upgrading my video card

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

upgrading my video card

Posted by Carlos Castro on April 8, 2009 at 4:46 pm

I’m thinking of upgrading my standard VC{GeForce 7300 GT} that came with my Mac Pro.

Do you guys have any opinions about this model?
ATI Radeon HD 3870 PCI Express 2.0 Display Card

I read an article yesterday that was about 6 months old and people seemed happy with it for Mac, Video editing and Motion 3 purposes. I’m just wondering if anyone here owns one.

If you don’t like it, or you’ve heard or had problems with the ATI please share.

What would you recommend instead ?

Thanks

Ernie Santella replied 17 years, 1 month ago 5 Members · 9 Replies
9 Replies

John Fishback
April 8, 2009 at 4:57 pm

No problems here.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
24″ TV-Logic Monitor
Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
Ernie Santella
April 8, 2009 at 5:16 pm

I know this has been chatted about, but I must have a mental block (Too much lead paint as a child) What benefits do you get with a changing out the video card?

I have a Intel 2.66 with GeForce 7300GT card, Apple 30″ display (All current Apple/FCP Software etc) What would the HD3870 give me?

Ernie Santella
Santella Productions Inc.
http://www.santellaproductions.com
Bradley Chapman
April 8, 2009 at 5:21 pm

At our office we have three editing bay Mac Pros with the 7300GT, and it appears that we cannot render certain FxPlug effects because of it.

Our 8-core Mac Pros are equipped with ATI Radeon X1900 cards, which have no trouble rendering the effect at all.
Ernie Santella
April 8, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Bradley,
Can I ask what Plug-ins won’t work with the 7300 card? I’ve not run into that yet and I have a ton on Plug-ins running. Does the better card speed up the rendering of those effects?

Ernie Santella
Santella Productions Inc.
http://www.santellaproductions.com
Carlos Castro
April 8, 2009 at 8:05 pm

Thanks guys.

I’m glad to hear that it doesn’t cause problems, like I said the article I read If I remember correctly, They were praising the card. It was either written by someone on creative cow or posted on the cows site. I really just looking to upgrade now while I have the funds, I don’t want to wait till I’m having troubles.

Thanks
Dan Sparks
April 9, 2009 at 2:05 am

Carlos,
I have this card in my Mac Pro and love the speed boost I got over the stock 7300 card. Some people who have the 3870 have complained about the fan being loud and had the card replaced which usually fixed the problem. I removed the cooling fan on my 3870 and use the Arctic Accelero passive cooler instead. My system is super quiet and fast. I’d say go for it.

Dan Sparks

Tricom Video

http://www.tricomvideo.com

MacPro 2.66 quad, 6GB, BMD HD Extreme, ATI HD3870
Ernie Santella
April 9, 2009 at 3:11 am

‘Speed Boost’? What does it speed up?

Ernie Santella
Santella Productions Inc.
http://www.santellaproductions.com
Dan Sparks
April 10, 2009 at 1:43 am

Check out this review for some test results.
https://www.barefeats.com/harper16.html

I find FCP much more responsive when scanning through footage or scrolling through the timeline.

Dan Sparks

Tricom Video

http://www.tricomvideo.com

MacPro 2.66 quad, 6GB, BMD HD Extreme, ATI HD3870
Ernie Santella
April 10, 2009 at 2:26 am

Thanks, I just ordered that card. Can’t hurt. I’m curious what difference it will make.

Ernie Santella
Santella Productions Inc.
http://www.santellaproductions.com

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