Newbie: PCI Express graphics cards for FCP

[Jerry Hofmann]

I sort of just went through this. Apple doesn’t consider a graphics card to be “user installable” so you’d have to upgrade it later say through an apple store or other authorized service center.

4 gigs of RAM is usually enough to run the Suite with no problems at all… is a typical setup anyway.

The extra sata’s are easliy installed by a user, and are the same as what you can buy off the shelf really. I like Hitachi SATA’s myself and buy them for less than what Apple sells them for from someone like zipzoomfly.com… however if you buy the extended warranty (which is worth every dime I might add) only Apple’s parts and drives etc. would be covered so you need to take that into consideration I suppose… But Apple’s drives are fine, and may be one of many different manufacturers, just cost a bit more.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D

[Erik Lindahl]

FCP today won’t benifit a lot from a 7800 GT compared to the 6600 card. However, apps like Motion and plugins for FCP like “Magic Bullets for Editors 2.0” will see HUGE gains from the 7800 GT. It’ll probably be well worth the wait.

Also, I predict FCP will at some stange “take on” a more motion-like rendering engine. Then the better GPU will be a huge plus to have.

Sadly, Apple has no option of an upgrade from the 6600 to the 7800 card today. Very sad

[Darrin]

I’ve been reading about the trade up program for the Radeon X800 XT https://shop.ati.com/tradeup.asp

cheers,
Darrin

[Mitchji]

Hi,

Save some money and purchase the RAM from Crucial and the extra HD from another source.

Below is what Barefeats says about the card:
https://www.barefeats.com/quick.html

“October 26th, 2005 — FLASH! You can now order the GeForce 7800 GT with your new G5 Power Mac for only $350 extra! This PCI-Express graphics card is only slightly slower than the Quadro FX 4500 but costs $1300 less and takes one slot. Apple is quoting 6 to 8 weeks if you select this option, but I say it’s worth the wait. If you order your G5 with the other cards, you can’t be assured Apple will offer it as a kit at a later date. Support BareFeats by using Bare Feat’s links to the Apple Online Store. (It’s a painless way to support us since we get a small commission from each thing you buy.)”

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Jon Jay]

Thanks! The advice about Hitachi SATA’s is well taken.

John

[Jon Jay]

Seems like waiting for the 7800 makes sense for Motion. Thanks Erik!

Jon

[Jon Jay]

Wonder if Radeon’s X800 XT voids extended Apple’s warranty? I’ll check out their link. Thanks Darrin!

Jon

[Jon Jay]

Thanks! I’ll heed your advice.

Jon