[Chris_Scott]

Hi,

I'm building...well Dell...is building me a new system and I'm wondering which video card is better for my intended uses. I'm a graphic designer so I use alot of photoshop. As for gaming, I play FF once in a while but the most it will be used for is children's learning software for my son.

These are the choices in my price range.

256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro

Here are my system specs if it makes a difference.

Thanks,
Chris

PROCESSOR
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM & TV-TUNERS
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
MEMORY
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE
Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
VIDEO CARD
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
SOUND CARD
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D) Sound Card
ESSENTIAL BUNDLES
Core Bundle: 7-outlet surge and 1GB flash drive
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER
13 in 1 Media Card Reader and 3.5 in Floppy Drive
MODEM
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
OPTIONAL PORTS
IEEE 1394 Adapter

Edited by Chris_Scott, 05 January 2007 - 04:35 PM.

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by getting Dell to build it, rather than building it yourself, you are spending probably at least an extra $500. If you want to pay me $500, I'll fly to your house and put together your computer for you.

You are getting what looks like a great computer, but are really skimping out on the graphics card.

Though, I'm pretty sure either would be fine for your needs. Photoshop isn't really that graphics intensive. As long as your graphics card can display 16-bit colors (as any made this millennium can), it will be fine.

And if by FF, you mean Final Fantasy XI, then both cards exceed the minimum requirements.

[stettybet0]

by getting Dell to build it, rather than building it yourself, you are spending probably at least an extra $500. If you want to pay me $500, I'll fly to your house and put together your computer for you.

You are getting what looks like a great computer, but are really skimping out on the graphics card.

Though, I'm pretty sure either would be fine for your needs. Photoshop isn't really that graphics intensive. As long as your graphics card can display 16-bit colors (as any made this millennium can), it will be fine.

And if by FF, you mean Final Fantasy XI, then both cards exceed the minimum requirements.

[Chris_Scott]

I hear what you are saying. It would be much more cost effective if I built it from the ground up. Unfortunately with my current lack of computer building knowledge anything I could put together would be no better than a Commodore 64.

And I'd hire you to do it if we were just looking at the cost of airline tickets. But when you factor in the taxes, fees, your travel expenses and suite at the Ritz-Carlton I'd save more money by just upgrading to a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU.

And yes, what I meant was Final Fantasy, but I don't think it's even XI. The latest title I play is Dungeon Siege and that's not all too often.

Thanks for your input, stettybet0. And thanks for the confirmation that the options I chose won't have me p*ssed off when I get it out of the box.

[Dan1887]

My best suggestion at moment would be to stay with the radeon x1300 pro, download ati tool beta 24 and use that to increase the core clock. I had my x1300 pro holding steady at 105 avg FPS and a max of 140 FPS. Which depending on the game is a considerable amount over the 7300.

[Chris_Scott]

Thanks, Dan. I'll do that, especially because of the price.