kovboy, that is the eternal question. Video cards in a NLE, 2D/3D (non-game) system have aways been a mystery to me. The other stuff, lots of fast storage, fast cpu, as much ram as you can afford always made sense to me when running say After Effects – but what parts of a video card are actually used by say Premire, AF, or even say Maya is hard information to come by.
For instance, the card I mentioned seems to differ from the approved Adobe Ultra edition in a few areas – number of pixel pipes / core and memory speed? Gee, are these programs THAT dependent on the Video Card and slight spec details (some of which could even be resolved by OC).
I have never really even heard a good answer as to how much video ram is really utilized by these programs, 128, 256, 512??
As for the pro cards I often read from game people that they are almost the same as the high-end consumer struff except for different certified drivers and such – but certified to do what?
My goal has always been to get a smooth and stable timeline that does not hinder normal editing work pace. A little rendering time never bothered me – but sluggish icons and stuttering audio scrubs drive me nuts!
JP