3D mac user needs Graphic Card Advice

[rocarpen]

Originally posted by Cannon454
I know lots of people are asking for advice on the forum about graphic cards. I would like to add that I actually searched out this previously by running thorugh this forum and I need specific advice I hope some of you can help. I am a 3d artist working in advertising and do a lot of very heavy 3d models currently we use Cinema at work and will soon be switching over to Maya. What kind of graphics card would be best suited for this application. I do no gamming on this machine. Also, this will be paid for by the company so price is not a problem here. Thanks to all those who help

GeForce 4 Ti. You ought to be able to purchase it as a stand-alone card through Apple (check out the online Apple Store). The Radeon is a more zippy card, but I've heard it has some problems working well in 3D apps such as Maya.

Best of luck!

[SporQ]

If you can wait a while, 10.3 is rumored to support pro level cards. Quadro, and such.

[imashination]

When will it properly support normal cards then?

[ages]

ATI 8500 is a nice card for 3d design. Affordable and solid.

[marc]

who are all you people? u haven't searched properly some one posted something funny about mac trying to sell 7500 radeon with their machine as cutting edge. go for a ti4200 or a radeon 9500. all the cards listed on this thread were crappy don't buy mx or 5200 fx.

[DaForce]

Yep, It was me who posted that thread and here it is.
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=64182

[DrEvils]

I bought a ati card a few years back, it had crappy support... thought I'd give 'em another try.... let's just say I'm going to avoid them like the plague from now on...
too much trouble right now, it wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't problem after problem with it and lw... I mean I can't even model for more than 5 min without it crashing.... sorry gotta vent sometimes... oh yeah it's a ati 9000 pro don't know if the 9700 would be any better, wouldn't bet on it....

[marc]

9500 + 9700 Pro are good cards.

[ages]

Originally posted by marc
who are all you people? u haven't searched properly some one posted something funny about mac trying to sell 7500 radeon with their machine as cutting edge. go for a ti4200 or a radeon 9500. all the cards listed on this thread were crappy don't buy mx or 5200 fx.

Please research before you boast, 9600 isnt available for macs.
ATI we have 8500, 9000, 9700, 9800(to be released later)

Out of them all 8500 and 9700 best cjoices.

[MCronin]

For a Mac, based on A|W's own page, I think the Radeon 9700 might be the best bet. According to A|W, it looks like hardware rendering in Maya 5 OSX on the GeForce 4 is pretty broken:

http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/Community/Support/qualified_hardware/QUAL/maya_50_osx.html

If you have to buy something right away, the Radeon 9700, Radeon 8500, GeForce 3, and Geforce 4 MX have the least issues, according to A|W. Otherwise, try holding out for a bit and see if Quadros are supported in the next point release of OSX.

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