[RayK]

I know that these questions seems to be beat to death, but I have a few questions about the current DP 2.0. I was going to stick 2 Gigs (2x1GB) in there and have a 9650 with a 23" and a 250GB HD. I plan to use it for gaming, video editing, school, and anything else I do, development eventually.

Will the lack of PCI-X really be a hamper to me?

I'm also curious about real time video editing cards for the mac.

Should I go on and get the 6800? Does h.264 work ok with the DP2.0? I've played with one before and it seemed very quick to me.

Anything else I should focus on? I am getting Applecare as well. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

Games I play: All the Quake 2 based engine games, AVP2, CnC: Generals, World of Warcraft, and UT2004.
I edit with FCP HD, don't have the money to justify spending $400 on software, I just spent $400 and a don't use it too much.

[BZ]

Answers:
- PCI-X will not hamper you for games and some video editing
- Know nothing about real time video editing cards except they are very expensive
- The 6800 is very powerful, but the X800 holds its own for a little less money
- h.264 will work on a DP2.0
- Applecare is good

It sounds like you are not opposed to dropping some coin since you are looking at real time video cards. Makes me wonder why you are not looking at the 2.3 or 2.7. If money is a concern, a refurbed 2.0 with memory and an X800 is the way to go (more ram).

BZ

[RayK]

because I can get this one for $500 less than a 2.3 and $900 less than a 2.7. I have the education discount. Should I really get a 2.3 or 2.7? Are they that much faster? I am concerned about a refurb because I want to add Bluetooth to it.

[RayK]

After pricing a 2.7 against a 2.0 the price difference is only $78 dollars, but I don't have the Geforce card and only have 1GB or RAM. Will that do ok?