Which hardware is best...

[dhwachs]

I am in the process of buying a new computer.

How important is a high-end video card for doing video editing? On the computer I am putting together through Dell, I am definitely going to put at least 1 Gig of 533 mHz RAM in, but don't know if it necessary to upgrade from the 128MB ATI Radeon X300 to the nVidea GeForce 6800.

Since I am not a gamer, is the more powerful graphics card going to do much for me in terms of video editing?

Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks

[Capmaster]

Moving to computer forum ...

[Poppa_Meth]

I'd say no. The video card doesn't really have a great deal to do with standard video editing. I've seen system running integrated graphics do just fine with video work, though they suck at gaming. The X300 should be just fine for what you need.

[rallynavvie]

Unless you're using video effects with a lot of 3D instructions you won't benefit from having a high-end gaming card like the X800 or 6800. And if you were using a lot of 3D work that would benefit from the better pipes on a video card like that I'd say invest your cash toward a workstation card like a Fire or Quadro, especially if you aren't gaming with it. Digital video is 2D and video cards have been doing 2D for... well forever. My recommendation for a video workstation's video card (without doing much 3D work with your video) would be to get whatever card can support what you want for displays. I still use a GeForce4 in my second workstation (which was my primary for years) and it does just as well for video than does my new Quadro.