Video Card Advice

[cseshag]

I put together my first Hackintosh about 7-8 months ago from HW mostly recommended by in the CustoMac buyers guides. My primary uses for the machine were for some heavy (non-graphical) computation, data storage, and running a couple of virtual machines now and again. Since I don't do much graphical work, I decided not to include a discrete graphics card in the original build.

However, I occasionally like to keep a window streaming video (netflix, youtube, etc) while working on some projects, and I've noticed that the video really stutters, so I'm thinking of adding a discrete graphics card, and I'm looking for some advice on adding a card that won't be too expensive and will handle the video streaming better.

Here's the current build:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5 Ghz (not overclocked) w/ HD4000 graphics
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper Evo 212
Power Supply: Corsair CX500M 500W supply
Memory: 16GB DDR3-1333
Hard Drives: Primary - 120GB, Storage - 2x1.5TB drives in RAID 1 config
Additional: Firewire 800 card (forget brand)
OS: Mountain Lion 10.8.4
Monitors: Dual setup - 1 Dell ST2410 (1920x1080) and 1 Dell SP2309W (2048x1152)

I think that's all the relevant specs...I had assumed that the Intel HD4000 integrated graphics would be more than adequate for streaming video (though the dual monitor setup may also be an issue).

Anyway, I'm not looking for a super high end card for gaming/video editing. I had been considering something with an NVIDIA GeForce GT620 or GT630 GPU, but thought I'd turn to the wisdom of the forum to see if anyone has any good recommendations. Would like to stay under $100 and ideally around $60-70.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[trs96]

I put together my first Hackintosh about 7-8 months ago from HW mostly recommended by in the CustoMac buyers guides. My primary uses for the machine were for some heavy (non-graphical) computation, data storage, and running a couple of virtual machines now and again. Since I don't do much graphical work, I decided not to include a discrete graphics card in the original build.

However, I occasionally like to keep a window streaming video (netflix, youtube, etc) while working on some projects, and I've noticed that the video really stutters, so I'm thinking of adding a discrete graphics card, and I'm looking for some advice on adding a card that won't be too expensive and will handle the video streaming better.

Here's the current build:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5 Ghz (not overclocked) w/ HD4000 graphics
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper Evo 212
Power Supply: Corsair CX500M 500W supply
Memory: 16GB DDR3-1333
Hard Drives: Primary - 120GB, Storage - 2x1.5TB drives in RAID 1 config
Additional: Firewire 800 card (forget brand)
OS: Mountain Lion 10.8.4
Monitors: Dual setup - 1 Dell ST2410 (1920x1080) and 1 Dell SP2309W (2048x1152)

I think that's all the relevant specs...I had assumed that the Intel HD4000 integrated graphics would be more than adequate for streaming video (though the dual monitor setup may also be an issue).

Anyway, I'm not looking for a super high end card for gaming/video editing. I had been considering something with an NVIDIA GeForce GT620 or GT630 GPU, but thought I'd turn to the wisdom of the forum to see if anyone has any good recommendations. Would like to stay under $100 and ideally around $60-70.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Go with a Kepler based Nvidia 640 or 650 and streaming video will be no problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121643&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814121643&gclid=CK2AxqfUlrkCFeoWMgodlmUAag

Above is a link to an Asus GT640 2GB model that can power up to 4 displays.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130827

The EVGA GTX650 is also good budget card for adding one to two monitors to your setup.