FireGL Vs Normal Graphics Card.

[kingtim]

I'm updating my old Skt A Computer in the next couple of weeks, with the price drop in AMD Cpus, but am confused as to which graphics card.

I've started doing a lot of compositing with my usaul amount of DVD & video editing/encoding etc. And have recently purchased Combustion 4. But every computer spec I've seen for most media based PCs incorporates a FireGL card.

I was going to get a HIS X1800GTO 256MB, as I've used HIS for ages and they support dual monitors. But I was wondering what FireGL offers over normal Graphics cards? The only FireGL cards I can afford are the V3300 & V3400 (and possibly V5100), both entry level cards with 128Mb. On paper the HIS looks the better card, with higher memory bandwidth etc. But I'm unsure to which.

FireGL V3300
http://www.ati.com/products/fireglv3300/index.html

FireGL V3400
http://www.ati.com/products/fireglv3400/index.html

HIS X1800GTO
http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_ov.php?id=229&view=yes

[CWR03]

A FireGL card is for graphics rendering, such as CAD design, and it would be unsuited for gaming applications. I just replaced a fairly expensive (at the time) GeForce FX5600 Ultra with an MX4000 (cost: $10 after rebate) in my media PC because the 5600's fan was failing, and there's no noticeable difference in video playback at all.

A video editing/encoding program will not be affected by the type or quality of the video card.

[foxyshadis]

If you use combustion, or FCP or AE, FireGL and Quattro cards will help rendering speeds - but saving the money and using it to upgrade to a faster dual-core CPU will help much more, and will help with 3rd party filters that almost never include GPU optimizations (in my experience). Only get a workstation card if you're certain that all of the filters have sufficient gpu optimizations to make the cost worth it.

If the workstation isn't also going to be used for heavy gaming, you might just get a x1600/7600 with dual DVI, which have the same or better features (except for HDR, iirc) vs a dinky V3300, or x700/6600, to save money. Make sure you get at least 256M though, if you'll be doing any HD. That way you still get a rendering boost via PS2 or PS3.