Which video card for a Mac Pro?

navionnavion
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I'm going to be buying a new Mac Pro soon.



I have 2 30" Cinema Displays (the older ones with DVI plugs) and I'm looking for the right video card to go in the new box. Currently, I have one nVidia GeForce 8800Gt with 1/2 Gb RAM. Video refreshes are a little tardy.



SO: Do I go with the 1 Gb. ATI card that Apple sells as stock with the new Pro's, or is there an nVidia or other unit that will give me better performance?



I know I could use 2 of the ATIs, but if I'm gonna do that, I'd rather do the nVidia Quadro FX 4800. I just happen to prefer nVidia, but it looks like their offerings in the Mac side are limited.



I'm not doing a lot of video, but I will be virtualizing with Win7 for some medical visual applications.



Just looking for opinions.



Thanks muchly.

Navion.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    If you have to ask, you don't need a Quadro. Their use has nothing to do with performance.



    Get a 5870 or wait for the graphics cards in the Sandy Bridge Mac Pro, though you'll be waiting a touch longer than most people would like.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    mac hammer fanmac hammer fan Posts: 101member
    Cinebench scores of the Quadro nVidia are not better than the ATI Radeon 5870, so the latter one is the best bang for the buck.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Navion View Post


    Currently, I have one nVidia GeForce 8800Gt with 1/2 Gb RAM. Video refreshes are a little tardy.



    Do you mean the video display is slow or that 3D apps render slowly? If it's the former, it may be the displays. The 30" Cinema screens only have a 16ms response time. My Dell IPS has a 6ms response time and I even notice the effects sometimes.



    If it is the rendering performance inside an app then a new card would be the solution and the 5870 would be best as noted above but remember to get a Mini-DP to dual-link DVI adaptor for the second display.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    How's that Dell ultrasharp, Marv? I'm'a lookin' at HP's ZR22W. And you seriously notice 6/1000ths of a second lag?



    Oh, and the Quadro is horrid on the Mac. Ars has a huge article on how bad it sucks. http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/20...c-edition.ars/ and http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews...o-review.ars/5 come to mind.



  • Reply 5 of 7
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R View Post


    How's that Dell ultrasharp, Marv? I'm'a lookin' at HP's ZR22W. And you seriously notice 6/1000ths of a second lag?



    It seems like I shouldn't be able to but if I drag a thin, tall TextEdit window back and forth, it skews very slightly and it goes blurred. You can see it a little in some games too. I'm probably just being picky here though because online tests have shown the Dell screens to have almost the same response times as a CRT:



    http://www.erodov.com/forums/few-mor...9wa/20399.html



    It's going to be hard to get better response times than that, especially from an IPS display.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    frankiefrankie Posts: 381member
    Does anyone know if the 5870 will work with an Apple 30" monitor?



    Just want to be safe before buying.



    I also noticed there are like 5 versions. Which one is the one to get or how does it work? It's confusing!

    And can I just buy it from Amazon or there anything specific about the Mac version I need?



    Thanks for any info!
  • Reply 7 of 7
    s.metcalfs.metcalf Posts: 972member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by frankie View Post


    Does anyone know if the 5870 will work with an Apple 30" monitor?



    Just want to be safe before buying.



    I also noticed there are like 5 versions. Which one is the one to get or how does it work? It's confusing!

    And can I just buy it from Amazon or there anything specific about the Mac version I need?



    Thanks for any info!



    That's a really good question and unfortunately I don't know. I have a feeling the DVI spec tops out at a resolution below the 30" and that you need a dual-link DVI port. Looking on MacTracker it says it required the GeForce 6800 Ultra on launch. I seem to remember this card as being capable of driving two 30", which definitely wowed the crowd at the time. I'm not sure what a newer equivalent card would be.



    Keep in mind that if you got the 5870 the Mac Pro only supports one "high performance" card because it requires two power connectors. If the 5870 could drive a 30" Cinema display with its DVI port there's a good chance the 5770 can too, and if you put two of those in you could drive both your 30" displays at the same time.
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