Mac Pro - video card options

Noel Evans

Noel Evans

Mod V3 New and Improved
Staff member
The mac pro has the option of a upgrading to 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $149] or ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $249] or 3 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $299].

There isnt a great deal of price difference here, but looking at the first two options - wouldnt 2 GPU s running be better than just the one (per the Radeon option), even though it is the cheaper option?

If the answer to that is the single radeon card is worth the extra $ - seeing as the 3 x option is so close in price, then would 3 x give much better performance?
 
Sad to say, but all of those cards are pretty-much outdated now. If you want a more comprehensive information source:

www.newegg.com

Input each of those cards and check the user reviews. The 7300 GT would be my guess as to which one is worth the money. It's a shame nearly year-old video cards are the only thing OS X can take advantage of.
 
Thanks for the input. Will order my new mac pro in the next few days - with the x1900.

Im selling my existing macs complete and will upgrade to monitor/s that can display full 1920x1080. I am considering a single 23 inch - my question to any user of this monitor is does this have the real estate to quickly access everything when running FCP? Are there other monitor options people would HIGHLY recommend?
 
I think you'll enjoy that monitor fair enough... maybe even save up for another down the road. That said... I've been editing on my 19 inch monitor for a good 4 years now. I'm sure, like buying bigger pants... I'd find a way to fill up a bigger monitor... or even TWO bigger monitors.

CaptM
 
correct me if I am wrong, but doesnt OSX require apple certified hardware? This setup could give you a useless graphics card that you cant use in your mac and cant return. Make sure you check out that it will work for sure before buying a 300 dollar card.
 
No, Timothy's right. I withdraw my earlier comment. Apparently you can't upgrade your gpu beyond mac-certified models - that means it's 7300GT, X1900 XT, Quadro or bust!

This is kinda depressing.... I really wanted DirectX10 capabilities.

Does anyone know whether Leopard will offer broader gpu compatiblity?
 
it isn't a Tiger vs Leopard issue... You can use whatever cards that Apple writes a driver for. It isn't tied to a particular OS release. When Apple updates the Mac Pro's with new GPU's then those ones will be supported too.
 
the x1900 is what I will likely put into my Mac Pro, but I had this question as well. Is it better with 3 NVedia's or 1 ATI? I do not do hardcore graphics anyway, but Color seems to need good graphics cards.

Either way, I am going to wait until Apple finally upgrades the Mac's. Hopefully soon, by WWDC likely.
 
Whoops, when I deleted my previous comment I deleted the answer to that question as well!

The Xeon motherboard that the Mac Pro runs off does not support SLI, so dual/tri/quad 7300GT graphics card setups will not gain you any graphics performance whatsoever. They simply allow you to run multiple displays (monitors) at the same time.
 
Ok thanks for the help along the way all. The new beast is here. So far I have applied what I refer to as heavy render filters (those that didnt give me RT) from some HVX and canon a1 footage and its blisteringly fast. Even the FX factory filters are being kicked in the butt.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top