Another Graphics Card Question???

[imashination]

I have a Mac G5 with it's original card, a Nvidia GeForce FX5200 and am thanking of upgrading to a little more power for my apps such as, Lightwave, Modo, ZBrush, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro. I don't want to spend too much on this machine because, I plan to buy one of the new Intel Macs next year.
I was looking at the Radeon 9600 or (9800) Pro Mac Editions:
Questions:
1) Anyone ever use one of these? 2) Is the card good for 3D apps? 3) Is it fairly quiet or does it sound like a plane taking off?

I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance.

The 9800 and 9600 are no faster than what you have, its not worth it at all.

[amfantasy]

nvidia to ati:eek:

and I agree with the user above your not going to get a speed increase, but I'm not sure how bad ati cards are on power pc

[webhead]

The 9800 and 9600 are no faster than what you have, its not worth it at all.

Really - even though the 9800 has 8 pixel pipelines, I believe, 4 times the ram and Open GL 2.0 instead of just 1.5 that the GeForce 5200 has, yet there is no noticable difference?
I thought I saw benchmark tests somewhere on BARE FEATS that indicated the two cards were noticeably faster than the GeForce. I could be mistaken. I appreciate both your input, though. Humph, really confused at what my best options are now.

[SweetDreamz]

Don't know for Macs or even what you're gonna do with it...

but I know for sure that the FX series from nVidia were crap. ATI 9800 was a fairly good card back in its days.

[webhead]

Thanks for the reply, Sweetdreams. I have to say, though, so far, every resource I check gives me such conflicting information, it's hard to figure out which card is best.
It seems most of them either overheat or have loud fans or just don't deliver the power you need unless you want to spend mucho dollars. Bummer.

[lots]

nvidia to ati:eek:

and I agree with the user above your not going to get a speed increase, but I'm not sure how bad ati cards are on power pc
On a mac thats actually not as bad as it sounds.. Since Apple gets a fairly hands on approach to driver implimentation, ATI is actually better off on Mac than PC. In fact its the Nvidia hardware that doesnt have as much support it seems.. My main guess is Apple has been using ATI for years, and has become fairly familiar with the hardware/drivers.

Just from my general observation, and not based on any factual data at all :P so take that with a grain of salt :)

[cbamber85]

I have a FX5200 in my workstation and a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128MB) in my laptop, and I can assure you the 9700 DESTROYS the FX in everyway. I'm in your position as well, looking to upgrade my workstation, the FX is an appalling card. Right now, you seem to be getting more dollar for dollar going for ATI, I've always bought nVidia over ATI in the past but at the minute I'd say ATI are making better cards, but in the graphics industry how long will that last? 2 weeks!?

[Halford]

I've been using a 9800xt for sometime now, and I can say that I'm very satidfied compared to the FX5200 that my brother has..but well it's over PC not MAC.



Hal.

[lots]

Comparing an FX5200 to a Radeon 9700/9800 is a bit idiotic. For one, the FX5200 is a value oriented part (of that generation) while the Radeon 9700/9800 is a TOP end part of that generation. So of course the Radeon 9700/9800 will be faster, it is a superior card in EVERY aspect, including price (3 times more expencive :P). The two were never meant to go up against eachother.

So "duh" the 9700 and up will be faster. No argument there.

In the x86 (windows) world, I would choose Nvidia over ATI. Not only is Nvidia well off with its drivers, comparativly, but they do produce cards that are fast. I'd say the current generation of Nvidia and ATI cards are roughly in the same ball park, and it mostly comes down to what you need. ATI would be just fine if games were all you did, but most folk here dont just play games, so I recommend Nvidia. Similarly, anyone wanting to use Linux, I would recommend Nvidia to once again, as ATI has crap for drivers.

On the Mac it is a different story. Apple has control over the development of the drivers for OSX. This means the major factor differenciating ATI and Nvidia in the Windows space that prevents ATI from being any good for 3D, is no longer part of the problem. I'm no machead, but from the sounds of it, ATI is the prefered choice on Macs due to thier drivers. I've been told that Apple has had a longer standing relationship with ATI, and thus better support for drivers, than Nvidia. Probaly, a reason that ATI hardware is all over the Mac.

What goes against ATI most in Windows, is thier drivers. If they were better designed for OpenGL, then I'm sure we'd see a much larger recommendation of ATI hardware on this forum..

[webhead]

Appreciate the feedback, folks. I guess it's a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to buying a graphics card. Seems you give up one problem for another. I'll have to do some more research.

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