Which Vidcard for PS CS4?

[headala]

Hey, guys, I'll be getting PS CS4 extended (student) any day now. I've heard that some vidcards offer acceleration for Photoshop. Does anyone know which ones? Thanks!

[hotwaxisbad]

I think any that support open GL.

[hoax]

Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0


GPU acceleration in Adobe Photoshop CS4

For information on GPU features in Photoshop, and a list of the GPU chipsets that have been tested for use with Photoshop CS4, please refer to the following documents:

-snip
source:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb405445

[headala]

source:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb405445

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[Vatos_locos]

NVIDIA

GeForce 6 Series 6800 Ultra
GeForce 7 Series 7800 GTX
GeForce 8 Series 8800 GT
GeForce 9 Series 9600GT, 9800 (single GPU variant one)
Quadro FX Series 1700
Quadro FX Series 4600
Quadro FX Series 5600


AMD/ATI

Radeon X1000 Series 1900
Radeon HD2000 Series HD2900 XT
Radeon HD3000 Series HD3870 X2
FireGL V-Avivo Series V5600
FireGL V-Avivo Series V7600
FireGL V-Avivo Series V8650



WTF it doesent support HD4xxx series :S

[tiro_uspsss]

I thought it was to do with CUDA? :confused:

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I put a 4870 512mb in a cs4 machine and it works perfect.... super fast zoom and render working on 800 mb files

[tiro_uspsss]

NVIDIA

GeForce 6 Series 6800 Ultra
GeForce 7 Series 7800 GTX
GeForce 8 Series 8800 GT
GeForce 9 Series 9600GT, 9800 (single GPU variant one)
Quadro FX Series 1700
Quadro FX Series 4600
Quadro FX Series 5600


AMD/ATI

Radeon X1000 Series 1900
Radeon HD2000 Series HD2900 XT
Radeon HD3000 Series HD3870 X2
FireGL V-Avivo Series V5600
FireGL V-Avivo Series V7600
FireGL V-Avivo Series V8650



WTF it doesent support HD4xxx series :S

I'm sure it does - they probably havent updated their list - it doesnt have GT200 series on there either ;)

[headala]

From all that I read on their site, CUDA or Open CL was not mentioned once. They only talked about Open GL and Shader 3. :confused:

[Vatos_locos]

i hope they will :p i just change one 8800Gt on my sister pc with one 4870 :/

[belmontrich]

NVIDIA

GeForce 6 Series 6800 Ultra
GeForce 7 Series 7800 GTX
GeForce 8 Series 8800 GT
GeForce 9 Series 9600GT, 9800 (single GPU variant one)
Quadro FX Series 1700
Quadro FX Series 4600
Quadro FX Series 5600


AMD/ATI

Radeon X1000 Series 1900
Radeon HD2000 Series HD2900 XT
Radeon HD3000 Series HD3870 X2
FireGL V-Avivo Series V5600
FireGL V-Avivo Series V7600
FireGL V-Avivo Series V8650



WTF it doesent support HD4xxx series :S

its says all here.. ^^

[KME]

Found this snippet while researching multi-gpu scalability with CS4 (hopefully this will change). Maybe this has been posted elsewhere but I don't want anyone wasting money on a card. If anyone has found that CS4 can take advantage of both cores (or if I am not reading this right) let me know. Thanks in advance

Q. Does Photoshop take advantage of dual-GPU display cards?
A. Not at this time.

Q. Why can't Photoshop take advantage of more than one display card?
A. When you move an image window between two monitors that are each on a separate display card, the GPU attached to the second monitor does not have access to the data necessary to accelerate drawing. The SLI and Crossfire technologies that use more than one GPU to speed up full-screen games will not work with Photoshop, because their use is limited by design to accelerate only full-screen games.

Q. What should I look for when buying a graphics card or new machine?
A. See "List of tested graphics display cards in Photoshop CS4" (TechNote kb405711). Here are some things to keep in mind when you consider purchasing a new display card:

* Display drivers need to be regularly updated to keep up with changes in technology, applications, and operating systems.
* To maximize Photoshop's OpenGL features, consider a card with a fast single GPU. Photoshop will not work with more than one GPU.
* 512 MB of video RAM is ideal, but not necessary. If you frequently work with multiple applications open, then you might want to have more than 512 MB RAM on the card.
* The display driver must support Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.0.
* The memory listed for display cards that have 2 GPUs is memory allocated to both processors. Because Photoshop will use only one of the processors, it will only use half the listed memory.

Link: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898

[headala]

Thanks, MK, for the post; it seems like you and I were doing parallel research :)

Here's all I've gleaned from reading the adobe forums the last 3 days:

1) The gpu acceleration is only OpenGL based, not Stream or Cuda based. See this link (http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898). It only applies to the redrawing of the image, not in the actual processing of the image (unless 3rd part Plugins are used). It doesn't really matter how fast your card is, as long as it has at least 512MB. Dual GPUs are no help. And even if you do have an approved GPU...

2) It might not work. The forums are riddled with people who couldn't get PS to accept and use their GPU, even if it's on the approved list. Others got it to work without being on the approved list. If you can't get it to work, you might be in for a world of hurt because...

3) Many folks are claiming that CS4 is slower than CS3, even with the GPU features. Many complain about the plethora of seemingly confusing/contradictory settings, though that could be due to people who are more 'artsy' than 'techie', so I don't know.

4) It is critical that you have the most up-to-date drivers available.

Some threads of interest:
What's a compatible card? (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b71751)
ditto (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b715c8/0)
Advice on system specs, incl. GPU (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b61eb0)
Using a GPU in XP64 (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b714ad)
HD3650? (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b6db23)
General Discussion on GPU acceleration (http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b6d803)
An interesting article on PC Perspectives about GPU acceleration in CS4 (http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=649&type=expert)

Whew! I hoped that helps somebody. I learned a lot; I may be able to help others if any of you have questions.

[KME]

You're welcome headala; yes, it does appear to be we were doing parallel research. Your post pretty much clarifies my concerns concerning multi/dual GPUs and CS4. Thanks for the time spent. I may still try my 4870X2 or grab a GTX 295 for folding/crunching (I can write off my pc components on my taxes as a business expense ;)) and report how they do when I get a chance:shrug:. Other than that I'm heading for a GTX 285 or 1GB 4870.

[headala]

I found another page that list more cards:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb405711&sliceId=2


nVidia geForce

nVidia 260 GTX 896MB
nVidia 9800 GTX 512MB
nVidia 9600 GT 512MB
nVidia 8800 GTX 768MB
nVidia 8800 GT 512MB
nVidia 8600M 256MB
nVidia 7900 GTX 512MB
nVidia 7900 GS 256MB
nVidia 7800 GTX 256MB
nVidia 7600 256MB
nVidia 6800 256MB

nVidia Quadro

Quadro FX 4600 768 MB
Quadro FX 4500 512MB
Quadro FX 4400 512MB
Quadro FX 3700 512MB
Quadro FX 3500 256MB
Quadro FX 1700 512MB
Quadro FX 1500 256MB
Quadro FX 1400 -128MB
Quadro FX 570 -256MB
Quadro FX 370 256MB

ATI Radeon

ATI Radeon 4850 512 MB
Radeon x3870 x2 512MB
Radeon x2900HD 512MB
ATI Radeon HD 2400 256MB
Radeon x1900XT 512MB
ATI Radeon x1800 - 512MB
Radeon x1800 256MB

ATI Fire GL

ATI Fire GL 7700 512 MB
ATI Fire GL 7600 512 MB
Fire GL V7200 256MB
ATI Fire GL 5600 512MB
Fire GL V3600 256MB
Fire GL 3350 256 MB

I'm not sure why those two pages have different lists. Any ideas?

[KME]

I found another page that list more cards:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb405711&sliceId=2



I'm not sure why those two pages have different lists. Any ideas?

Not sure why the lists differ unless Adobe took more time to test cards. What's strange is that I see a 3870X2 in their list...so I'm reading it like you can use a dual gpu card but you won't get any of the added benefits of Crossfire or Sli? (despite their saying you can't use a dual gpu card in the earlier list:shrug:) I'll try and make time Monday to call our inside guy at Adobe to see what the hell is going on. Till then Cheers!

[headala]

Thanks, MK. Yeah, I would guess that the X2 card is supported but only 1 GPU is used (which makes sense considering their implementation only uses the GPU for redraw and not for processing).

Also, from what I read before, it seemed like it didn't really matter how much GPU memory your card had, as long as it is more than 512MB. Bu then today when I was reading the "Known Issues" part of one of the KB articles, it seems like there can be serious problems if the screen uses up all of your video memory (i.e., you have tons of large images open); it will crash or lock up. So maybe it's worth getting a higher-end card just for the increased memory.

Thanks for investigating the issue with your contact. Please let us know what you find out!

[bizkit35461]

Some get supported with newer drivers - ex: 8800 GTS 512 [G92]

[HuffPCair]

my 9800GTX+ does fine with it

[KME]

Some get supported with newer drivers - ex: 8800 GTS 512 [G92]

I was figuring on this :D


my 9800GTX+ does fine with it

Good to know! Thanks for the input! Didn't get a chance to speak with adobe, hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier to get on the phone.

[headala]

my 9800GTX+ does fine with it

That's exactly what I'm thinking of getting; it runs a little cooler than the nonplus version?

Plus there's some good prices out there right now.

[KME]

Talked to both Adobe and nVidia and the flat answer is multi-gpu acceleration is not supported in CS4, and as far as I was told the only advantage to multi-gpus in CS4 is you can use the other gpu for folding or running some other program. You can still use a gtx 295 or x2 but you won't get the added oomph, which is pretty much what I figured. Maybe in CS5, who knows?

[MaxxxRacer]

my x1900GT with 256mb is working great. Working with a couple of 25mb tiff files, I have no problems. If you deal with crazy file sizes or alot of files at once, 512mb or more is a good idea. As far as speed goes, I dont think it matters too much. Its not like you need the fastest card on the market for perfect performance.

[zanzabar]

IMO the best is the cheapest ati card 4670 or higher with 512MB, that way u get cheap then max supported specs and the best 2D IQ with the option of flashing ID strings to fire GL latter if u want solid works or something else like that its strong enough to do it

[headala]

my x1900GT with 256mb is working great. Working with a couple of 25mb tiff files, I have no problems. If you deal with crazy file sizes or alot of files at once, 512mb or more is a good idea. As far as speed goes, I dont think it matters too much. Its not like you need the fastest card on the market for perfect performance.

Thanks for keeping us updated; I'm glad it's working great for you. From the forums at Adobe, it seems like there are more complaints about compatibility problems with ATI cards than there are with NV's. Glad yours works!:up:

[MaxxxRacer]

Thanks for keeping us updated; I'm glad it's working great for you. From the forums at Adobe, it seems like there are more complaints about compatibility problems with ATI cards than there are with NV's. Glad yours works!:up:

Interesting. Looks like I will be keeping my X1900 for a while longer.

[Bobsama]

HD3850 supported for this? And what about 256MB cards? And heck--is there any real point in using >512MB cards? I'm trying to figure out what's worthwhile. I have an 8800GT and a HD3850, both 256MB.

[Macadamia]

Bigger resolution support for canvas.


Once you exceed vRam I think it will revert to normal mode.

[headala]

Yup, if you have a bunch of images opened it can max out the buffer.

[MaxxxRacer]

If you work with one photo at a time 256 is fine unless you are dealing with 100+ MB Murals.

[headala]

If you work with one photo at a time 256 is fine unless you are dealing with 100+ MB Murals.

...or multiple HDR's or Pano's.

[headala]

Here's another somewhat interesting read:
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41486/140/

Adobe is talking about how it hopes to expand the use of GPU acceleration, but there is a limit to how far they can go with it.