JPamplin
Mar 12, 2009, 11:32 PM
Hi folks,
I'm a brand new member, having acquired a 1st Gen Mac Pro 4x2.66/4GB/4x750GB-HD system at a corporate fire sale and just upgraded it with an ATI 3870 / Accelero cooler. The nVidia 7300 P.O.S. card that came stock in this system was noticeably choppy in Google Earth. I was hoping the ATI 3870 upgrade would put that issue to bed.
It didn't. When viewing Manhattan Island with 3d buildings on, it is as choppy as the Gulf of Mexico during an ill-fated fishing trip. But the 4 cores aren't really that stressed - I have iStats Menu installed and they are not maxed.
I'm trying to look to the future with this video card purchase (Snow Leopard will support the 3870 for OpenCL operations). Other things seem to be smoother, but I was really looking for better performance with Google Earth and other graphic apps (iTunes visualizer, Core Image demos, etc.)
What happened? I'd like this Mac to be somehow faster than my Windows XP box with a Core 2 Quad and a 9600GT card, but it is not so.
Wah.
I'm a brand new member, having acquired a 1st Gen Mac Pro 4x2.66/4GB/4x750GB-HD system at a corporate fire sale and just upgraded it with an ATI 3870 / Accelero cooler. The nVidia 7300 P.O.S. card that came stock in this system was noticeably choppy in Google Earth. I was hoping the ATI 3870 upgrade would put that issue to bed.
It didn't. When viewing Manhattan Island with 3d buildings on, it is as choppy as the Gulf of Mexico during an ill-fated fishing trip. But the 4 cores aren't really that stressed - I have iStats Menu installed and they are not maxed.
I'm trying to look to the future with this video card purchase (Snow Leopard will support the 3870 for OpenCL operations). Other things seem to be smoother, but I was really looking for better performance with Google Earth and other graphic apps (iTunes visualizer, Core Image demos, etc.)
What happened? I'd like this Mac to be somehow faster than my Windows XP box with a Core 2 Quad and a 9600GT card, but it is not so.
Wah.
