Graphic Cards AMD FirePro V7900 Professional Graphics - How is it different?

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I requested a configuration suggestion for a video editing PC in the PC buying advice forum and I was suggested to go with

Sapphire HD 6970 2 GB / MSI GTX 580 - Twin Frozr

I just came across AMD FirePro Series of cards in SMCInternational.in and it seems they are used for professional stuff - like video editing.

Just want to know the difference between the AMD FirePro V7900 Professional Graphics and the regular AMD cards we talk about in this forum.
 
OpenGL optimisations in the drivers, much bigger frame buffers, slightly different shader structure and tuning for reliability and predictability (lower clocks, quieter coolers) would be the main differences.

Video editing is not an area where these cards shine. Think Photoshop, Maya, apps that actually use the cards for rendering to output. Video editing (offline) is usually done at undemanding lower resolutions.

nVidia also has CUDA-optimised cards which have been used in computing clusters in scientific research. Those cards may have no video outputs available.

At the end of the day, a graphics card is a CPU of sorts, with a different structure. It can be used in many ways depending on the drivers/OS running it. Windows uses a driver stack, many applications can directly call the graphics hardware.

For Pro applications, Windows is a liability.
 
Hmm. I guess I will go with nVidia GTX 560 Ti. It's performance is quiet good compared to costlier AMD models according to Anand Tech Benchmarks. Also it does not burn a hole in the pocket. Available at SMC Intl. for 15k.
 
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