Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

MaxGuru · Jun 22, 2004, 10:36 AM

I am about to purchase a G5 2.0 and an Apple 20" monitor. I have never played anything other than the simplest games. I will be using the new set up to speed up DVD production from my home videos, manipulating photos in Photoshop, develop Keynote and PowerPoint presentations, and the usual assorted Office applications.

My question is: Do I need to upgrade from the stock NVIDIA 64MB card to the ATI 9600? It is only $50 more, but I would rather save the money if I will notice no difference in performance. What are the pros and cons of upgrading? Thanks.

Luca Rescigno · Jun 22, 2004, 11:27 AM

Do it. Even if the applications you use will not see a tremendous benefit from the better graphics card, the Radeon 9600XT is far, far better than the GeForce FX5200. It will be nice later on down the road, if/when Apple implements new technologies that make use of advanced graphics cards. Also, having 128 MB of VRAM will help make the various graphical effects (like Expose) run more smoothly when you have a lot of windows open. If you want to use dual monitors, get the 9600XT upgrade as well, because connecting two monitors splits the VRAM between the two, and you'd rather have 64 MB per display instead of 32 MB per display.

FYI, the retail ATI Radeon 9600XT (for the PC side of things) is $170, whereas the retail nVidia GeForce FX5200 is about $70. $50 for the upgrade is a steal.

Lateralus · Jun 22, 2004, 11:33 AM

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
FYI, the retail ATI Radeon 9600XT (for the PC side of things) is $170, whereas the retail nVidia GeForce FX5200 is about $70. $50 for the upgrade is a steal.

Even cheaper than that, actually.

128MB FX5200 for $54, retail.

Luca Rescigno · Jun 22, 2004, 11:53 AM

D'oh! I was looking at only 64 MB versions, of which the cheapest is nearly $70. Funny, the 128 MB versions are actually CHEAPER in many cases than the 64 MB ones! But Apple seems to be VRAM-phobic. Seriously... 32 MB on a Radeon 9200? Almost all 9200s have 128 MB of VRAM, and 99% of the ones that don't have 64 MB instead. The other 1% have 256 MB

.

Anyway, enough ranting about Apple not giving eMacs enough VRAM. What you're concerned about is upgrading the FX5200 to a 9600XT, and PowerMacMan and I have shown that upgrading a $50 card to a $150 card for $50 is a good deal even if you don't need it that much. You'll thank yourself someday if you upgrade

.

Maflynn · Jun 22, 2004, 12:43 PM

That was my biggest concern going with the new 2.0. Would I want the ATI and have to go the BTO route. I decided to take a chance on the nVidia and to be honest have not notcied anything.
The graphics during games, UT2004 is awesome, frame rates appear in line with my expectations and the text and overall responsivness for non-games is excellent.

I'm happy with what I have. Now on the other hand, If I needed to go the BTO route for any other reason, I probaly would have swapped the card out but no need.

Mike

Lateralus · Jun 22, 2004, 02:03 PM

I just don't see the need to cut the 3D performance of a $2,000+ machine in half to save $50. It makes no sense to me.

Super Glitcher · Jun 23, 2004, 01:13 PM

Yeah.. what's up with that.. of ALL things Apple could get stingy on why vram??
I've never understood that. For a guy who heads up a cutting edge 3d studio
Steve seems to be pretty retarted about this stuff...

So what's the score now- No 3 button mouse? No vram?

errr

a2daj · Jun 23, 2004, 01:17 PM

It's not even just the VRAM, why bother with the GF FX 5200? The card sucks in just about everyway.

eddiecatflap · Jun 23, 2004, 01:29 PM

yeah , it's a bizarre idea of apple's

they say they pitch the g5 towers at demanding users , then they put a pos graphics card in 2 of the models

weird

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Jun 23, 2004, 01:36 PM

The video card will do very little with photoshop and DVD work. You would be much better off getting a ton more ram if you want things to speed up.

rhogue islander · Jun 23, 2004, 03:13 PM

Another reason to upgrade: My past experience (9800 pro retail vs. geforce4 ti) has shown that Ati cards have sharper 2d output with better contrast.

I find fine text much more legible at 1600x1200 with the Ati card.

Luca Rescigno · Jun 23, 2004, 03:15 PM

But opting not to get a much better graphics card when it's only $50 more is silly. Sure, you might not use it all the time, but someday you'll thank yourself. It's like configuring a PowerMac without an internal modem. Sure, if you have broadband access you'll rarely or never need it, but what if it goes out? Or what if you want to sell it to someone who has dialup access? It's worth keeping the modem in even if you could save $30 otherwise. Then there's the 12" iBook. It only comes with a 30 GB hard drive, but you can BTO a 40 GB for just $25 extra. In that case, it's stupid NOT to do so.

Xterratop · Jun 23, 2004, 06:17 PM

I just ordered my G5 and upgraded my video card to the 128mb card, 250gb HD, bluetooth module, and 1gb RAM. As a graphic designer I need the better graphics card but even if you don't do intense graphics, some video games require 128mb video cards in order to run the game on your mac. The new Tron game is one example that can only run on a machine that has a 128mb video card or higher.

Congratulations on your new G5. I can't wait to get mine this Tuesday!

D'Espice · Jun 24, 2004, 05:48 AM

I say don't do it if you don't need it. If you're not playing games, you won't need it at all. You won't feel the difference between a 64MB FX5200 and a 256MB Radeon 9600XT when editing photos in Photoshop or writing E-Mails in Mail.app.
Get something nice for the extra $50, go out with your girlfriend/wife/friends, I know that's what I would do. Why bother spending money on something you don't need?

OzarkMtn · Jun 24, 2004, 07:20 AM

Originally posted by rhogue islander:
Another reason to upgrade: My past experience (9800 pro retail vs. geforce4 ti) has shown that Ati cards have sharper 2d output with better contrast.

I find fine text much more legible at 1600x1200 with the Ati card.

I found this to be the case as well. I purchased my Dual 2.0 GHz G5 with the 9600, I then purchased the retail ATI 9800 PRO SE and was pleasantly surprised at the crispness of text as well as the better contrast.

Currently you can sell the 9600 for around $150.00, so you buy it for an additional $50.00, and then sell it for a $100.00 profit and put it into the retail ATI card. This gives you a much better video card no matter what you do on your Mac, plus with the retail card, ATI will be providing upgraded ROMS as well as being able to use the ATI utilities that Apple does not provide or support.

villalobos · Jun 24, 2004, 07:54 AM

Originally posted by eddiecatflap:
yeah , it's a bizarre idea of apple's

they say they pitch the g5 towers at demanding users , then they put a pos graphics card in 2 of the models

weird

I heard it has to do with the fact that the NVidia card does not have a fan, reducing the overall noise coming from the machine, which is a key factor for recording studios and such (and in which case there is no need for a high performance video card).

villa