Does separate video card free up RAM or processor?

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sjfoote

New member
If I add a video card to my Dell (dimension 3000, 512MB, Celeron D 340) will it free up system resouces like RAM or processor time?

I notice that when working with CakeWalk Music Creator if the tracks go off the screen when recording or playback, there is a stutter as the video display jumps to the new track position. Is this because the on-board video is using up system resources?
 
Yes, built on video cards do take up resources, and a little bit more CPU power than non onboard video cards. Considering your system is already somewhat slow, you'll need all the processing & ram you can get. It would be a wise investment, along with maybe some more RAM & maybe a Pentium D instead of the Celeron D. Also might want to check how fast your HD's are running @ too. A reason I hate dell..........
 
Thanks Mindset. I have an upgrade from 512MB to 1GB coming soon - perhaps that will help. The hard drive is OEM Samsung 7200rpm.

I was in BestBuy the other day and they had video cards for as little as $50. I think that even these low-cost video cards have dedicated RAM (256 to 512MB). If I understand this correctly, once the card is installed, the onboard video is disabled in BIOS, and the RAM on the video card is used for graphics -thereby freeing up RAM and processor time for the DAW to use on other tasks. Is that about right?
 
Yes Sir, that is correct. Something like a nvidia 6200 or 7300GT would work fine. Maybe a 5500 or 5700 would work somewhat decent, but I think those cards are AGP cards anyways. Check your system configuration to see if you will be taking a PCI-E card or AGP card.
 
avoid BestBuy. You're get more of a selection and better pricing at NewEgg.com. BestBuy caters to the everyday Joe..and hike the price up. Buy your computer parts from a computer store.
 
And while you're at it, I'd highly suggest getting a dual head card so you can run dual screens. I couldn't imagine going back to a single display.

Oh, make sure you disable the onboard display driver when you get the card put in.
 
Thanks all - you guys are the best.

I'm looking at video cards now and I know that I have 2 open PCI slots. Dell says these slots are PCI with 33MHz bus. Since this PC is about 2 years old, I assume that these slots are standard PCI (not PCIe?) - if that's the case is there any spec I should be trying to match the video card/PCI bus to?

For example, I know that I can shove PC5400 RAM into the mother board, but since my PC is designed for PC2700, I won't get any increased performance from the PC5400. Is this similar with the 33MHz PCI bus - are there limits I should observe for video card RAM, processor, etc.?
 
I would not do a PCI video card myself. Check with Dell to see if you have a AGP slot on your motherboard. If not, then you will have to do a PCI video card. Be advised that AGP and PCI video cards look similar, but they are NOT interchangable! AGP slots are usually Brown in color, and PCI slots are usually White in color. The AGP slot is also offset from the PCI slots too.

Audio applications do not use 3d rendering at all! So, forget about getting high end "gaming cards"! They will be useless for your DAW. Any ol' modest 64mb video card will work just fine. You could get away with a 32mb card, but I don't think you can buy them with that little memory anymore! LOL But overall, don't worry too much about specs on the card. Be more worried about the chipset used! NVidia GeForce chipsets have tranditionally worked better in DAW's from my experience (and many other peoples experience). I have not had as good of luck with ATI Radeon AGP cards! :( Radeon AGP cards don't seem to play that well with devices on the PCI buss for some reason. Some claim it is their drivers are not that well written, others claim the chipset is just not that good. Either way, just from experience, I would avoid them. NVidia GeForce chipsets seem to work great though!

More RAM is not going to gain you much of a performance boost in your DAW UNLESS you are running VSTi or DXi instruments. Don't confuse those with VST and/or DX plugin's. VSTi and DXi instruments need to store sounds in RAM to work, so if you are using HUGE sound libraries for these, then more RAM will help them work much better.

Otherwise, CPU is your friend in a DAW. The more the merrier! All your plugin's, fade's, crossfades, volume changes, etc...all use CPU cycles to perform. So yes, having a dedicated video card will free up some CPU for sure, and will help things along.

I agree that a dual head card is the way to go! I have a MSI GeForce FX5200-128mb DDR video card that costs about $35!!! I run two 19" monitors on this card, and it is wonderful! :)
 
I'll save a lot of typing by just saying that everything Ford Van says is 100% correct.

Unfortunately you will have to get by with a PCI card, your system does not have a AGP slot. I checked your systems manual - which if you have misplaced, can be found here:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3000/en/OM/j6758A04.pdf

You may have a hard time finding a PCI card, and when you do it will be a low-end card. But thats all you need for audio applications. And it will still be a large improvement over your crappy built-in video.
 
sjfoote said:
Thanks all - you guys are the best.

I'm looking at video cards now and I know that I have 2 open PCI slots. Dell says these slots are PCI with 33MHz bus. Since this PC is about 2 years old, I assume that these slots are standard PCI (not PCIe?) - if that's the case is there any spec I should be trying to match the video card/PCI bus to?

For example, I know that I can shove PC5400 RAM into the mother board, but since my PC is designed for PC2700, I won't get any increased performance from the PC5400. Is this similar with the 33MHz PCI bus - are there limits I should observe for video card RAM, processor, etc.?
Click to expand...

BTW, PC5400 is DDR2 & PC2700 is the older DDR1. Unless you have 2 different types of slots on your motherboard you wouldn't be able to fit 5400 into the system. DDR1 uses 184 pin memory, DDR2 (5400) uses 240 pin connections.

RAM use is correct for VST instruments BUT. Windows XP needs at LEAST 256mb for itself to run somewhat efficient. Then you got to factor in at least another 128mb for background tasks if your system isn't optimized for music. On top of that, when you start running programs that are somewhat complex (not like solitaire or anything) like Sonar for instance, you'll need to have at least 128mb to run that. Which the recommended is 512mb for it, without using VST's. For a program like Nuendo 3, the minimal amount of RAM needed to run Nuendo 3 is 512mb in itself. Without VST instruments or plug-ins, or basically 512mb would be ok for a very small project, just like 100mb minimal requirement for Sonar 5 is clearly not enough to run even a small to mid sized project.

Also for video cards... It will be hard to find video cards (edit: I mean PCI video cards that is) @ stores like CompUSA, plus CompUSA doesn't have many great deals, all their deals usually have some type of rebate. and I personally hate waiting months for rebates & sometimes they "loose" it... Microcenter most likely will probably have it... If all else fails here's some suggestions...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130255
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150040
 
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