Mac Pro 8 core - Ati 2600, 1900XT or Nvidia 8800?

[bdjones]

haven't seen the 8800 yet but the stock 2600 arrived today, will get to play with it tomorrow. All the cards have dual monitor support, are you running more than two?

[sismik]

I use 2 monitors (30+20), but I suppose if I have a 256mg card and I use 2, the memory will be splint 128 per monitor so I presume it is better to have 2 cards for driving the monitors ? Maybe I am totally wrong, I dont know :-)

[fluffouille]

Go Nvidia 8800 if you want to have full OpenGL support. History shows that Nvidia has the most reliable drivers and best handling in C4D.

*edit*
You say it comes with the ATI by default, and ask what second card you should install. I'm not sure I understand here. Do you want a second card to swap the primary card you already ordered, or do you intend to go SLI? If you want to setup a SLI system, you'll need the exact same card.

[sismik]

Hi Sébastien

The default card will stay in the machine. I want to had a second card, one for each monitor (I know they all support 2 monitors).

Comme j'expliquais précédamment, je crois que 2 cartes sont plus performantes qu'une seule. Si une carte de 256 megs est en charge de 2 moniteurs, la memoire va etre répartie sur les 2, donc 128 megs chacun. Est-ce bien ca ?

Thanks for your help

Martin

P.S. Sorry for the french to those who dont understand it, it is just easier for me to explain my problem this way

[Srek]

do you intend to go SLI? If you want to setup a SLI system, you'll need the exact same card.
SLI does not work in MacPros. Currently SLI depends on the mainboard using a NVidia chipset, the MacPros use Intel Workstation chipsets.
Cheers
Björn

[mogh]

Get the 8800 iam not happy with the HD2600 i have big speed lags and a very slow polygon selection ... will trie a 8800 in one week at my friends place just to make sure but i'll think if you buy dont bother to think abaout th 150 euro more i think its worth it anyway ... but as i said never tested a 8800 before ..

[bobtronic]

I would also advice against Ati, especially if you also want to use WIndows/Bootcamp.

cheers,
Matthias

[mogh]

By the way there is no ATI XT1900 for the new MacPro
these are the options from the German Apple Store

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3
2xATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 [+ Eur 130,00]
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 [+ Eur 180,00]
3xATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 [+ Eur 260,00]
4xATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 [+ Eur 390,00]
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB GDDR3 [+ Eur 2.530,00]


(sorry for that font messup in that post)
regards mogh

[fluffouille]

SLI does not work in MacPros. Currently SLI depends on the mainboard using a NVidia chipset, the MacPros use Intel Workstation chipsets.
Cheers
Björn
Oh, I didn't know that, thanks for the information.
Sismick, I see. I didn't know this could work with two different cards, good to know.

[sismik]

thank you all for the advices

mogh: The 1900XT doesn't come from Apple, you have to buy it from 3rd party reseller. It has impressive benchmarks (but I dont know with C4D) http://www.barefeats.com/harper2.html

[bobtronic]

thank you all for the advices

mogh: The 1900XT doesn't come from Apple, you have to buy it from 3rd party reseller. It has impressive benchmarks (but I dont know with C4D) http://www.barefeats.com/harper2.html

I have a 1900 in the 8-core at work and it is ok under OSX, although not all EOGL features are supported. It sucks under Windows/Bootcamp, Ati's Windows driver are, well, not the best.

cheers,
Matthias

[StructAural]

The 8800GT is the best card - outperforms even the FX5600 on quite a few benchmarks but not all. It is particularly good under Bootcamp if you update the drivers.
It's the best gaming card out - but no-one wants to know that :) I'm waiting for the upgrade to come available for last years 8-core and then I'm getting one...

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