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Best Gaming Video Card?

csi24 said:
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
Click to expand...

You do know that the 4870 X2 is a single card with 2 gpus?
For most benchmarks, the 4870 X2 comes in second for the most powerful single video card.
This is the normal pecking order for high resolution and high rendering in games:
1. NV GTX 295
2. ATI HD 4870 X2
3. ATI HD 4850 X2
4. NV GTX 285
5. NV GTX 280
6. NV GTX 275
7. NV 9800 GX2
8. (tie) ATI HD 4890
8. (tie) NV GTX 260 C216
10. ATI HD 4870 1GB
11. ATI HD 4870 (512MB)

This is not absolutely cut in stone. Some benchmarks show the 4890 bettering the GTX 275
Some bench tests show the 4870 1GB being more powerful than the GTX 260.
 
Topper said:
You do know that the 4870 X2 is a single card with 2 gpus?
For most benchmarks, the 4870 X2 comes in second for the most powerful single video card.
This is the normal pecking order for high resolution and high rendering in games:
1. NV GTX 295
2. ATI HD 4870 X2
3. ATI HD 4850 X2
4. NV GTX 285
5. NV GTX 280
6. NV GTX 275
7. NV 9800 GX2
8. (tie) ATI HD 4890
8. (tie) NV GTX 260 C216
10. ATI HD 4870 1GB
11. ATI HD 4870 (512MB)

This is not absolutely cut in stone. Some benchmarks show the 4890 bettering the GTX 275
Some bench tests show the 4870 1GB being more powerful than the GTX 260.
Click to expand...

Oh I know the 4870's are good cards. Is there anyone on here using a 4890 with their Mac Pro's? Cause I'm sure I've seen someone, possibly Tallest Skil using a dual 4780 setup
 
He has to get a card that works with macs too. If his sig is correct he has a 30" Apple Cinema HD Display. There only one input.

Having two cards, one mac and one pc would require him to disconnect the dvi cable from his mac card and connect it to the pc one.

4870 is your best bet unless your going to disconnect and reconnect your dvi cables. GTX 295 or a 4870x2 would be good since 2560x1600 resolution is huge to run.
 
csi24 said:
Oh well then that changes things. I didn't think you could run the 4870x2 in a Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

I didn't either, and this would be a game-changer for me in terms of purchase plans if it works under OS X.

If someone can verify that flashing the ROM actually works that would be huge.

I do have a PC used (almost) solely for gaming, and have been extremely pleased with the Sapphire 4850x2 2GB installed in that machine.

It is physically huge - bigger even than the 4870x2 - but for a couple hundred less than a 4870x2, I still max out everything in every title at 1680x1050.

I was also surprised at how much of a boost to my scores I got. I'm a decent player and all - but I moved from an overclocked 8800GT to the 4850x2, and my scores went up an order of magnitude.

Heads up to anyone looking at a Crossfire solution under Windows - you have to be running Vista or later to take advantage of it. XP sees an X2 card as one installed GPU and won't run them in parallel.
 
Heres how I (and many others) look at it. Buy the card for the resolution you game at.

1680x1050 = ATI 4850 / 4830 | NV GT260

1920x1200 = ATI 4870 / 4890 / 4850x2 / 4870x2 | NV GT260/ GT275 / GT280 / 285 / GT295.

With any of those cards at those resolutions, you should have a very enjoyable gaming experience. I have been rocking the 4850 @ 1680x1050 since it came out and have never regretted it.
 
UltraNEO* said:
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.
Click to expand...

Guess I don't really get it. I didn't see any tests in those reviews where a single 4870 beats out a 285. Are you saying this because a 285 is more expensive? Yeah, they're ~$340, but they're also consistently faster. I mean, since DirectX 10.1 doesn't really matter (really).
 
rew said:
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/
Click to expand...

This sounds like a great alternative. However I have two questions about your setup. First of all, I upgrade to the ATI X1900, and am wondering what pitfalls you might foresee trying to follow your instructions using it. The very first one I see is, will my vid card actually fit into the slot above the one it is installed in now...

I will still have to see if I have the original Video Card, I don't know if it was even given to me since I bought the Vid Card upgrade at the Apple Store.
 
Here's a question...

Can I have one video card for windows and one for mac without the mac or windows complaining about the other card... I know in windows I can disable the other video card, but can I on the mac side.. this way I can get a crazy windows only video card and use it only on the windows side... Yes Id have to change the monitor plug but thats not a big deal for me.
 
TJunkers said:
Here's a question...

Can I have one video card for windows and one for mac without the mac or windows complaining about the other card... I know in windows I can disable the other video card, but can I on the mac side.. this way I can get a crazy windows only video card and use it only on the windows side... Yes Id have to change the monitor plug but thats not a big deal for me.
Click to expand...

You have a 30" monitor right?

The Mac side will ignore the other card.
 
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