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1 GT 120 w/ 4870 or 1 5770 w/ 2008 Mac Pro
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Not sure why you'd do this. The 5770 and the 4870 are pretty close in speed. There really isn't a point in switching out cards, unless you need the three MDPs.
The 5870, however, would be a worthwhile upgrade, and I'd pair that with your GT 120, and just yank the 4870.
The 5870, however, would be a worthwhile upgrade, and I'd pair that with your GT 120, and just yank the 4870.
This is exactly what I'm wondering... but my concern is simplicity rather than GPU extra power. I originally got my 2009 Quad with the 4870. Later on, I had to connect a 3rd display, so I got the GT120. But then I found myself using only 2 displays 70% of the time... so I decided to take out the 4870, deal with the reduced space, and see how that affected my workflow.
Needles to say, the GT120 is a weak card, but was enough for most of my day. But once the 4870 was out, the power bill went down ca. 35%!!!... so I researched the 4870's power consumption... turns out this is great card, but a power glutton, and the noise and heat it radiates isn't good either
For what I've read, the 5770 is much more efficient in terms of power, noise and heat, and it offers basically the same performance as the 4870, 1+ display and Audio over MDP - not to mention it frees up one PCI slot. So I'm just waiting to see if the 5770 is (at least unofficially) supported in the 2009 MP, if all 3 of the display outputs work properly, and if audio will be supported via MDP as it does in the 2010 MPs.
If this is the case, I'm in to replace my current cards with a 5770 - which price is pretty reasonable - and voilá... put them up for sale on eBay and the 5770 switch almost pays for itself. Personally I don't need any more GPU power than the 4870, hence I'm not even considering the 5870. If this is your case, I'd suggest to go for it once these pending questions are answered.
cheers!
Needles to say, the GT120 is a weak card, but was enough for most of my day. But once the 4870 was out, the power bill went down ca. 35%!!!... so I researched the 4870's power consumption... turns out this is great card, but a power glutton, and the noise and heat it radiates isn't good either
For what I've read, the 5770 is much more efficient in terms of power, noise and heat, and it offers basically the same performance as the 4870, 1+ display and Audio over MDP - not to mention it frees up one PCI slot. So I'm just waiting to see if the 5770 is (at least unofficially) supported in the 2009 MP, if all 3 of the display outputs work properly, and if audio will be supported via MDP as it does in the 2010 MPs.
If this is the case, I'm in to replace my current cards with a 5770 - which price is pretty reasonable - and voilá... put them up for sale on eBay and the 5770 switch almost pays for itself. Personally I don't need any more GPU power than the 4870, hence I'm not even considering the 5870. If this is your case, I'd suggest to go for it once these pending questions are answered.
cheers!
Hmmmm, I don't do anything in regards to 3D rendering, Maya and such. I work a lot in Final Cut Pro, Dreamweaver, AutoCAD in Windows, etc. I used three displays, one for the panel windows/etc., another for compiling and another for scripting/programming (and depending on the type of work, sometimes I'll watch EyeTV on one of them
).The reason I am considering the 5770 is for a few reasons.
1. Simplicity. Why have two cards when one will do, plus selling the 4870 and returning the weaker GT 120 would save me about $200 or more.
2. It'd make more sense to have one card that uses less power for the same productivity.
the 5870 would be amazing, but more than double the costs. If I'm going that way, I might as well throw in the extra cash and upgrade to the 2010 lol.