ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB vs 4 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB

[james]

Would anyone know which is the better video card to get for the Mac Pro? This will be used primarily for FCP.

Apple store says that there will be a delay if the ATI Radeon is ordered so I wonder it it is worth the wait?

The 4 x NVIDIA is more expensive that the ATI ($100 extra) but it is not among those listed as "recommended" video cards in the FCP website.

The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 is too expensive.

[jps444]

ati was bought by amd. so i became hesitant in getting ati for the system. i got the quadro because of it's superior handling in graphics. btw why would you be needing 4 geforce 7300? that's a setup for 4 monitors or 2 30 inch ones? you can save money by just getting 2 geforce 7300 at the meantime. well that is because you are working in a budget.

[suavecito]

ATI being acquired by AMD shouldnt be the basis of your choice. FYI ATI was the leader in videocards up until the release of Geforce 6 series where Nvidia took the lead from ATI. X1900 is one of the top of the line cards from ATI and quite a good performer, i reckon its more than enough for your FCP needs although if you have the budget, ill recco the Quadro because of better 2D capabilities and workstation bred GPU.

[mikaelrules]

ATI being acquired by AMD shouldnt be the basis of your choice. FYI ATI was the leader in videocards up until the release of Geforce 6 series where Nvidia took the lead from ATI. X1900 is one of the top of the line cards from ATI and quite a good performer, i reckon its more than enough for your FCP needs although if you have the budget, ill recco the Quadro because of better 2D capabilities and workstation bred GPU.

Agreed. So what if ATi was bought by AMD? Actually, when it comes to pure 3D horsepower, the ATi card is slightly faster than the Quadro. Of course, it lacks some of the pro features that the Quadro has. The only reason for getting four 7300GT's is if you want to use 8 displays on the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro does not support SLI, so unless you hook up displays to the three other 7300GT's, they will just be there doing nothing.

[jps444]

well it's more of a conspiracy theory that i ahve thought of. that since ati is now owned by amd they might have compatability issues or less supprt to mac. since mac is intel based. well lil' ol' suspicious me! :P

[james]

Agreed. So what if ATi was bought by AMD? Actually, when it comes to pure 3D horsepower, the ATi card is slightly faster than the Quadro. Of course, it lacks some of the pro features that the Quadro has. The only reason for getting four 7300GT's is if you want to use 8 displays on the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro does not support SLI, so unless you hook up displays to the three other 7300GT's, they will just be there doing nothing.

Thanks for the clarification.

So this means there are only 3 kind of cards:

NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT 256MB
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB

The only difference between 2x, 3x, and 4x is that there are additional cards.

Since the Quadro is too expensive (additional $1,650), what is better between the NVIDIA GeForce and ATI Radeon? ATI Radeon? Since I was prepared to pay the extra $450 for the 4x Nvidia, then the ATI is a relative "bargain" at and extra $350.

[mikaelrules]

For most people without any special needs (like 8 displays or Stereo 3D), the Radeon X1900XT is probably the best bet.

[james]

I am using the ATI Radeon with my Mac Pro.

I want to add a second graphics card (to be able to add a 3rd monitor).

Can I use an NVIDIA graphic card in combination with the ATI? Or do I have to buy ATI Radeon for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th card?

[bongraider]

i think other cards are compatible with the mac pro, you just have to flash them with a mac bios.

i also read around that you can SLI the 7300s in mac pro. problem is your fans get noisier.

the radeon is a good buy.

adding another graphics card only gives problems if you go dual boot mac os/xp

[surgfish]

Is it possible to upgrade my imac's video card?