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Which Graphic Card for New Mac pro
If I plan on using 2 – 30 inch monitors and HD editing which card should I go with?
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8 Replies
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Wait at least a few weeks to see what the wonks have to say after Macworld Expo. Otherwise, you become the bleeding edge beta tester.
Sit on your money for a few more months.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
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Good advice, I think I may do just that. I’ll wait until at least NAB to see whats up apples sleeve.
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Apple say the basic card is good for 2×30″ monitors. As usual, if you make heavy use of Motion, consider the upgraded one, BUT:
As I pointed out below, the basic card is the XT version of the card in the iMac, which either means the iMac is an amazing machine for the money (and it probably is) or…. Perhaps someone can shed light on how ‘bleeding edge’ this card is – Apple have a habit of wimping out on gfx cards, as anyone who ordered last time can testify.
Also, when I tried to add the nVidia card to the Mac configurator I got a 3-5 week wait. Seems familiar to anyone who ordered up last time around….
Ben
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I’d never consider the stock card in a Pro Mac, it’s there to help the headline cost to be a bit lower. The Nvidia 8800 is a very good card for not much extra money.
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Funny thing is over at the Singapore Apple webstore, when in the graphics card section of the configurator, if you click on Learn More…it mentioned of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB card which is highly recommended for 3D, CG or Motion but you can’t select this in the configurator.
Weird…why mention it when not offered. And over at the Apple US webstore, it’s not even mentioned.
-chrispy
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[Ben Holmes] “Perhaps someone can shed light on how ‘bleeding edge’ this card is”
It’s not bleeding edge at all. Apple is basically the opposite of bleeding edge when it comes to graphics cards.
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Chrispy, your comment
“Funny thing is over at the Singapore Apple webstore, when in the graphics card section of the configurator, if you click on Learn More…it mentioned of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB card which is highly recommended for 3D, CG or Motion but you can’t select this in the configurator. ”
intrigued me so I goggled and found this
https://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/11/30/rv670_amd_ati_radeon_hd_3870/1A great review of the ATI Radeon HD3870 from a “gammers” perspective. If you look at the pictures in the article They state at the bottom “embargo” somebody does not like that card in the US of A.
If you force your brain to read the article, this card sounds wonderful, like full HD video on a 30″ screen and other tid bits.. And they did make reference to where this card out shines the nvidias card… There is alot here to understand before buying the wrong card for the new PCIe-2 buss…. We need a monitor card dective that can speak are language.
I would almost be tempted to by this 3870 card, It has somebody mad….
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[Nate Stephens] “A great review of the ATI Radeon HD3870 from a “gammers” perspective. If you look at the pictures in the article They state at the bottom “embargo” somebody does not like that card in the US of A. “
Check Newegg. There’s over twenty models of ATI 38xx cards available. Not sure what this embargo you’re talking about is. The new Nvidia 9000 series is also about to come out. We probably wont’ see Apple versions for a long time. New Apple graphic cards are usually “last generation” and they are massively overpriced. It’s always been that way.
Strangedogs.com is a website of enthusiasts who figure out how to make PC graphic cards work on a Mac. I don’t know much about it, but I guess certain cards are known to work (or not work) if you flash it with Mac firmware. I wish I heard about it before I spent $400 on an Apple X1900 a few months ago.
The whole PCIe 2.0 thing. PCIe 2.0 is backward compatible. I guess it’s possible Apple won’t support older cards in the new Macs. Other than that, there’s no reason older cards won’t work.
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