I"m running the following with CS5 :
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz, 3068 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

with a pretty slow Quadro FX 580

Any suggestions for a reasonably priced new card for under $300 ?? There seem so many options.
Thanks

I'd do a search focusing on what people are doing for gamer cards being "adapted" for CS5 Mercury support. It's not difficult and the cards that would work with the "hack" such as it is would probably also be the more powerful options as well...

Sorry I can't make a suggestion...the model numbers are moving so fast and the number range of lower product lines are actually now surpassing the former model numbers of higher end lines...

It's tough for all of us to keep track of, but particularly in product lines where you haven't been engaged for some time, it can be impossible.

Thanks for the prompt reply Tim - I realise how much info there is and I have read about all the hacks, etc. but for me it's basic basic stuff for editing AVCHD and HDV.
I'm thinking just GTX 470, 480 or 570? Any preference or a waste of $300.

Well, since version 5.0.2, the GTX 470 has been certified by Adobe for the CS5 MPE. No need for the hack if you choose a GTX 470. Unfortunately, the GTX 480 and the GTX 5xx series still require the hack.

As for your current Quadro FX 580, it cannot use MPE's GPU acceleration feature at all. This is because it has only 512MB of graphics RAM. In addition, the FX 580 is actually a lower-clocked version of the GeForce 9500 GT, with its paltry 32 CUDA cores. (That's a sheep in wolf's clothing.) You need a card with at least 96 CUDA cores and at least 896MB of graphics card RAM (1GB or more is even better) in order to even use the MPE hack.

And if you plan to do the hack anyway, why not save the dough and go for a $120-ish GeForce GTS 450, which in CS5/MPE performs about as well as the pricier cards?

Ain't nothing basic about the work the computer has to do to edit AVCHD...

:-)

I think any of those cards are probably effective. I'd do a quick search on the models and Mercury Playback Engine though...why not get one you can make work with Mercury so you gain some ground?

With my FX 580, is this why the Mercury Engine setting in all of my project settings is "greyed out" - is it because it's unusable?
Thanks Randall and Tim, after more reading, the GTX 470 may be the easiest (though not best option) - once I start reading about hacks and overclocking it becomes complicated.

With my FX 580, is this why the Mercury Engine setting in all of my project settings is "greyed out" - is it because it's unusable?

See my post above. Technically, the FX 580 supports CUDA. But in this case it's "unusable" in MPE simply because it does not have enough RAM. The hack (and thus MPE) requires a minimum of 765MB of free (unused) graphics card RAM in order to work at all. (This rules out the 768MB cards, which actually have only 749MB of free graphics RAM.)

Ok, so it becomes "greyed out" in the options.

My next question is are all GTX 470 cards the same. Apart from the Nvidia site there are brands by Gigabyte, Zotac, etc, Some are advertised as "overclocked" some have GDDR5, some just DDR, one has a 470Copper FTW edition card,etc. Whats the go there?

Premiere will see all of the GTX 470 cards as the same, which is to say, MPE will no longer be greyed out and will now be available to you. As far as the difference between brands...Nvidia creates a reference board and then the various manufacturers (Gigabyte, Evga, Zotac, etc) put their own flavor or spin on their boards (overclocking, cooling, etc) in addition to following the Nvidia reference. I just purchased a Zotac AMP! ZT-40202-10P GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5. I went with this card because of the cooling system Zotac designed. The GTX cards in general run rather hot and therefore are loud because of their stock cooling solutions. The Zotac card is almost silent and runs cool and most importantly, works great with premiere...no more red lines in the timeline. Several layers of AVCHD, and HDV and premiere's playback is smooth as butter.

Sounds like the Zotac 470 is it - thanks for the info everyone. As always, if the answers aren't here, they ain't anywhere.

Chris,

It's worth noting that if you do go with the Zotac 470...it's a huge card because of it's cooling system and will take up three slots, so you will need a pretty big case.

Another potential issue with these cards is their power requirements.
Probably smart to check it out and be sure your system's current power supply is up to the task.

Thanks, and good to know about the card size and power supply.
Maybe an Asus or Gigabyte might be better ?
I'm also running 12g RAM and 7 professional - will all this finally cope with AVCHD renders Ok?

Win7 64, 12GB RAM, Intel i7, GPU enabled MPE should handle AVCHD editing pretty smoothly.
I will mention that I was O.K. with the above setup, but then I recently increased the RAM to 24GB and it has made a very noticible difference across the board (not just AVCHD).
CS5 will help itself to about twice as much RAM for a particular task than was the case with 12 GB onboard. Speed and stability have improved.
Not a critical issue, but some food for thought :)