Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Radeon HD 3870 as BTO for Mac Pro soon ?
- Thread starter sweedigel
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hm, that's what I have been waiting for. The 3870 has much lower power consumption when it idles than the 8800.
I think it's very important to look at the 2D-power consumption of a GFX card because it has the biggest impact on the average power usage of your system. Unless you are constantly gaming, the max power draw doesn't play a huuge role.
I think it's very important to look at the 2D-power consumption of a GFX card because it has the biggest impact on the average power usage of your system. Unless you are constantly gaming, the max power draw doesn't play a huuge role.
Well, first the difference is something like 5%
Then, this is even only true in Windows, and it's the reverse in Mac OS X, due to poor NVidia drivers
In games perhaps. Professional applications is an entirely different story though.
It were supposed to have shipped as a BTO option when it were first announced
Humh, I think people are mixing up 3870 and 3870x2 !?
Also this is only shown for the HD2600XT in Pro apps - there are no drivers for a 3870 or 3870x2 in Mac OS yet.
my X1900XT is faster than 8800GT in Pro Apps. Aperture, Motion, OSX
in games of course 8800GT
It would be nice if it was the X2 version and it worked on the 2007 Mac Pros. I don't know how much improvement the HD3870 is over the X1900XT, but I know the HD3870X2 would be a huge improvement - and it would generate some good upgrade karma.
I'm no expert on this kind of stuff, but wouldn't a more tuned driver help bring the card up to par? If I remember right, the performance gap was not that dramatic and I believe even barefeats.com said an update to the drive may help.
Seems pretty clear to me.
Mac Pro for Gaming > 8800GT
Mac Pro for Work > X1900XT/2600XT
People were complaining up a storm before the new Mac Pro came out for a Mac Pro with the 8800GT.
Now that it came out, all people do is complain.
My guess is that the OS X drivers for the 8800GT are very unrefined, Nvidia doesn't really care to put the time and effort in for so few people. However, on Windows (which you should be running for gaming) they are very good.
Tracer
Mac Pro for Gaming > 8800GT
Mac Pro for Work > X1900XT/2600XT
People were complaining up a storm before the new Mac Pro came out for a Mac Pro with the 8800GT.
Now that it came out, all people do is complain.
My guess is that the OS X drivers for the 8800GT are very unrefined, Nvidia doesn't really care to put the time and effort in for so few people. However, on Windows (which you should be running for gaming) they are very good.
Tracer
aha, 30% of Vista Blue Screens came from Nvidia Driver
I bet that number is completely made up.
http://news.google.com/news?q=nvidia+vista+crashes&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn
The 3870 makes sense since it does seem to live happily next to its EFI compatible HD 2600XT when booted into OS X. You're almost there already.
Very nice reading.