Buy dual 2.5 or 2.0 and the ATI Radeon X800 XT?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Subject line says it all.



What will be better to improve performance in video editing and gaming... springing for a faster processor, or plunking down the bucks for a cool video card, like the ATI Radeon X800 XT, (good review at inside mac

games.)?



I'm frustrated that the PowerMac line hasn't been updated in so long... so I'm considering NOT getting the 2.5 (why pay an extra $500 for the top-line if it isn't going to be the top line for very long?)



I *CAN* get a top of the line video card instead. What are your opinions/experience?



Or maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree? Maybe I should get the dual 1.8 GHZ machine and load it with 4GB of RAM AND the best video card?



Side question: The reviews of the Dual 1.8 Ghz says that it does not support PCI-X cards. How can I tell if a card is PCI-X? How much of a drawback is that?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    Quote:

    Originally posted by thebeaglebeagle

    Subject line says it all.



    What will be better to improve performance in video editing and gaming... springing for a faster processor, or plunking down the bucks for a cool video card, like the ATI Radeon X800 XT, (good review at inside mac

    games.)?



    I'm frustrated that the PowerMac line hasn't been updated in so long... so I'm considering NOT getting the 2.5 (why pay an extra $500 for the top-line if it isn't going to be the top line for very long?)



    I *CAN* get a top of the line video card instead. What are your opinions/experience?



    Or maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree? Maybe I should get the dual 1.8 GHZ machine and load it with 4GB of RAM AND the best video card?



    Side question: The reviews of the Dual 1.8 Ghz says that it does not support PCI-X cards. How can I tell if a card is PCI-X? How much of a drawback is that?




    given your situation, i would get the dual 2.0 w/ 9800XT. however, i do lots of video work and the dual 2.5 is very fast. unless the next power mac is dual dual core or significantly above 3Ghz, you wont notice a huge difference in performance. on the other hand, if you're worried about your machine not being 'top of the line' very long, why would you even consider the dual 2.0 that is already "outdated?" but anywaysfor you i would get the dual 2.0, 9800XT, and at least 2 gigs of ram (4 if youre gonna use motion).
  • Reply 2 of 7
    1.

    The ATi X800XT specs say it requires:

    Power Mac® G5 (card occupies AGP PRO 8X slot

    This graphics card does not use PCI or PCI-X, apparently.



    2.

    I think you should consider that if you get a dual 2.5, how long before 3ghz and 3ghz+ ? Likely, this will be much much longer than before the X800XT becomes yesterday's news. GPUs are moving really really fast now, and good solid GPUs, despite being outdated in the PeeSee world, would be in demand in a Mac world.



    3.

    Reply here if my no.2 above does not make sense to you...



    Food for thought
  • Reply 3 of 7
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    My Dual 2Ghz is more than capable editing video. I don't see much advantage getting a 2.5 video wise. I would however get a X800 and dual (I want that card) since it is supposed to be 2x faster. UT2004 uses a lot of CPU, so 2.5 would make a difference, but I think the card would make more.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    Thanks for all your answers.



    Yes, I do want the top-of-the-line, and want something that will be a really great computer for a really long time. BUT, I anticipate G5 speed bumps soon. I just don't think I can wait for them. I need to get some serious video work done before spring. If the computer I buy is going to be out of date in four weeks, I'm not going to pay an extra $500 for a minimal increase if a great video card will give me a better improvement.



    I'm also thinking to move down to the 2.0 because it means I'd be able to afford my NEXT computer that much sooner... and because I've heard a lot more complaints about the 2.5 than the 2.0.



    I guess I'm still trying to understand how much difference for video editing and gaming a great processor makes over a great video card... like, where is the best place to put my money?



    The only thing that makes me lean towards the 2.5 instead of the 2.0 is the benchmarks on the Mac World review. They show a substantial boost in the 2.5, and only minimal improvement of the 2.0 over the 1.8. Which makes me think the 1.8 might be the safest $$ investment... though then I've got to plunk down more for a real hard drive and more for RAM. Sigh.



    Maybe they'll bump the feature set on the whole line next week when they bump up the Powerbooks, but I doubt it.

    -d
  • Reply 5 of 7
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    1.

    The ATi X800XT specs say it requires:

    Power Mac® G5 (card occupies AGP PRO 8X slot

    This graphics card does not use PCI or PCI-X, apparently.





    Thanks! That's great news.

    Does anyone want to weigh in on the virtues of PCI-X? What would I want it for? Why not just get the Dual 1.8?



    -d
  • Reply 6 of 7
    Quote:

    Originally posted by thebeaglebeagle

    Thanks! That's great news.

    Does anyone want to weigh in on the virtues of PCI-X? What would I want it for? Why not just get the Dual 1.8?



    -d




    Macs already have PCI-X. I believe you're referring to PCI Express, which is intended as a replacement for AGP.



    AGP really only works well one way- uploading TO your graphics card. Once stuff is there, it can really only go to your screen. Reading back from the GPU to the CPU is ridiculously slow under AGP.



    PCI Express alleviate this, it has the same bandwidth in both directions. So if you use Maya's hardware render feature a lot, PCI Express would be useful. That's about all that PCI Express is good for *right now*.



    Someday Photoshop and FCP plug-ins and effects, and probably other vector tasks, will be done on the GPU. This of course won't happen until PCI Express has taken on wider spread support.



    PCI Express doesn't really differentiate from AGP in terms of upload speed, which isn't particularly an issue at present anyway.



    PCI Express will really help out in the future (and will be cheaper to make, too), but for the present it offers nothing over AGP.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    Quote:

    Originally posted by thebeaglebeagle

    BUT, I anticipate G5 speed bumps soon. I just don't think I can wait for them. I need to get some serious video work done before spring.



    i had that line of thinking for 9 months before i finally bought my dual 2.5. if you need the computer now, definitley get it now. i really doubt any bumps will come before June.
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