I am planning to buy a new graphic card. My main purpose is to use it for animations softwares like Maya et al and not for gaming. What is the latest in graphic cards? And what size would you recommend? 128 or 256 mb??
Any other suggestions are welcome...The amount of memory on your card will DETERMINE how much you can run at once. If you will be using demanding products that incude graphics, then go with a 256 card. A 128 card will usually do you well, but it depends on what you will do with it. As far as manufacturers, there isn't much of a gap between NVIDIA and ATI. I hear better things avout ATI's support, etc. But I hear that NVIDIAs work just as well. It's your choice. Whatever has the best features for the best price.

Flamethanx flame.. do you know anything about MX and FX technologies in the graphic cards?If the system requirements SHOWN at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6837879 are a valid indication, even a 64MB card would suffice. Most animation software really is not that demanding, is it?How much are you willing to spend and what ports do you have open? If you would like to talk to me on AIM about this, my SN is Tienpoop, I'd be happy to help you.You're going to tell him to buy the 7800 lol Don't listen to him! It costs more than its worth!

FlameFlames, if you read his post carefully, he SAID "the latest".

I assumed he wanted the best, and actually no I wasn't going to recomend him that.

Well, here are your options that I've thought up..

1. PCIE slot? Get the 6600GT, 128MB. 110~ dollars

2. AGP slot? Get the 6800GS, 256MB. 180~ dollars <- this is pretty much what Flames has in his setup

3. If you can wait.. the G8 line is coming out soon and the G7's will go down in price.

4. If you got alot of money to spare, get the 7900GT, its a huge step above however, so I don't think you would need it.

Remember to check your PSU wattage and see if it has enough wattage and the right molar connectors.

The memory WILL NOT matter much, the memory is alloted to rendering REAL TIME graphics, and since your not playing games with it, you won't need the 256mb, although it will still speed up LOAD times.