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Best Gaming Video Card?
- Thread starter TJunkers
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If it's gaming on OS X you want, and you're buying your card from , get 's Radeon 4870. If you're not buying your card from but are still gaming on OS X, probably get a PC 4870 that's a bit better (1GB, if you so desire) and flash it. If you're gaming on windows, there are probably better value/money cards, like the Radeon 4890 or Nvidia GTX whatever.
My two cents on the issue is that some of the nVidia 200 series have SLI on-board. There might be some incompatabilities with SLI on the MacPro, if the card would run at all, even under Windows. Personally, if I was in your shoes, I would get a 280 GTX, but that is just me 
NVidia 285/295
The top end NVidia cards are probably the best, but it depends what you want to do.
Within OSX, the Apple 4870 will be quickest...in windows, it'll depend on what apps/games you use, but you couldn't go wrong with the above NVidia cards
The top end NVidia cards are probably the best, but it depends what you want to do.
Within OSX, the Apple 4870 will be quickest...in windows, it'll depend on what apps/games you use, but you couldn't go wrong with the above NVidia cards
What does liquid cooling have to do with ANYTHING? The 4870x2 runs perfectly fine in a Mac Pro.
Heck, it runs fine in an air-cooled PC...
What does liquid cooling have to do with ANYTHING? The 4870x2 runs perfectly fine in a Mac Pro.
Heck, it runs fine in an air-cooled PC...
Does it? Will it work as one 4870 in OS X?
You are right about the GTX 285.
You may be right about the GTX 295 BUT I have found four tech/gaming sites that think the GTX 295 driver needs to be improved.
Xbitslabs says that the GTX 295 fails when extremely high levels of antialiasing is enabled.
But I was only looking at OpenGL benchmarks because I only play X-Plane.
Maybe with DX9 and DX10 the GTX 295 is more reliable.
Personally I'd probably go with the 4870 X2.
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But there are more benchtests that show the GTX 295 is more powerful than the other way around.
Sorry, I completely disagree.
Tests have shown the card's performance really depends on what resolution your playing games in, what level your details, anti-alias and AF settings are and most importantly, what game your playing.. also, in many cases the version of DirectX used can make or break a card. it's fairly interesting read.
Have a look at those reviews and tests presented by Bit-tech.net,
you might be suprised...
Nvidia (Zotac) GeForce GTX 285 1GB Review
BFG geforce GTX 285 h2o review
nVidia geforce GTX 295 quad sli review
For in game performance and value, the ATI single and Xfire cards still wins!
Still depends a lot on the game, because there are exceptions to everything. For example, the 8800GT still tools the 4870 in Flight Simulator X for some reason, by 30% or so at 1920x1200… Why? Heaven only knows.
Umm.. I think it all boils down to the way the game is optimised,
though it could be raw memory bandwidth too, you know DDR3 vs DDR5.
I'll bet you are as surprised as I am to find out, after all the complaining about the limited selection of video cards for Mac's, all these wonderful video cards will work with your 2009 Mac Pro.
Having them work in a MacPro isn't a big deal... What is a big deal however, which of those cards will work in both MacOS and Windows. By default, a windows PC card will work in a MacPro but Only when it's booting up into Windows. The MacOS side will simply ignore the card, as if it's not there!!
I just installed an ATI 4870 in my first gen 2.66 gHz Mac Pro. Under Bootcamp, I can play Crysis at 1900*1200 with "Gamer" settings (one level below the highest). That's a pretty phenomenal feat for a three year old system. I'm VERY happy with it. The video card works in both OS X and Windows, so no swapping hardware or anything. Total cost? About 210 bucks.
I recently wrote a how-to about it if you're interested: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7473867/
As with what Dukebound said, when they are able to flash the 4890 (if they haven't already), it would be the fastest single GPU card that would work with a mac. I say this assuming the nvidia GTX cards can't be flashed, even though the iMacs and Pros are now using cards from the same family (GT 130).
What does liquid cooling have to do with ANYTHING? The 4870x2 runs perfectly fine in a Mac Pro.
Heck, it runs fine in an air-cooled PC...
Dual 4870's really aren't the best anymore. They are really good if your on a budget though. But the OP did say the best, and well the 4870 isn't the best anymore. If I had to choose then I'd go with a Nvidia GTX 295 or a Radeon 4890
I want the 4890 also but I'm not holding my breath.
It's a different gpu than the 4870 so what are they going to flash it with?
My only hope is:
a. The driver is included with Snow Leopard or 10.5.7.
b. ATI makes the card available to us, hopefully sooner than later.