ATI Radeon 7500 vs NVIDIA GeForce4 MX

[duns scotus]

Does anyone know which of these cards in the new g4s,
ATI Radeon 7500 and NVIDIA GeForce4 MX,
is better for Final Cut Pro 3. (and what about the new titanium?)
I'm planning to work mostly in 2D
(not caring at all about games)

thank you in advance

 

[TMay]

Also...retail match for 7500?

Like many, I want to use dual CRT's on the G4 800 that I just got, and I need a 2nd, PCI card.

My quess is that the ATI 7000 is the closest match that I can purchase retail. Any other ideas?

Tom

 

[AlphaTech]

I would opt for the ATI 7500 card. Not only is it cheaper (money wise), but I know that the GPU in it is really nice. I have an 8500 in the peecee and it rocks.

When I get my new Mac tower (sometime this year), I will be either getting an ATI card in it. Or I will pull whatever ships with it and put in an ATI (8500, 128MB DDR).

 

[madamimadam]

I would take the 7500 over the 4MX but the titanium over them both. As for FCP and cards.... not my area of expertise but I say 7500 over 4MX

 

[Catfish_Man]

If you're doing 2d stuff...

...get a Matrox card. ATI and nVidia both suck at 2d, they're very games oriented. The ATI card is likely to be slightly better than the nVidia one though. The GF4 Ti is an awesome gaming card, but I don't think it's that great for 2d.

 

[AlphaTech]

Re: If you're doing 2d stuff...

Originally posted by Catfish_Man
...get a Matrox card. ATI and nVidia both suck at 2d, they're very games oriented. The ATI card is likely to be slightly better than the nVidia one though. The GF4 Ti is an awesome gaming card, but I don't think it's that great for 2d.

I just did a quick search for Matrox video cards... I see a couple of problems. One, it appears that they are PCI cards, not AGP (at least the ONE available to the Mac platform is PCI). Two, the cost of the thing... I mean, sheeesh $600 for a video card???? OUCH!!Here is where I found ONE of their cards (http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=958658).

I also looked at Matrox's web site. They do not have ANY drivers listed for the Mac OS... neither OS 9.x or 10.x. I KNOW that ATI and nVidia are writing drivers for the Mac platform, and will continue to do so.

Another search has yielded two package variants of one card listed at $799 and $999 (only difference appears to be the software included). See them at http://www.macconnection.com/script...R=10&TR=0&ST=BS&PP=0&sortval=Price&plattype=M

It also appears that these are cards for video production (studio setting, not home/amateur use).

While the Matrox card may be excellent for what they do, I don't think that they are a viable solution for 2d work. Photoshop and such would be better off with either an ATI or nVidia card. Also, considering that both of those come in AGP, and are delivered inside the G4 towers already, it would be a more financially sound decision.

If you expect to be producing production quality video, and have a grand to blow, then by all means, get the Matrox card. If you intend to do graphic design or illustration work (or general work and some fun) then go with either the ATI or nVidia cards (your decision on which).

 

[abe]

Get the 7500. It's cheaper and faster than the GF4MX in 2D.

If it's not fast enough (work with it for a month), go and get a ATi8500 or a GF4Ti.

 

[Choppaface]

I've heard from 2 pro's now that nVidia cards oversaturate colors

haven't seen it for myself, but that would make me stick to ATI

unless I had a PC that I could use to flash mac ROM to a PC card bough at wholesale.....

 

[Kid Red]

Then the next question would be-
What's the best card for 2D- GeForce4Ti or Radeon 8500?
And will both rock with OS X, have good drivers that allow my dual gig to sleep correctly?

I have the dual gig with GF4MX and want to know if I should upgrade at all (card isn't that bad) but if so, thehn upgrade to what? ATI driver support is shameful which scares me about their card, but I don't play games really (photoshop mostly) and wonder if I use really ever use the capasity of a GF4Ti.

 

[abe]

If you're going to buy a new mac anyway, go for the GeF4. If not: go to PC Gamer sites and check the benchmarks. Then compare the price...

 

[Hlau]

Graphics card without a fan?

It may sound stupid, but I want to upgrade my graphics card on my Cube and I don't want it to have a fan. What is the best graphics card I can get for it. I know that without a fan it would have limited power, but I don't really need that much power anyway. Thanks.

 

[irmongoose]

the video card fans are very quiet... at least I have never heard them anywhere.




irmongoose

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Hello Hlau...

Just to let you know...

The GeForce 2 MX card has no fan, and is JUST the right size to fit into your Cube (if you've managed to coax the card from a Tower user, you'll have to exchange the mounting bracket for the bracket that's attached to the existing graphics card first...). You'll probably benefit from placing a fan inside the chassis anyway - the Cube was designed as "fanless", but Apple still reserved a spot for one, and a power point to fit one internally if required, for such things as Dual-Processor Upgrades, etc... (Ha!)

The Radeon Cube, on the other hand, is a much more powerful card. A lot has to do with the drivers - technically, however, they are similar. But ATI has the jump on nVidia with Apple, so their cards do a helluva lot more. The reverse could be said for the PC arena, as the nVidia cards beat their opposition with better driver software. A recent whisper was overheard as saying that ATI drivers won't be supported in the future by Apple - so the ball is really in your court as to which card to go for.

Unfortunately, the Radeon cards are fairly rare (Damn!), because Apple took it off their store site as an accessory (product no. M8320ZM/B). And equally unfortunate is that the nice people on ebay.com know of it's relationship to HEN'S TEETH, and will therefore charge accordingly (Double-Damn!). The other problem is that it has a fan - and in some cases, a NOISY fan... depending on how (un)lucky you are...

I'm still trying to determine whether the new Geforce 4 cards (or even the GeForce 3, for that matter) will fit inside the confines of my Cube. Also, it would be nice to find out if these cards are "backwards-compatible" - if it actually matters if the card is rated for a 4x AGP slot rather than the Cube's 2x AGP slot.

Any ideas?


P.S. - I also recently read that the new GeForce 4 card won't be as fast as it's PC counterparts just yet, as it's primarily designed for an 8x AGP slot, and not Apple's current range of 4x AGP-equipped Quicksilvers...