# Video Cards



## kassad (Oct 19, 2010)

I apologize if this the wrong forum to post this.

I'm looking into building a new computer.   The question I have is how important is a faster video card?   My understanding is that the cpu is doing the grunt work during processing.   What role does the video card have other than the obvious role of sending the images to the monitor?


thanks 
  Kassad


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## KmH (Oct 19, 2010)

Some applications, like Photoshop, use memory on the video card for functions like OpenGL. OpenGL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So you not only want a fast video card, you want one with a good amount of memory.

Another consideration for a video card(s) is being able to use multiple monitors.


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## kassad (Oct 19, 2010)

Would I be using OpenGL in processing photos?  Dual monitors is definitely need for me but even the basic video card or even integrated video is available with dual monitor support.


-Kassad


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## Big Mike (Oct 19, 2010)

As far as I know, it's only the latest versions (CS4 & CS5) of Photoshop that can use the memory on the video card to increase performance.  
I don't remember all the benefits, but one of them was that it properly renders the image at all zoom levels.  Without this, an image will often look worse when viewed at uneven zoom levels like 33% or 66%.  
 I guess you should also make sure that the card is compatible with OpenGL (or whatever version etc.).  I was fairly choked when I found out that my video card didn't support those features when I installed CS4.


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## KmH (Oct 19, 2010)

kassad said:


> Would I be using OpenGL in processing photos? Dual monitors is definitely need for me but even the basic video card or even integrated video is available with dual monitor support.
> 
> 
> -Kassad


I don't know. Would you? I do. Do you use a version of Photoshop CS?

GPU and OpenGL support | Photoshop CS4, CS5


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## aleshaabbot (Nov 3, 2010)

Video card, video adapter, graphics accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card is an occurrence card whose function is to bring about output images to a display.


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