[tafticus]

I'm getting ready to order a 1.6ghz G5, and I am trying to decide which graphics card to get. All the benchmarks I could find were geared to 3d gamers...I do a lot more 2d work than 3d. How do the cards stack up in Photoshop, Final Cut, and in the Finder, etc? The price difference is minimal.

[Gul Banana]

Well, if you're going for the absolute best, get the Radeon 9800 Pro... the Geforce FX 5900 may be able to compete with it, but the 5200 can't. If you only do 2D, though, the 9000 may be fine for your needs.

[jcadam]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but now that Quartz is harware accelerated (Quartz Extreme), wouldn't a higher performing card make a difference in UI responsiveness/performance?

[Superchicken]

go with the low end card, quartz extream shouldn't task that thing anywhere near it's limits.

[Cipher13]

nVidia = blowage.

[tooki]

I prefer ATI because they have better video (QuickTime, MPEG, DV) playback than nVidia. (They both will play back smooth video, but the ATIs have better image quality on video.)

As for speed alone, no, you probably would be fine with the base model card.

Also, if you're considering the 1.6GHz... do remember that it only has 1/2 the RAM slots of the higher models, and that it does not have the high-speed PCI-X slots (just 3x normal PCI).

tooki

[OreoCookie]

The 9600 runs circles around the 5200 (pc versions).

[Eug]

Originally posted by OreoCookie:
The 9600 runs circles around the 5200 (pc versions).

Yep. Considering the 9600 Pro is only $50 more, it makes little sense to get the 5200 unless you're 100% sure you don't need the extra speed.

And don't forget to drop the modem (unless you're in the 10% who might actually use it). Dropping the modem and adding the 9600 Pro means only a $21 price premium.

[scottiB]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
nVidia = blowage.

I remember before February, 2001, we were all screaming that Apple should drop ATi for nVidia.

Two years later, ATi has gotten its stuff together, and now it's the perferable card. At least it's good we have some choices now.

[reader50]

Originally posted by Eug:
...
And don't forget to drop the modem (unless you're in the 10% who might actually use it). Dropping the modem and adding the 9600 Pro means only a $21 price premium.
...

Dropping the modem saves all of $29. At one point with the early G4s, Apple got the brilliant idea that most Pro users would have broadband, and the modem was made optional rather than default. It turned out that the majority of people did not even have access to broadband, much less subscribed - something that is still true today. I'd buy broadband if it were available where I live, it has been "coming soon" for the last three years.

The machines sold without internal modems were harder to resell when it came time to upgrade. Who wants to buy a used machine that cannot easily connect to the internet from most households? USB modems did not seem to work very well. Replacement internal modem boards were hard to come by at the time. They are easier to get now ... for more than what was originally saved.

Don't skip the modem. Saving a nickel isn't always worth it.

[Eug]

Originally posted by reader50:
Dropping the modem saves all of $29. At one point with the early G4s, Apple got the brilliant idea that most Pro users would have broadband, and the modem was made optional rather than default. It turned out that the majority of people did not even have access to broadband, much less subscribed - something that is still true today. I'd buy broadband if it were available where I live, it has been "coming soon" for the last three years.

The machines sold without internal modems were harder to resell when it came time to upgrade. Who wants to buy a used machine that cannot easily connect to the internet from most households? USB modems did not seem to work very well. Replacement internal modem boards were hard to come by at the time. They are easier to get now ... for more than what was originally saved.

Don't skip the modem. Saving a nickel isn't always worth it.

YMMV, but I have never had a problem selling a computer without a modem. But then again, I live in downtown Toronto. I've personally have had broadband for 4 years now IIRC.

OTOH, some people may find it useful being able to fax directly from the PM, now that Panther will include this feature in all print dialogue boxes.

[Lateralus]

The ATi.

nVidia does = blowage.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
The ATi.

nVidia does = blowage.

The times, they are a'changing.

Some day, gamers will say the same thing about Intel vs. PPC.

Intel = blowage.

[coolmacdude]

ATi has historically been better than nVidia at 2D. nVidia likes to have the best Quake benchmarks, whereas ATi does better at video/copybits data.

[Kenneth]

Originally posted by Eug:

None of my Macs are powered by nVIDIA GPU, so no comment here.. but I have faith on ATI more than nVIDIA.

BTW... I'm using the stock ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64MB) on my DP 1.25, where's the organce curve on the above image?

[DeathMan]

maybe it was just too slow to show up on that one? (or maybe thats my rage pro I'm talking about 16MB of awesome power)

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by Kenneth:
None of my Macs are powered by nVIDIA GPU, so no comment here.. but I have faith on ATI more than nVIDIA.

BTW... I'm using the stock ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64MB) on my DP 1.25, where's the organce curve on the above image?

There was some problem with the drivers or something with Splinter Cell with the 9000 Pro.

[OreoCookie]

Originally posted by Eug:
Yep. Considering the 9600 Pro is only $50 more, it makes little sense to get the 5200 unless you're 100% sure you don't need the extra speed.

And don't forget to drop the modem (unless you're in the 10% who might actually use it). Dropping the modem and adding the 9600 Pro means only a $21 price premium.

There is actually one other reason I can think of: there are some sales on the standard config (in my case 5 % off), so you can't really `order' a 9600 in that case.

But a 9600 Pro beats the hell out of the nVidia.

[Akarso]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
nVidia = blowage.

agreed. here's some info you can take a look at ati vs nvidia got that off of /.