Mac Pro X1900XT question

mrdeathgod

Hi all,

I recently bought a Mac Pro (2.66Ghz/2GB/X1900XT), and am thinking that the X1900XT might be more power than I need. I'm not a hardcore gamer anymore, but figured I should get a decent video card rather than regret it later. Right now I boot into WinXP for games, but the majority of the time, when i'm using OSX, that monster card is just sitting there idling. Based on the benchmarks i've seen, the idle power draw of the X1900XT is around 80W higher than the 7300GT. So my question for you Mac experts is, does there exist some kind of solution for underclocking the X1900XT in OSX? I'd love to be able to throttle it down during normal use, but still have that horsepower there when it's needed. Thanks!



Matt

placebo

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a power supply draw the same from the wall regardless of what the system is drawing from it?

mr. h

Quote:

Originally Posted by Placebo


but doesn't a power supply draw the same from the wall regardless of what the system is drawing from it?

No. If it's a very low-power power supply (for example a mobile phone charger) the difference in power drawn from the mains between when the charger is charging the phone and not connected to the phone is negligible (i.e. this is the scenerio you are thinking of).



However, computer power supplies are not very low-power. The are also "switch-mode" types and have overall efficiencies typically between 80 - 90%, this means that 80% - 90% of the power drawn from the mains is delivered to the "load" (in this case the computer components), the rest is "wasted" as heat in the power supply. As the power required by the computer increases, so does the power drawn from the mains.

132ghz,4tb ddr8 sdram,95tb hdd

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdeathgod


Hi all,

I recently bought a Mac Pro (2.66Ghz/2GB/X1900XT), and am thinking that the X1900XT might be more power than I need. I'm not a hardcore gamer anymore, but figured I should get a decent video card rather than regret it later. Right now I boot into WinXP for games, but the majority of the time, when i'm using OSX, that monster card is just sitting there idling. Based on the benchmarks i've seen, the idle power draw of the X1900XT is around 80W higher than the 7300GT. So my question for you Mac experts is, does there exist some kind of solution for underclocking the X1900XT in OSX? I'd love to be able to throttle it down during normal use, but still have that horsepower there when it's needed. Thanks!



Matt

Let me tell you something...the X1900 XT will probably cost you £2 more more a year to handle.

Not incredibly painful if you ask me 8)

You made the right decision-

if a excellent game comes out in...say, 3 months, atleast youll be able to play it on High