Which Graphics card to choose?

Looking for a decent graphics card that can do a little bit of everything for the next two years.
1. Video editing
2. Photo editing/Adobe CS 5.5
3. Gaming (nothing extreme). All games will be options I cant play on my Xbox-360.

Graphics card options
1. 1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ technology
Card will be in a Alienware m14x so its the faster version of the bunch.

2. NVIDIA® Quadro® 2000M with 2GB GDDR3
Either in a Dell precision M4600 or Lenovo W520

3. NVIDIA® Quadro® 3000M with 2GB GDDR5
This option would most likely come from a outlet or used machine due to the price increase.

4. 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M


Open to any other ideas or options.

 

There isn't even any competition between the others and the 6990m. In terms of price and performance you won't be disappointed! Plus, it should last you a while.

 

Thanks. It would be the most costly option over the other three. I have had the 6970M in a old system which ran good. Was hoping the other options would somehow be similar in real world performance.

 

Why spend almost $1000 for not extreme gaming?

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It's far more future proof.

 

Yeah but you could get a gtx 580 or maybe even 560 and then in a few years spend what's left over from that $1000 to buy a new card.

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The 580m is far more expensive.

 

Oh nvm I got them mixed up.

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Seeing how you expect to be using programs that rely on CPU power for the most part and gaming will be in the non-extreme range, if the programs for video editing and photoshop can use CUDA technology, then you would have a better investment into an Nvidia GPU because most of the processing would be done on the gpu itself.
AMD does have it's own alternative to CUDA, but it's not openly supported by many programs.

Getting a 6990m would be better in situations where you mostly want to focus on games only and save money in the long run (because the Nvidia equivalent - the GTX 580M is much more expensive).

Since the professional cards are nothing more than modified gaming gpu's in the driver department (not to mention severely overpriced), power-wise, the 555m would be the best option (it's essentially on par with Quadro 2000m) - it comes with Optimus so your battery life on the go will be pretty good - plus it has CUDA, so photoshop and video editing software (if they support CUDA) can use it for faster processing, and it will likely be the cheapest solution out of all 4 options.

 

Thank you for the well put information. Cost also comes into play with the AMD 6990m being the most expensive.

 

GTX 560m/460m or a AMD 6870m/5870m might be a good compromise if your worried about price. [from the below link, looks like Quadro 3000 has about the same gaming performance as the GTX 460m]

See this link for a rough estimate of how mobile GPUs stack against each other.

Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Why do you need a laptop to do this stuff? A custom built desktop would be more powerful and better. I use my i7 2600K Geforce 570 for Adobe CS5, video processing, and CAD.

And Nividia Quadro Cards are overpriced and not as powerful as a vanilla Geforce gaming card at similar prices. Quadro Cards are only necessary if you want Solidwork's Realview Rendering enabled.

I don't think any laptop video card can match a Geforce 570.

 

Portability, Travel, Leaving your house? Plenty of reasons... Has your need to constantly tell people about your desktop been satiated yet?

 

Don't you know that nobody has an actual use for laptops? People only buy them because they enjoy spending more money for less performance.
I'd say +1, but you deserve a +2

 

Well... I certainly use my laptop for 3ds Max on the go and need it because I move around a lot.
A desktop is not practical for me - perhaps when I'm more stationary I could consider it... but like this... not really.

I will agree that laptops are way overpriced for what they offer. Realistically, they shouldn't cost more than desktops in terms of price/performance ratio.

 

I need something I can carry around. Honestly I like the idea of a desktop but not the room it takes up or the cords that come with it.

Thanks everyone for the input. Went with the 1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ technology in the Alienware m14x. End goal will be in a year or so get Dual AMD 6990M.

 

You can't upgrade the M14x to dual 6990m's. You will need an M18x or an M17x R2.

 

I think he knows that, only going for a bigger laptop, but in case he didn't!

I think for 12-18 months the 555m will be adequate. More than likely games coming out in the next year or so will really stress that GPU and you'll be yearning for something better anyhow.

 

Maybe he means that the 6990 is a dual gpu card.

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Ckunkle... I couldn't figure out how to PM but I wanted to ask how you liked your laptop? I saw your sig and I was going to buy that exact one. But I guess I decided to wait a couple months for the refresh. But still am curious how well your laptop handled the video games you've played.

 

Here's a pretty nice round up comparing the performance of different video cards:

Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

This one is also good to get a rough idea for frame rates with your favorite game:

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Obviously the rest of the system components will affect the frame rate too, so this should just be used for rough estimating

 

I know the GPU is part of the motherboard. Im thinking more Alienware m18x for a later purchase.

 

Can someone explain to me why Quadro professional cards are on there with a 6990, and a gt555? I thought the quadro cards were way more expensive and are not meant for games?

 

Just because it's not meant gaming doesn't mean it can't be used for gaming. It's meant for CAD (and I think Photoshop which he said he'd be doing) and stuff. And yes they are more expensive.