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Radeon HD 3870 for Mac coming end of May
- Thread starter barefeats
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Thanks. That'll make Digital Skunk happy, if Apple supports it-- I think it's been on his wishlist for a while...
Yup. Not sure about beating, but clearly it's a case of CI optimisation. NVidia probably are proving themselves as unable to get their heads around CI as Vista drivers
I guess it depends on your interpretation of 'pro' apps. e.g. GPU wise I run all my video / image editing software on what are basically gaming PC's, with professional workstations (i.e. not the Pro) used for OpenGL related use. I am aware the Quadros provide some very high end video friendly features but I'm not pro enough for that, and I suspect many users here are not either - while Quadros have ready uses for engineering, 3D and related stuff, and the 8000-series don't exactly suck at it either.
I don't Boot Camp any of my Pros so can't tell you first hand, but I'm pretty sure not a huge boost from the 8800GT.
Why Blame Apple?
It seems to me that ATI/AMD and Nvidia could bring their latest hottest cards to OS X whenever they like. Just like the PC sales model, they only need to provide installable drivers. Sure, it won't appear at the Apple website as CTO. But who cares. There's enough market, I think, for the GPU guys to invest in doing OS X drivers. They do already, but I think the Apple CTO cards simply have a lot more Apple QA and design input, plus the fact that Apple reserves the right to gate the release of drivers with OS X releases.
There are alternate paths & scripts for drivers to be installed in the OS X file hierarchy so that they will be loaded at boot time (and without messing up the baseline OS X installation). So it would just be a matter of ATI or Nvidia saying this is OUR offering, please report issues to US.
Can't see why they don't do it.
It seems to me that ATI/AMD and Nvidia could bring their latest hottest cards to OS X whenever they like. Just like the PC sales model, they only need to provide installable drivers. Sure, it won't appear at the Apple website as CTO. But who cares. There's enough market, I think, for the GPU guys to invest in doing OS X drivers. They do already, but I think the Apple CTO cards simply have a lot more Apple QA and design input, plus the fact that Apple reserves the right to gate the release of drivers with OS X releases.
There are alternate paths & scripts for drivers to be installed in the OS X file hierarchy so that they will be loaded at boot time (and without messing up the baseline OS X installation). So it would just be a matter of ATI or Nvidia saying this is OUR offering, please report issues to US.
Can't see why they don't do it.
It should run a bit cooler than the 2600XT (and definitely cooler than the 2600XT after the graphics "update" which basically disabled some power saving features -> more noise and heat when idling)
When running 3d-Games the 3870 heats up more but has a better cooler, too.
I'm pretty sure the 3870 will generally generate less noise than the 2600
How much will it be, though?
ATI's X1900 G5 edition is still $400. They haven't bothered to lower the price to bring it inline with the street price of normal X1900 cards.
If the card debuts for $300 or $350, what good is that? Hopefully ATI will do this right.
ATI's X1900 G5 edition is still $400. They haven't bothered to lower the price to bring it inline with the street price of normal X1900 cards.
If the card debuts for $300 or $350, what good is that? Hopefully ATI will do this right.
Isn't EFI, or lack of, the reason why Mac users can't use the latest and greatest?It's a shame though as the R700 and RV700 is coming a month later, in june. Hopefully they make an EFI version
Hi,
i'm excited about this announcement - I run Maya, Final Cut, compositing packages and CS3.
The 8800GT is getting really cheap in store now (~£70/$150) and i'm wondering if it's worth buying an 8800GT and flashing it or buying this new ATI card.
What is the flashing process like? Is the end result identical to what you can buy off apple? - I'd only want to take this route if the end result was perfect.
Also what is the ATI card (3870) like with apps like Maya, Final Cut, Shake, Combustion, CS3?
i'm excited about this announcement - I run Maya, Final Cut, compositing packages and CS3.
The 8800GT is getting really cheap in store now (~£70/$150) and i'm wondering if it's worth buying an 8800GT and flashing it or buying this new ATI card.
What is the flashing process like? Is the end result identical to what you can buy off apple? - I'd only want to take this route if the end result was perfect.
Also what is the ATI card (3870) like with apps like Maya, Final Cut, Shake, Combustion, CS3?
Of course, it could also be that NVidia's advantage lies in brute force polygon crunching, which may play a much bigger role in 3D gaming than in Core Image.
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Anyone know what kind of price point Apple and ATI might be shooting for on this card?
Anyone know what kind of price point Apple and ATI might be shooting for on this card?
If 'common sense' plays any part; it will surely retail at the same price as the upgrade kit 8800GT. Giving people a valid two choice solution.
This is excellent news - more choice for Mac Pro users. It's too be we don't see more retail cards for the Mac Pro of course, but something is clearly better than nothing.
It would be stupid for ATI to charge more for the retail 3870 than the 8800GT. *Hopefully* it will be cheaper. I'd like to see it at or under $180-$190.
It would be stupid for ATI to charge more for the retail 3870 than the 8800GT. *Hopefully* it will be cheaper. I'd like to see it at or under $180-$190.
I wish barefeats would actually do some gfx test in 3d apps, like maya, modo.. etc.. not just use games. The 1900 could be faster in Fincal cut, and the 8800 waay faster in a game.. but that leaves the OpenGL in limbo..
It all comes down to drivers i guess.. i'm hoping 10.5.3 gives the 8800 a core image shot in the arm.
It all comes down to drivers i guess.. i'm hoping 10.5.3 gives the 8800 a core image shot in the arm.
Concerning the X1900 vs 8800GT. I have a good perspective on this.
At home i have a 3GHz first generation Mac Pro with X1900.
At work i have a 2.8Ghz 2nd generation Mac Pro with 8800GT.
Both machines are running 30" monitors and I play a lot of World of Warcraft as well as use pro applications (Aperture and etc).
Both machines run WoW flawless but the 8800GT does offer about a 10-30% gain in FPS depending on the scene you're in.
What really surprised me is that the X1900 runs OSX UI interface MUCH smoother than the 8800GT. Dragging windows is smoother, and when the UI does transition and etc, the X1900 does it smoother. I also notice that the X1900 can do more than one graphic intensive thing at a time without stuttering, unlike the 8800GT.
Here is an example..
If you run your mouse over the Dock and select the Dashboard, if the dock is not done animating (magnifying), the Dashboard will stutter terribly or skip the transition all together on the 8800GT. If you have any other GPU activity going on it'll do the same thing. On the X1900 it's ALWAYS smooth. I notice this sort of behavior in several places.
Even though i play WoW, i would buy the X1900 over the 8800GT because of how much better the X1900 runs OSX in general. I will be one of the first in line to get the ATI 3870
At home i have a 3GHz first generation Mac Pro with X1900.
At work i have a 2.8Ghz 2nd generation Mac Pro with 8800GT.
Both machines are running 30" monitors and I play a lot of World of Warcraft as well as use pro applications (Aperture and etc).
Both machines run WoW flawless but the 8800GT does offer about a 10-30% gain in FPS depending on the scene you're in.
What really surprised me is that the X1900 runs OSX UI interface MUCH smoother than the 8800GT. Dragging windows is smoother, and when the UI does transition and etc, the X1900 does it smoother. I also notice that the X1900 can do more than one graphic intensive thing at a time without stuttering, unlike the 8800GT.
Here is an example..
If you run your mouse over the Dock and select the Dashboard, if the dock is not done animating (magnifying), the Dashboard will stutter terribly or skip the transition all together on the 8800GT. If you have any other GPU activity going on it'll do the same thing. On the X1900 it's ALWAYS smooth. I notice this sort of behavior in several places.
Even though i play WoW, i would buy the X1900 over the 8800GT because of how much better the X1900 runs OSX in general. I will be one of the first in line to get the ATI 3870
A Mac Pro with a GeForce 8800 running Windows games is one darn expensive game console. For doing real work the Radeon HD 3870 will be much faster and less expensive.
It does perform better in games...which equates it to be faster. From what I know on Pro apps, not all of them are video accelerated (Except for a few).
Edit: Nm...seems like overall ATI's cards/drivers for OSX are better.
ATI typically writes their own drivers and hands them off to Apple. Nvidia hands over the source code to Apple and has them write their own drivers. We all know that apple isn't going to put more than a minimal effort into anything graphics related.
A very basic question - I use a Mac Pro Quad with a 7300 GT graphics card. What new graphics card (if any) would give me a noteworthy performance improvement with Photoshop CS3 and Final Cut Express?
Thanks much.
Thanks much.
How much depends on graphic card capability on Mac OS X? (for ordinary use? Not pro apps so much?)
I use iMovie for editing about once a year, occasional Quicktime pro video conversion of imovies, and some simple Blender 3D renderings. I suspect any 'basic' discrete video capability is more than enough...
However I've recently used a friend's MacBook to make a short photo slideshow in iMovie for him and noticed VERY slow rendering of 'themes' in iMovie... I presume it is because inferior graphics, as the CPU is not far of my iMac's specs??
I'm not a 'power user' by any means, but graphics card doesn't seem to do much in OS X apart from some basic functions (like dashboard, 'genie effect' etc.)? or am I mistaken?
I use iMovie for editing about once a year, occasional Quicktime pro video conversion of imovies, and some simple Blender 3D renderings. I suspect any 'basic' discrete video capability is more than enough...
However I've recently used a friend's MacBook to make a short photo slideshow in iMovie for him and noticed VERY slow rendering of 'themes' in iMovie... I presume it is because inferior graphics, as the CPU is not far of my iMac's specs??
I'm not a 'power user' by any means, but graphics card doesn't seem to do much in OS X apart from some basic functions (like dashboard, 'genie effect' etc.)? or am I mistaken?
heynsmd2 - that is the general impression I have been getting by reading through various threads.
BTW - a trip to you country was outstanding - Kapstadt was breathtaking - flying in was perhaps the most magnificent view I have experienced in my travels.
BTW - a trip to you country was outstanding - Kapstadt was breathtaking - flying in was perhaps the most magnificent view I have experienced in my travels.