My off-line music computer is also the photography computer. The latest upgrade to my photographic program, On 1 Photo Raw, made my video card obsolete, in other words it is not powerful enough to use all of the program's functions. Thus I would like to purchase new video card.
IIRC in the past some video card drivers would mess up audio drivers. Since music is the number one thing for this computer I don't want that to happen. So my question is is that still true? If so what video cards should I avoid?
FYI what I am looking for is a video card with OpenGL 4.2 compatible video card with 2+ GB dedicated VRAM, 1920x1080 resolution (at 100% scale factor). I would probably go with one with 4 gigs of VRAM. Any suggestions? (Yes my monitor can handle that resolution)
Thanx in advance for your wisdom, knowledge, and time.
I'm in a fitness protection program. I'm been hiding from exercise.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
FYI, newer, high end gaming cards are extremely difficult to find right now. The two reasons, 1) Bitcoin miners buy these cards as soon as they can find one. 2) COVID has caused supply chain issues for the makers of the cards. I've been trying to upgrade my card since February and no luck. If you want to spend double or more on a card you can find them on Ebay. I'm just too cheap to spend extra.....
If you want to find a card that's less expensive and lower specs, it may be a little easier.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
Been using a passive video card for years (doesn't have a fan to cool it) the Nvidia 710, runs great, photo and games run good with it.
Is it the GForce 710? I have that card because it has 4 HDMI outs on it and I run 3 monitors.
What it will "mess with" is typically not driver driven. Your current drivers don't get removed or changed. What happens is a video card with HDMI will want to become your primary audio device because HDMI by nature sends audio. You just need to go to the card's interface using their provided software and disable the audio on the card. Your existing drivers will then become default and you will be back where you started. I can say that from experience because I too said "What the heck is THIS now" when I suddenly found my Focusrite was no longer my enabled audio source after changing to that video card.
This is the one I use, but my primary requirement was the 4 HDMIs rather than 4gb or RAM This one only has 2gb.
Note that your options may be directed by the kind of slot you have open. Mine uses a PCI Express x1. If I went to more RAM I think I would need to go to a motherboard with a PCI 2.0 slot for the bus to support that VRAM. That one Steve or Harv may be able to shed more light on. They are more into the hardware than I am.
I think that's the one Eddie, have it for at least five years I think, and got it a lot cheaper than your link.
It does take up a little more room because of the passive cooling (you might have to move an existing pc card to give it that bit of extra room) but runs good, and no extra fans to get noise from.
To be honest unless a user is a dedicated gamer then I think no need for an expensive card, I have a lot of older games Half life 2, Desperadoes, for all that, more than happy with it. As far as I can see will run Video software fine as well.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
What kind of horsepower does the computer have Mario? I am sitting here on an i5 with 16GB of RAM but I am soon going to upgrade to 32 GB. My CPU is the biggest I can put on this mobo and I don't know if increasing the RAM will even matter, but it's not expensive and it might help.
For me, I like to exceed recommended. That's why the Pro Tools PC has and i7with 64 GB of RAM in it. Man, I paid a fortune for that PC. LOL!!
Your comment about Photography editing tools caught my attention. Photography is a large hobby for me too. Like Eddie says your motherboard has plenty of PCI slots to work with. 750 watts should run any card you choose. I am NO Expert. I do recall that DirectX v12 support was also critical in the spec but that may have been specific to something I am using.
I notice the same trend in video card demands, more more more! with each release. I am an Adobe LR & PS user. This demand for CPU, RAM and GPU are what moved me to a larger system as well. I notice the speed delivered by the GPU. I think that a Solid State system drive has become a good investment. (Cost++Performance When you are ready)
This trend is very likely to persist into the future with larger image files, Stacking, AI and at the same time CPU power increments tapering(contradicting Moore Law). {stating obvious} for Graphic processor bigger is better and will carry you further into the future.
I have been very pleased with ASUS NVidia GeForce cards. Like Steve suggests older versions could hit your sweet spot of Cost++Performance.
With my to be twelve year old computer next February, I feel very ancient around you guys, but hey it does what I need at the moment, runs windows 10 just fine, though the SSD does help a lot.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
I ended up getting an ATI Radeon RX580 recently - it's probably overkill for music production, but I do some video editing so this card will speed that up too.
Originally Posted By: sslechta
FYI, newer, high end gaming cards are extremely difficult to find right now. The two reasons, 1) Bitcoin miners buy these cards as soon as they can find one. 2) COVID has caused supply chain issues for the makers of the cards. I've been trying to upgrade my card since February and no luck. If you want to spend double or more on a card you can find them on Ebay. I'm just too cheap to spend extra.....
If you want to find a card that's less expensive and lower specs, it may be a little easier.
That's exactly the problem I ran into this month. Scalpers have driven video card prices through the roof, such that all my local stores are sold out of anything below $1000, and all the "used" sales are between double and triple the original price for a 3 year old GPU.
Originally Posted By: eddie1261
Originally Posted By: musiclover
Been using a passive video card for years (doesn't have a fan to cool it) the Nvidia 710, runs great, photo and games run good with it.
Is it the GForce 710? I have that card because it has 4 HDMI outs on it and I run 3 monitors.
What it will "mess with" is typically not driver driven. Your current drivers don't get removed or changed. What happens is a video card with HDMI will want to become your primary audio device because HDMI by nature sends audio. You just need to go to the card's interface using their provided software and disable the audio on the card. Your existing drivers will then become default and you will be back where you started. I can say that from experience because I too said "What the heck is THIS now" when I suddenly found my Focusrite was no longer my enabled audio source after changing to that video card.
This is the one I use, but my primary requirement was the 4 HDMIs rather than 4gb or RAM This one only has 2gb.
Note that your options may be directed by the kind of slot you have open. Mine uses a PCI Express x1. If I went to more RAM I think I would need to go to a motherboard with a PCI 2.0 slot for the bus to support that VRAM. That one Steve or Harv may be able to shed more light on. They are more into the hardware than I am.
Passive cards are great for music-only machines, as they'll reduce noise. And you're right on the mark for the HDMI audio - then again, I've never had a problem with it as I always use an external audio interface with it's own ASIO driver, so my DAWs never try to select the HDMI as it's not an ASIO device.
Originally Posted By: musiclover
To be honest unless a user is a dedicated gamer then I think no need for an expensive card, I have a lot of older games Half life 2, Desperadoes, for all that, more than happy with it. As far as I can see will run Video software fine as well.
Half-Life 2 is still one of the best games ever created. No real need to play many newer games than that!
That said, I don't practice what I preach there - I'm in the process of building a new gaming machine - i5 11400, GTX 1060 6gb, 32gb ram, 2tb NVMe SSD, and I'll be picking up a Playstation 5 as soon as I can find one the scalpers haven't got to...
So, people deeper into hardware may be able to answer this.
The computer I am using right now in a i5-4590 with 4 cores, and the box has 16gb of RAM. I use it to watch Spectrum TV while I am in here. The video card is a GeForce GT 710 which I believe only has 1 GB of RAM on it.
I also like to play backgammon on my computer. I play a web based game from 247games.com.
When I play backgammon with that TV streaming, the game is jerky. Do I need more SYSTEM RAM or a video card with more RAM in IT to stop the jerkiness?
So, people deeper into hardware may be able to answer this.
The computer I am using right now in a i5-4590 with 4 cores, and the box has 16gb of RAM. I use it to watch Spectrum TV while I am in here. The video card is a GeForce GT 710 which I believe only has 1 GB of RAM on it.
I also like to play backgammon on my computer. I play a web based game from 247games.com.
When I play backgammon with that TV streaming, the game is jerky. Do I need more SYSTEM RAM or a video card with more RAM in IT to stop the jerkiness?
Depends on the exact software, but the GT 710 is a fairly slow card. Great for normal desktop tasks, but if there's any graphics acceleration necessary it'll be slow. Probably nothing to do with video ram, but more with the GPU itself.
The i5 is probably fast enough for what you're doing, and 16gb is probably ok unless the Task Manager is telling you the RAM is all in use.
When I play backgammon with that TV streaming, the game is jerky. Do I need more SYSTEM RAM or a video card with more RAM in IT to stop the jerkiness?
Stuttering is generally an indication that you have maxed out your VRAM. Once that happens, most games will start to stream out of system RAM and run slower. If it starts to run WAY SLOWER with lots of stuttering, that means the game has maxed out your system RAM and started streaming off of the hard drive. So, more system RAM can help. You can also try backing off on your anti ailiasing. With gaming, it all starts with a good GPU, which the GT 710 is not, that is matched with a CPU that is able to take advantage of the good GPU's power.
Between those 2 replies, off to Amazon I go to buy a better video card. Hopefully I can find one with 4gb of RAM and the 4 HDMI ports I need for these monitors.
Keith, you going to get up this way anytime soon? I may even be willing to venture outside the walls of my fortress of technical solitude to meet up with you somewhere.
Well, did testing today. Some things I have to mention.
I usually have Chrome open on one screen and Brave on another. Brave I use to watch TV and monitor a seldom used email account. Since that is all I do, I have no need for a bunch of plugins that were migrated from Chrome when I installed Brave. I deleted all of those plugins from Brave (but not from Chrome) and my CPU usage fell to next to nothing. I then loaded up my backgammon game and my solitaire game, both online browser based games, and they ran smoothly. So the issue was indeed CPU usage. I have been running those 2 browsers at the same time for so long now it never occurred to me that they were both running.
Between those replies giving me a roadmap of things to check, everything is good now.
Though I will probably still use this as an excuse to buy a new video card. I always liked AMDs. What this does is gives me some lead time to look at my mobo slots, find what I want that will fit, and wait for prices to come down.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
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Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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