# Video card questions for the gurus



## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

Hey everyone, 
well it's been a year now on my mac pro and I love it. 
I have a 8 core 2.8 intel Xeon mac pro with the ATI Radeon 2600HDXT video card in it. 
It has 256mb of ram on it. 
As you can see from my picture it looks pretty good on my 30 cinema monitor. I run it at 2048x1280 all day long and it's good...









First question:
I was wondering should I upgrade it to something of the next level?
Or should I get myself another one if I can find one cheap somewhere.
What do you guys think?

Second question:
I might be getting this other video card that my buddy is going to give me as he owes me some money. it's a Nvidia Asus ENGTS250 Here is a link to it. Can I even use that in my mac?
Is it worth it or should i pass?
ASUS ENGTS250 DK Geforce GTS 250 Videocard Review - PCSTATS.com

Help...


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

your video card isnt going to change how "things look on your monitor" in the way that any photo can demonstrate. a more powerful video card will allow for many things, higher graphics settings on games, better performance in any 3d app or photoshop, aperture etc (although those apps will have varying degrees of increase based on what you are doing)

adding a better video card isnt going to "make things look better" in the way that buying a more expensive TV would or something along those lines..

what apps do you use the most, and what kind of stuff do you do in them?


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## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

broad said:


> your video card isnt going to change how "things look on your monitor" in the way that any photo can demonstrate. a more powerful video card will allow for many things, higher graphics settings on games, better performance in any 3d app or photoshop, aperture etc (although those apps will have varying degrees of increase based on what you are doing)
> 
> adding a better video card isnt going to "make things look better" in the way that buying a more expensive TV would or something along those lines..
> 
> what apps do you use the most, and what kind of stuff do you do in them?



Well I use the basics as well as Aperture and watch video. I don't do any gaming as of yet on my mac as I have a ps3 which I barely find the time to play anyway. 

So mostly photoshop and video...


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

which version of aperture are your using? which version of photoshop?


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## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

broad said:


> your video card isnt going to change how "things look on your monitor" in the way that any photo can demonstrate. a more powerful video card will allow for many things, higher graphics settings on games, better performance in any 3d app or photoshop, aperture etc (although those apps will have varying degrees of increase based on what you are doing)
> 
> adding a better video card isnt going to "make things look better" in the way that buying a more expensive TV would or something along those lines..
> 
> what apps do you use the most, and what kind of stuff do you do in them?





broad said:


> which version of aperture are your using? which version of photoshop?


aperture 3.1 and Adobe photoshop CS3 10.0.1.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

photoshop didnt make use of the gpu til cs4 so that is not going to change your life much, and aperture (from my experience) is still more RAM and cpu dependent than GPU. 

others who may use it more than i might have different insights, though

edit:nvmind saw your signature


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## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

broad said:


> photoshop didnt make use of the gpu til cs4 so that is not going to change your life much, and aperture (from my experience) is still more RAM and cpu dependent than GPU.
> 
> others who may use it more than i might have different insights, though
> 
> edit:nvmind saw your signature


I"m running 10.5.8 right now. 

So Can i use that other video card?


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

not likely.

if you want to pimp your machine out a little bit upgrade to 10.6 and cs5. then you can start really using that 10GB of RAM you have


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Video cards have to have Mac compatible firmware on them to work in a MacPro under OSX. Your buddy's card is likely a Windows only card. Some Windows cards can be 'unlocked' and flashed with a Mac ROM, but there is a risk of bricking the card.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

Ebay... Search for 1 GB Video card for Mac.

There you go.

Problem solved.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

yeah then you are spending 4 or 5 hundred bucks on a video card that some yahoo did god only knows what to...

there is another thread running right now with people sharing experiences with those kinds of cards...many are not good


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

broad said:


> there is another thread running right now with people sharing experiences with those kinds of cards...many are not good


link?

i've heard of some minor issues with flashed cards (certain 4870's couldn't handle a 2nd display, and flashed 57xx's wouldn't display the boot screen via DVI), but the vast majority of feedback i've heard has been positive.


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

I have the same Mac Pro as you have, with the same mount of RAM. I added a GT120 video card so I could support 3 monitors. I use Aperture extensively, and despite having less powerful graphics in the Mac Pro than in the MacBook Pro, the Mac Pro doesn't feel any slower. For what you do, you don't really need an upgrade unless you need to add another monitor.

BTW, is that your photograph on the monitor? Looks like a very nice shot.

Luc


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## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

broad said:


> photoshop didnt make use of the gpu til cs4 so that is not going to change your life much, and aperture (from my experience) is still more RAM and cpu dependent than GPU.
> 
> others who may use it more than i might have different insights, though
> 
> edit:nvmind saw your signature





ldphoto said:


> I have the same Mac Pro as you have, with the same mount of RAM. I added a GT120 video card so I could support 3 monitors. I use Aperture extensively, and despite having less powerful graphics in the Mac Pro than in the MacBook Pro, the Mac Pro doesn't feel any slower. For what you do, you don't really need an upgrade unless you need to add another monitor.
> 
> BTW, is that your photograph on the monitor? Looks like a very nice shot.
> 
> Luc


Yes the reason i'm looking to upgrade is also possibly adding a 3rd monitor. 
So should I just get the same video card like the one I have today? or is there a better one out there given a budget of not much is in mind...

I"m trying to understand photoshop and aperture. I think sometimes you need some kind of technical degree to know what you are doing in these programs LOL...

Yes that's my picture. I have snails in my garden so I take pics every year. My kids love them. They like to see them move on rocks and flowers...Thanks for the compliment.


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## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

So why can't any video card work on our macs?


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

cutra said:


> So why can't any video card work on our macs?


PC Cards are made to work with a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to communicate with other hardware at a low level. Even though it's rather antiquated, PC have beenusing the BIOS system for over 20 years now.

Macs use a system called EFI (Extended Firmware Infrastructure) to communicate with hardware at a low level. A PC card won't know what EFI is or how to handle it, and thus will not work in a Mac. Some people have flashed Mac firmware onto PC cars to make them EFI-aware. Some report more success than others.

I just bought an nvidia GT120 to add a third monitor, because they weren't too expensive, and the local Apple Store had them in stock. It does the job well for me. I run two monitors off the GT120, and a third on the ATI 2600.

BTW, aperture doesn't do anything more with three monitors than with two. I'd love to see that added in the next release.

Luc


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

I remember reading that aperture's performance really suffers with 2 video cards. Not sure if the fixed this in Aperture 3.


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## cutra (Nov 24, 2009)

ldphoto said:


> PC Cards are made to work with a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to communicate with other hardware at a low level. Even though it's rather antiquated, PC have beenusing the BIOS system for over 20 years now.
> 
> Macs use a system called EFI (Extended Firmware Infrastructure) to communicate with hardware at a low level. A PC card won't know what EFI is or how to handle it, and thus will not work in a Mac. Some people have flashed Mac firmware onto PC cars to make them EFI-aware. Some report more success than others.
> 
> ...


Thanks Luc, now that is what I wanted to hear and learn. 
That makes sense but sucks LOL.. Now I have an extra video card that I will need to sell. Oh well...


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