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No Good Video Card for G5?...
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
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I have a dual core G5 and got the basic video card with it, 6600 LE, thinking I would upgrade. But the best card (from what I hear) is not available for purchase, the GForce 7800 GT. I can't wait any longer...what are the options? I need to do Motion, Aperture, etc work and need a speeeedy card. The ATI ones don't seem as powerful..any suggestions???
Has anyone been able to buy a 7800 GT?
Thanks!
Frank
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Moderator  Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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You should have upgraded to the non-LE variant. That would have cost very little, but you had a rather significant boost in speed.
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
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(yes..shoulda..coulda..)
Any other ideas anyone?
Frank
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Senior User
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Aussie in UK
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I believe the only option at the moment is a 6600 non-LE which you can get retail.
Or try and convince someone with a 7800 GT to swap you for your 6600 LE and some cash!  Don't like your chances though!
One would like to think that Apple (and others) will offer more PCI Express cards retail soon. I guess you will just have to wait until then.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Yeah...been waiting several months now...any ideas out there..I am usually patient...but...
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Moderator Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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jebjeb mentioned the solution, you have to get the non-LE version of the 6600. I hope your patience lasts another 2-4 business days, coz that's how long it takes Apple to ship the card. It's $199.
Just thought I'd mention this: all ATI cards currently available for the Mac will not fit in your PowerMac, they use AGP and you need (newer) PCI Express graphics cards.
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: East Lansing, MI
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This is a long-standing and very annoying problem with Apple and the G5s. Apple has better video cards but refuses to sell them except as part of an entire computer.
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Your Mac could help understand and cure disease
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: England
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Yeah. I got the non-LE 6600 but now want a 7800. It's annoying!
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What the nerd community most often fail to realize is that all features aren't equal. A well implemented and well integrated feature in a convenient interface is worth way more than the same feature implemented crappy, or accessed through a annoying interface.
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2001
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ATI will likely present an option or two at Macworld this coming week.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
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What about the performance leap? Is the ATI $199 one much better than the 6600LE? Looks like there is more vram, but will it provide a good bump in performance?
Frank
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2001
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ATI's $199 one? Perhaps you don't understand. ATI doesn't offer any PCIe cards for the Mac right now. There's no ATI $199 card--there's no card, period.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
jebjeb mentioned the solution, you have to get the non-LE version of the 6600. I hope your patience lasts another 2-4 business days, coz that's how long it takes Apple to ship the card. It's $199.
Slightly offtopic: Yow, a 99% markup over the PC version!
Originally Posted by frankmcma
What about the performance leap? Is the ATI $199 one much better than the 6600LE? Looks like there is more vram, but will it provide a good bump in performance?
The "6600LE" is the same as a 6200... the GPU upgrade to a "real" 6600 will have more of an impact than the VRAM difference.
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Moderator  Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Originally Posted by mduell
The "6600LE" is the same as a 6200... the GPU upgrade to a "real" 6600 will have more of an impact than the VRAM difference.
Really? I thought that the 6600 LE was a regular 6600 but cut down to 4 pipes. The 6200 also has 4 pipes, but has the Z-compression and various other memory controller features disabled (like the 5200). That can make a huge difference, as that was the main difference between the 5200 Ultra and the 5700 Ultra. Still, I haven't kept up with all the different models lately, so if you're certain they're the same...
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Moderator Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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The LE, as mentioned already, has a 4-pixel pipeline, a 128 bit memory bus and is obviously clocked lower than the non-LE model. As far as the gpu generation is concerned, it is a souped up version of the 6200. The PC version includes sli support (so you can have two LE cards work in concert).
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
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So should I get the Nvidia Geforce 6600 Graphics Upgrade Kit? Is that the best shipping card I can purchase for my G5 dual?
It has twice the memory but it seems from this discussion its a better processor and faster card.
Frank
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2001
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You should be patient for a couple of days.
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Moderator Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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ATI has announced that they are developing PCIe graphics cards for the Mac, so I would think the MWSF is a good point in time to announce them.
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: New York, NY US
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PCIe is very nice, but there's a bare minimum aount of machines to support them yet.
Far as I know, there's essentially one choice for an upgraded video card that is "better" then the stock ones (not the "upgraded when buying a new machine" cards) and that's the Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition (AGP 2x, 4x, 256 MB, DVI & VGA I think). the question I have is "is the 260 cost worth it?"
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
The LE, as mentioned already, has a 4-pixel pipeline, a 128 bit memory bus and is obviously clocked lower than the non-LE model. As far as the gpu generation is concerned, it is a souped up version of the 6200. The PC version includes sli support (so you can have two LE cards work in concert).
First impression: Whoa, OreoCookie agreed with me! 
Second impression: A pair of 6600LE in SLI is like a pair of weedwhacker engines under the hood of a car. Sure it's better than one, but still...
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Moderator Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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Originally Posted by mduell
First impression: Whoa, OreoCookie agreed with me!
Second impression: A pair of 6600LE in SLI is like a pair of weedwhacker engines under the hood of a car. Sure it's better than one, but still...
No need to be surprised, the facts are the facts  According to TheRegister, a dual LE is about as fast as a non-LE for roughly the same price as one LE card. So indeed, it's not very useful to use to LE cards together.
Anywho, the whole ending scheme to distinguish different versions of graphics cards gives me a headache, GT, LE, GTX, XE, XL, etc.
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Moderator Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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Originally Posted by mduell
First impression: Whoa, OreoCookie agreed with me!
Second impression: A pair of 6600LE in SLI is like a pair of weedwhacker engines under the hood of a car. Sure it's better than one, but still...
No need to be surprised, the facts are the facts According to TheRegister, a dual LE is about as fast as a non-LE for roughly the same price as one LE card. So indeed, it's not very useful to use to LE cards together.
Anywho, the whole ending scheme to distinguish different versions of graphics cards gives me a headache, GT, LE, GTX, XE, XL, etc.
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
Anywho, the whole ending scheme to distinguish different versions of graphics cards gives me a headache, GT, LE, GTX, XE, XL, etc.
... GS, GTO, Pro, XT, SE, and bleh. And of course any of them can be good (higher performing card), bad (lower performing card), or both (depending on manufacturer).
ATi and nVidia need to follow AMD/Intel's lead and swtich to a more sane numbering scheme.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Ok.. I did not see any Macworld video card annoucements...what can i do now to get a card? What is the best card out...is anything in the wings...
Frank
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