which grafx card is better for my MPro?

[zoran]

Hi i will be doing a lot of DTP (Quark, AdobeCS2 apps) and Video Editing (Premiere hopefully) using a MPro but have no idea which grafx card really suits my needs and which MPro. Of course i will want to play a few games as well here and then.
All these options seem great but which one and why?
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI)

and what is that 2 x dual-link DVI option, whats it for?

 

[robbieduncan]

what is that 2 x dual-link DVI option, whats it for?

It means that it has 2 DVI ports, both of which have dual TDMS transmitters allowing them to run in dual-link mode. This allows for twin 30" displays.

 

[Pressure]

The best bang for the buck would be the ATI Radeon 1900XT.

It will be able to power 2x30" Apple Cinema Displays while still delivering good performance in games. Although the optimal resolution would still be 2x23" with their 1920x1200 resolution (from a gaming perspective).

 

[Platform]

Well if money is no objetct and you want the best performance...the Quadro is the card for you...especially for video editing...but the other cards will all work well with PS, while you should upgrade for Aperture type programs

 

[zoran]

Are there any better cards than the ones given for MacPro on the market?

 

[Sdashiki]

please, dont use Premiere over Final Cut.

You are on a Mac afterall.


Plus, use FCP AND Premiere to create the SAME project twice.

I bet it took alot less time, unless you are very unfamiliar with its layout, to work in FCP than it did in Premiere.

Premier, WAS good, but is no longer so, yes, IMO.

After Effects, is another story....

 

[Mackeyser]

Not the Quadro

Well, if Apple writes the drivers to allow ATI's Avivo on the Mac, the ATI card will do hardware H.264 encoding and decoding (well, it's kinda a fudge right now on the PC, but gains up to 5x have been seen. On high end machines like the Mac Pro, the gains would be like 80%, which is still nothing to sneeze at).

That said, the reason to get a Quadro is if you use it for scientific computing and stereo visualization (it has a stereo visualization port for 3d goggles). As well, there are certain workstation class items that use 3d like architecture programs where the Nvidia Quadro really shines.

However, for Final Cut Studio, CS2, AE and others, the benchmarks don't show any noticeable or appreciable difference and certainly not anything worth an extra $1200, whereas an X1900 XT machine with $1200 worth of extra memory will handily beat a stock Quadro 4500.

The Quadro is a pretty specialized card. It matters for science where Macs are super solid machines and it was IMPORTANT to offer such a card. For video, audio, games, etc, it just doesn't warrant the costs.

Jmho, of course...