Graphics Card for Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6

[kookoo]

Hi All,

I want to build a high spec machine pretty much for the sole purpose of running Lightroom 4, Photoshop CS6 and Final Cut (when I get around to it). No games at all.

I don't want to cheap out on a graphics card, but at the same time I don't want to spend on a card that LR and PS will never utilize. I would rather spend it on components that will make a difference. I'm going to be running duel Eizo 24" ColorEdge monitor and in the future, I may be adding a 3rd. I would like to get something that is just beyond what LR and PS will utilize.

The motherboards I'm considering are the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH or GA-Z77X-UD5H unless anyone has a better suggestions for a motherboard with Thunderbolt.

Thanks in advance!

 

[runebinder]

The nVidia 6xx range look good by all reports, should run those apps fine. Mobo wise I and went for the UP5, really pleased with it. Build quality is awesome, dual Thunderbolt ports which will come in handy when peripherals get cheaper and uses the IR3550 for the power phases. They are probably the best 2 boards around atm for building a Hackintosh, can't really go wrong with either.

 

[kookoo]

Thanks runebinder.

From the research I've done would I be correct in saying; the graphics card plays very little part when it comes to Lightroom and Photoshop, or will I gain some performance advantage using a high-end card.

Any technical information is most welcomed.

Thank again

 

[runebinder]

Thanks runebinder.

From the research I've done would I be correct in saying; the graphics card plays very little part when it comes to Lightroom and Photoshop, or will I gain some performance advantage using a high-end card.

Any technical information is most welcomed.

Thank again

Not sure about Light room as I prefer Aperture, where Photoshop CS6 is concerned it uses the Mercury engine which is supposed to help for filters and rendering. Nvidia cards are easier to get working in OS X so would definitely go with one of theirs. This might be useful: http://www.nvidia.com/object/photoshop-cs6.html

 

[surfstu]

Just use the Intel HD4000 graphics that come free with the i7 chip. This is plenty for most LR PS and FC uses.

You can always drop in a good Nvidia card later when the price falls

my two pence

Stu

 

[slugnet]

The only Adobe applications that utilize the CUDA ability of the nVidia cards are Premiere and After Effects CS6 for ray tracing. Photoshop uses the mercury engine, however it is based on OpenCL and not CUDA, so any graphics solution that has OpenCL (including the on board HD4000) will provide some benefit in Photoshop. Final Cut 7 and earlier do not use graphics engines and are highly CPU dependent, while Final Cut Pro X can and will make use of your GPU for rendering. So, if you know what apps you are using, you can know how much of a graphics card you need.