New Graphics card for my G5 PowerMac

[Solafaa]

I have a mac that i use for gaming
specs:
duel 2.0 Ghz
4GB RAM
23"
and i would like to add a better graphics crad since sometimes its a bit laggy, i have a 128mb card, i am not use what modle that is but i got it like +1 year ago. There are a few cards on apples site and i would like to know what is better.

Thanks

[Veldek]

The best cards are the two GeForce 6800. The cheaper one is about as much slower as it is cheaper, so it comes down to what you want to pay. But if you can wait some time, you can also wait for the ATI X800 which comes to the Mac in the next time and is about equal in terms of performance (yeah, I know it is faster on the PC side, but the 6800 is better for OpenGL, so let’s wait for some benchmarks). The X800 only uses one slot while the 6800 are too bulky. And the 6800 have two DVI ports while the X800 will have one DVI and one ADC port. If you have a new Apple Display then this is an advantage for the GeForce, if it’s an old one, you have to go for the X800.

[Jaz]

The best cards are the two GeForce 6800. The cheaper one is about as much slower as it is cheaper, so it comes down to what you want to pay. But if you can wait some time, you can also wait for the ATI X800 which comes to the Mac in the next time and is about equal in terms of performance (yeah, I know it is faster on the PC side, but the 6800 is better for OpenGL, so let’s wait for some benchmarks). The X800 only uses one slot while the 6800 are too bulky. And the 6800 have two DVI ports while the X800 will have one DVI and one ADC port. If you have a new Apple Display then this is an advantage for the GeForce, if it’s an old one, you have to go for the X800.

I agree, the X800 will be good. However as you do mention that the 6800 (an Ultra version is in my office at the moment to be installed in my main design rig at the moment :)) will be a better performer in OpenGL, the 6800 GT should be the preferred choice if you are not using extra PCI cards. The majority of the OS X graphics display subsystem (Quartz Extreme, and in 10.4 Core Image and Video) are driven as an OpenGL scene, hardware accelerated throught the GPU (video card).

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartzextreme/

[Dave00]

Sort of a related topic - I was looking to get a new G5 but was reluctant to get one with the legacy ADC graphics card, because I'd like to use two DVI monitors. I know there's the ADC/DVI converter, but I wonder if the response time is as good through the converter. Anyone know of a good solution (such as getting the machine with the low-end card, then replacing the card with a two-DVI-capable graphics card)?

--D

[yippy]

I believe that there is no loss at all with an ADC->DVI converter. All it does is rerount pins, there is no actual conversion since the ADC port is simply DVI+USB+power in one cable. It should be fine.

[Makosuke]

yippy is correct--all the ADC to DVI converter does is change the pattern of the connector (and not pass through the power/USB connectors), so it makes ZERO performance/quality difference. I'm using one myself, and it works just fine.