (I'm guessing not ).


Your resolution is not classed as high in a desktop any more, but a standard widescreen resolution (look for 1680x1050 resolution in reviews and it'll be similar to that) e.g. your 22" Monitors+

Have a read here to get some idea, then they have some chart there

Money will determine what you buy (if your current setup will take one)
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-grap ... 31783.html

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I was going to add that the monitor will be as important as the graphics card for outright picture quality. Different monitors displaying the same resolution image from the same graphics card will produce different results. So a high quality monitor is a must too.

As for changing the graphics card, it can be easy or it can be a pain. It depends on what your current set up is now. You will need to delete the old drivers first from Windows and then if you have an onboard (integrated) graphics card at the moment, then you will probably have to enter the bios to disable it. Either way, if you buy a new retail boxed card then the instructions that come with it should suffice.

I think you'll be fine with any of the medium to higher end graphics card. For photoshop use I would have thought having more graphics memory would be better and outright GPU speed being less of a priority.

I was thinking more of this one;

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...ess+Graphics+Card+?productId=39291#moreImages

With this screen;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACER-P225HQbd...ts_Monitors?hash=item4ced1fc54e#ht_1150wt_939

Bike Hoarder":uy9eqq4b said:

I was thinking more of this one;

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...ess+Graphics+Card+?productId=39291#moreImages

Click to expand...

If your going for low end graphics card I think the Nvida Geforce 8400gs would be a better card
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...R2+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=28029

Bike Hoarder":2ipv3hcd said:

I was thinking more of this one;

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...ess+Graphics+Card+?productId=39291#moreImages

With this screen;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACER-P225HQbd...ts_Monitors?hash=item4ced1fc54e#ht_1150wt_939

Click to expand...

What Graphics are you using now ?

I would probably stump up the extra and get the HD4650 as a minimum, help with HD movies as well, probably help ( though not looked in to it in great detail) with FlashHD like iPlayer.
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?store=2&cat=48&subcat=2627


The 'HyperMemory' if I remember correctly means it will use you main RAM in your computer instead of built on to the card. (RAM on card is usually better as you gain system RAM and it's usually quicker)


The other budget NVIDIA series is the G210/G220 cards. May be worth a look.


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Though
In Photoshop unless your filters can make use of 'on the GPU acceleration' and you need that, then like I said all should be fine, it just makes it nicer to use with redraw and 'snappyness'

What's the problem you have with your current setup. why not buy the monitor, see how it is then look for a graphics card.

Thanks folks, think i'm going to try the screen first. All this technical computer talk is scaring me!! :shock:

The only thing that made me think about graphics cards, is, to get the best from an HD screen surely i need to use an HDMI cable? :?

HDMI will give you digital image and audio will also travel digitally up the same cable, You could run DVI also or DVI - HDMI with seperate audio cable and you can run traditional HD15 with seperate audio. Spot the Audio-Visual engineer

Let me know if you need any cables dont go buying any as I have tonnes that you are welocme to