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4 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB

M

mrsnuffle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2006
4
0
over the river, through the woods
I'm a little confused with this card. I will be purchasing a Mac Pro later this week, and have the following options for a graphics card:

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $150]
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $250]
3 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $300]
4 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $450]
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $1650]

what are the 2X, 3X & 4X for? I will be primarily using this for creating graphics, both 3D & 2D, as well as gaming, although Imp not very much of a 1st person shooter fan anymore. I use Blender for 3D, and they mentioned in their Video Card recommendations that NVIDIA is the preferred card of choice. Does that mean their are 4 NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB in the machine, or is it just one that is 4 times as fast (I assume they are over clocking the card).

I am thinking of getting the 4 X NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB.

Any help would be appreciated,

Mr. S.
 
mrsnuffle said:
I'm a little confused with this card. I will be purchasing a Mac Pro later this week, and have the following options for a graphics card:

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $150]
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $250]
3 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $300]
4 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $450]
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $1650]

what are the 2X, 3X & 4X for? I will be primarily using this for creating graphics, both 3D & 2D, as well as gaming, although Imp not very much of a 1st person shooter fan anymore. I use Blender for 3D, and they mentioned in their Video Card recommendations that NVIDIA is the preferred card of choice. Does that mean their are 4 NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB in the machine, or is it just one that is 4 times as fast (I assume they are over clocking the card).

I am thinking of getting the 4 X NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB.

Any help would be appreciated,

Mr. S.
Click to expand...

I believe it's for people that want to have multiple monitors, like 2x cards = 2 monitors, 4x cards = 4x monitors. Don't quote me on that one, but i think that's what it's for.
 
No, it means there are 4 cards in the machine. You totally do not want this.

1 7300 can drive 2 displays anyway, so 4 cards would mean it could drive a total of 8 monitors.

Not sure about Blender with nVidia, but the ATI card is better for most anything else. If you can afford it (obviously you can since you were going to buy 4), jump up to the (single) x1900 as it will last you much longer. It is the only consumer card there that can drive 2 30" displays as well.
 
I'm sure 4x means you get 4 cards installed, for a total of 4 dual link DVI ports and 4 single link DVI ports.
 
each card can drive 2 moniters.

so, if you have the basic Geforce card, you can run 2 moniters.

2x, 4 moniters.. 3x, 6 moniters, 4x 8 moniters.

This doesnt mean you get 4 cards combined to run together... you need SLI for that, and the MacPro doesnt support it. (without hacks)

For you, get the ATI card.. its a beast.

http://www.apple.com/uk/macpro/graphics.html

that should help clear it up for you.
 
Thanks for the input. It does sound like the ATI is much better. I was just about to make a big mistake!! Saves me a little bit of cash too!


Can't wait to get this thing. My whole family used to be in the "Mac Family". Our first computer was an apple 2gs!! That is, until I left for college (before they had Maya for Mac). I had to get a PC, and have had this thing for at least 6 years. Now that Apple has finally got its act together and went Intel, I can go back to Mac. Boy it’s been forever since I've used one, and OS X sounds very complex. But as I said, I can't wait!!!


Thank you, again....


Mr. S
 
mrsnuffle said:
Thanks for the input. It does sound like the ATI is much better. I was just about to make a big mistake!! Saves me a little bit of cash too!


Can't wait to get this thing. My whole family used to be in the "Mac Family". Our first computer was an apple 2gs!! That is, until I left for college (before they had Maya for Mac). I had to get a PC, and have had this thing for at least 6 years. Now that Apple has finally got its act together and went Intel, I can go back to Mac. Boy it’s been forever since I've used one, and OS X sounds very complex. But as I said, I can't wait!!!


Thank you, again....


Mr. S
Click to expand...

Yes, go with the ATI Radeon X1900XT, it is an amazing video card. :)


Oh, and welcome back to Mac OS! :)
 
mrsnuffle said:
Thanks for the input. It does sound like the ATI is much better. I was just about to make a big mistake!! Saves me a little bit of cash too!....

Thank you, again....


Mr. S
Click to expand...
Wouldn't have been a big mistake if you were ordering a multimonitor display.

zenview-atlas19s_350x176.jpg


However, if you plan on getting the ATI -- buy it now. Since there have been some issues running both the ATI and Nvidia 7300 at the same time.

Buy two ATIs for 4 or fewer displays (need to reconfigure a slot with the PCI Express manager) and a bunch of the Nvidia 7300 cards for more than 4 displays.
 
Sun Baked said:
Wouldn't have been a big mistake if you were ordering a multimonitor display.

zenview-atlas19s_350x176.jpg


However, if you plan on getting the ATI -- buy it now. Since there have been some issues running both the ATI and Nvidia 7300 at the same time.

Buy two ATIs for 4 or fewer displays (need to reconfigure a slot with the PCI Express manager) and a bunch of the Nvidia 7300 cards for more than 4 displays.
Click to expand...


That monitor is absurd! :eek: :D :)
 
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