Need a newer (better video card)

[adam9c1]

I have a 2009 4,1 cMP with GT120 video adapter.

The boot volume is a SSD on a PCI card and I have 32GB of ram.

I do not game or edit photos or videos for a living (I'll fire up iMovie maybe a once every two years).

What I do is:
- have tons of Chrome tabs open (sometimes it has videos and sometimes not)
When playing youtube videos many times they will stutter.
- run few virtual machines via Fusion (while Windows is OK, OS X in a VM is very laggy)

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Is there a video adapter under $120 that will help me?

 

[h9826790]

AFAIK, OSX in VM do not support video acceleration, that's why it's laggy, nothing can help.

For browser and youtube, yes, a good GPU will help, because almost all modern browser use GPU to accelerate.

If you want the boot screen, you may get a used HD7950 and flash it, that is quite cheap IMO and it works well for you. That 3G VRAM will let the browser and VM run better.

For your purpose, no need (and better not) to get a overclock version. Just a normal 2x6pin card will suit your needs, and not need to worry about the power issue. In fact, for non heavy 3D usage, I prefer to downclock and/or downvolt a bit to make it run cooler and quieter.

The 5770 and 5870 also good enough for your usage, but IMO, better to go for the 3G VRAM card if you willing to pay a bit more.

Of course, since you have the GT120, you can keep it for the boot screen and install any supported card in your Mac Pro (e.g. those new Nvidia card).

 

[lowendlinux]

I have a Radeon 280 for sale in the market place