Graphics card for PPro & AE SD editing
 

Hi

I'm sure this must have bee asked before but searching proved fruitless...

I'm looking for a low-end card that will be good enough for my PC to work with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. Two minitor support would be good too.

Is there a general preference towards ATI or GeForce products???

Thanks

I guess the main question is just how "low end" do you want to go? If you have the funds, I'd recommend picking up an Nvidia Quadro 1500, which is an entry/almost mid-grade level workstation card. It'll set you back at least $600US, but its a workhorse. Although, if anything over $500 makes you choke, you can always check out gaming cards like the Nvidia 7800/7900 series. They've been on the market for some time, and their prices have fallen significantly with the releases of the new 8800 line. A good 7900 card (with dual monitor support) shouldn't cost you more than $250.

Workstation cards are great and all, but if you're really pinching pennies, you can save a few hundred bucks by getting a gaming card, and get fairly similar performance.

As far as ATI or Nvidia, I recommend whatever you're comfortable with. Personally, I was a huge fan of ATI, but my systems always had horrendous compatibility issues with their hardware. I switched to Nvidia and haven't looked back since. I would think that as long as you picked something that's on Adobe's compatibility list, you shouldn't have a problem. Good luck!