[swordfish86]

i have just ordered a mac pro with 2.66 ghz & 2gb of ram and a 23 cinema display.
when configuring it i just naturally went for the standard graphics card rather than upgrading to the ATI one, becuase i have always had imacs or powerbook/macbook, so i have never had to think about the graphics card. i have always thought that the grahics card is for games, 3d work, video editing ect am i correct in thinking this?
but not i am starting to think i should have either got less ram or ghz and gone for the ATI card (my budget just cant strech to all 3) i am a graphic designer / illustrator and use cs2, studio 8, and aperture, and a little bit or quark, and was wondering is the mac pro i have configured gonna be suitable, or do i need more bang in the graphics card dept??
the 1.6ghz 2 gb g5 imac i am currenty using has a 64mb graphics card and seems nice and quick so i cant image a 256mb to feel sluggish, but i thought i better ask the experts on here!
also, taking Rosetta into account, am i going to notice much of a speed increse from the said imac , to the mac pro? im not too bothered if its gonna be about as quick or quicker, but i really dont wanna, have a massive decrese in speed! im planning to get cs3 as soon as its released to this machine is me planning for the future.
if anyone is running any of these apps on rosetta id love to get some feedback, or also if anyone has the basic graphics card? id really appreciate some info, just incase i need to ammend my order
many thanks

[mduell]

Yes, an upgraded graphics card is for 3d games, 3d modelling, and some media apps (like Motion).

For what you do, the setup you ordered sounds good; the ATi X1900 graphics card would do very little for you. While you probably could take the downgrade to the 2.0, the way Apple prices it makes it very unattractive (you get $300 back for a $800 downgrade). You'll probably want to buy another 2-4GB RAM when the funds become available.

The graphics performance is more about the GPU and VRAM speed than the VRAM amount. I'm not sure but a lot of people like to focus on the VRAM amount; perhaps just because it's a more accessable number.

CS2 will run well, but CS3 is where the Mac Pro will really shine.

[swordfish86]

thanks for the great info mdual, thats exactly what i wanted to hear really coz changing my order would only further delay getting my mac,
as you said thats exacly wot im going to do, at the end of dec wen i get payed im gonna stick an extra 4 to 6 gb in there, and then should be good to go.
thanks again!