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groovywebdesign · Feb 12, 2007, 03:12 PM

Hello everyone,

I've currently got a mac pro with the Nvidia 7300 powering two 17" lcds. I'm looking to add a 23" cinema, and thought that it would be wise to go with an ATI 1900 to power it, and leave the 7300 for the two 17's.

I'm curious though, a) can I purchase the 1900 separately? And b) will I be able to just plug in the 1900, and will it work with the 7300 in there, or is there any kind of compatibility issues?

I know I can easily add a 7300... (not sure again though where/if I can buy it separately... can't find much of a compatibility chart on any of the sites..)

Thanks for any help!!!

davidflas · Feb 12, 2007, 03:25 PM

The ATI 1900XT can be purchased directly from Apple for $399. It will have to be installed in the double-wide slot were your 7300GT is currently located, but you should have no trouble having them both connected together. You can also get a 7300GT for $149 from Apple. For most things aside from 3d work and gaming a 7300GT will work just fine. I have a Dell 24" display hooked to my 7300GT it works great in photoshop, etc... even light gaming..

groovywebdesign · Feb 12, 2007, 04:37 PM

thanks for the reply. i'm not really a gamer, just a hardcore photoshopper and so far haven't had any trouble out of the 7300. The only thing I wonder about, is I downloaded a demo for doom, and it did seem choppy to me. I wasn't so sure if this was a graphics card issue or the fact that my ram upgrade hasn't arrived yet (still running the default 1gb).

One more question, would a 512mb version of the 7300 work in the mac pro? Or does it have to be the one from Apple.
such as from new egg..

thanks!

Leonard · Feb 12, 2007, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by groovywebdesign

The only thing I wonder about, is I downloaded a demo for doom, and it did seem choppy to me. I wasn't so sure if this was a graphics card issue or the fact that my ram upgrade hasn't arrived yet (still running the default 1gb).

Most likely both the RAM and the graphics card. Doom III is quite demanding on the graphics card (alot of the new 3D games are). It could also be that the demo is not as optimized as the game - the game may have been updated to improve performance whereas demos are unlikely to be updated and patchedto improve performance.

Originally Posted by groovywebdesign

One more question, would a 512mb version of the 7300 work in the mac pro? Or does it have to be the one from Apple.
such as from new egg..

thanks!

If you buy anything other than the one from Apple you will have to modify the card, they will not work out of the box. The graphics cards that come from Apple are made specifically for the Mac and work on the Mac right out of the box.

groovywebdesign · Feb 12, 2007, 04:57 PM

Leonard,

Thanks for the answers, I'll definitely get it from Apple then. So in theory, mac pro with the 1900 xt, running 4gb of ram, should be able to adequately run most games out there, yes?

Thanks again for all the help guys.

Leonard · Feb 12, 2007, 07:52 PM

Yeah games should run great with those specs.

davidflas · Feb 12, 2007, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by groovywebdesign

Leonard,

Thanks for the answers, I'll definitely get it from Apple then. So in theory, mac pro with the 1900 xt, running 4gb of ram, should be able to adequately run most games out there, yes?

Thanks again for all the help guys.

One thing to note about Doom3, the demo isn't universal, it runs in Rosetta emulation, so that takes a toll on performance. The full version of Doom3 has a patch that makes it universal...I tried to apply that patch to the demo and now its asking me to insert my cd...

Craig Hind · Feb 13, 2007, 04:46 AM

Hi groovywebdesign,

Sorry to change the subject slightly, but do you use Aperture on this system?

I'm curious to know how well it works with the Nvidia 7300 vs the ATI 1900 - I'm looking at buying a new Mac Pro soon and the cost of the system and monitors is already stretching my finances so if I can get away with the 7300 then that would be better. But if it is going to be slow and unresponsive then I'll just get the ATI card.

I should mention that I am currently using a PowerBook G4 as my Aperture machine, so I'm fairly sure that coming from that to even a base Mac Pro I should see a huge difference in processing speed.

Cheers
Craig

groovywebdesign · Feb 13, 2007, 02:26 PM

Hey Craig,

I haven't yet used aperture, but plan on ordering it once I get more than the 1gb ram in there (should be here soon). I do heavy photoshop / dreamweaver / flash / fireworks work though, and the only problems I have, I believe is related to only having 1gb of ram. DVD and everything else seem flawless with the 7300. the photoshop cs3 beta is so nice though even though it's still not 100% -- it's very fast, I just can't wait till its released though.

I would give the Aperture demo a shot, but seeing as they have a min. 2gb ram on the mac pro, I figure it's not even worth trying yet. I would assume though, that the 7300 with 2gb ram on mac pro should work great for aperture.

Craig Hind · Feb 14, 2007, 04:58 AM

Hi,

Yeah, that's kind of what I am thinking. Well if you remember, please post here (or PM me) with your experiences when you do get your memory and try the Aperture trial.

I'm holding off on a new purchase until the 20th in the hopeful anticipation that Apple might refresh the Mac Pro line, but reports of an announcement on the 20th seem to have died down now, but we'll wait and see. It certainly is time for a refresh I think...

Cheers
Craig

icolor · 07:17 PM

hi all

it seems there are some conflicting drivers concerning core video. goto Accelerate Your Macintosh! News Page - 2/23/07 about two thirds down the page. lets hope apple, ati or nvidia resolves them