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1) The NVIDIA GTX 285 is the best one at the moment.
2) Yes they both work in Windows. Just download the latest drivers from NVIDIA/ATi.
3) There is no audio at the moment.
Depends on what you're using it for.
Most of the time you're better off with the 2.66GHz Quad than the 2.26 8-core. You'll have faster speeds through most apps which are not multithreaded.
Only thing to watch is that the quad only offers 4 memory banks, so to get say 12GB, you'd need 3x4GB chips instead of the 6x2GB chips you can get for the 8-core.
Sounds like you'd use an Octo-Core...however, people tend to shy away from the 2.26GHz one as it's clock speed is slower than most people would like for single-threaded apps...
Definitely the Octo.
A lot of the stuff you are doing is also very storage hungry. I would strongly suggest RAID 5 or 0+1 with large drives for space, redundancy and speed. A lot of video edits can take a long time without quick writing ability.
A lot of the stuff you are doing is also very storage hungry. I would strongly suggest RAID 5 or 0+1 with large drives for space, redundancy and speed. A lot of video edits can take a long time without quick writing ability.
What do you mean dual ATI setup? You mean 2 4870s? Why?
1) To run 2 4870s you need to make 2 more power connectors. You could use an external PSU, but that is not necessary as I had 2 4870s running off of the MB connectors and SATA power. But then comes the problem of getting the wires down to the 4870 unless you don't use the last HD spot. I ran it with the door off as I decided it wasn't worth it, plus the cards were somewhat defective.
2) You cannot benefit from crossfire in OSX so why would you want 2 powerful (and expensive) cards?
3) The apple 4870s cannot do crossfire. Not 2 apple cards, not 1 apple and 1 PC. Apple disabled it or left out the code.
So the only reason you can have to want more than 1 apple card is to run more than 2 displays. In that case, just get a 2600.
You will have to fab up some connectors to use two 4870's as there are only 2 connectors on board and each card requires 2 power ports to run. You will see no difference besides being able to run more monitors in OS X. In windows they can't be crossfired, being able to run together, as Apple has taken this ability away from their card
If you are after games under Windows, get either one 4870 or 285 from Apple. If you feel confident with flashing a video card, you can flash two 4870's or 90's to run in OS-X, then under windows only will they be crossfired.
PSU is around 1000 if I recall.
What games are you playing? What monitors are you using?
I would just get a 4870 if it suits your needs from apple and be done with it. Its a couple hundred more and able to be ordered with the system. The 285 is $450 and can't be ordered with the system for a discount.
If you are after games under Windows, get either one 4870 or 285 from Apple. If you feel confident with flashing a video card, you can flash two 4870's or 90's to run in OS-X, then under windows only will they be crossfired.
PSU is around 1000 if I recall.
What games are you playing? What monitors are you using?
I would just get a 4870 if it suits your needs from apple and be done with it. Its a couple hundred more and able to be ordered with the system. The 285 is $450 and can't be ordered with the system for a discount.
I think there's a thread floating around here that someone has two 4870's in their '09 Mac Pro. The ATI 4870 is leaps and bounds better than the Nvidia GT120.
Crossfire is ATI's response to Nvidia's SLI, or the ability to use two graphics cards in tandem to increase performance; similar in some respects to RAID'ing hard drives. Apple does not support this, and the only benefits to using two or more graphics cards is if you wanted to power 3 or more displays. The ATI 4870 is more than capable of handling two displays.
As others have pointed out, your application usage will determine whether 4-core or 8-core Mac Pro is better suited. There are numerous threads covering this in conjunction with refurbished 2.8-3.2 8-core models.
Crossfire is ATI's response to Nvidia's SLI, or the ability to use two graphics cards in tandem to increase performance; similar in some respects to RAID'ing hard drives. Apple does not support this, and the only benefits to using two or more graphics cards is if you wanted to power 3 or more displays. The ATI 4870 is more than capable of handling two displays.
As others have pointed out, your application usage will determine whether 4-core or 8-core Mac Pro is better suited. There are numerous threads covering this in conjunction with refurbished 2.8-3.2 8-core models.
The psu is 1500. And dual 4870s is impossible on the macpro nehalem as the motherboard does not support sli/crossfire
Seriously... where the heck do you keep getting the idea of dual 4870s? Where do you see that option on the site? You don't know what crossfire is but you want 2 GPUs? I suggest you stop right there and do some research before you do go any further. Google crossfire. Google crossfire in Mac Pros. Read about all the GPU options and read the reviews + benchmarks. Go to barefeats.com and look at the reviews.
No, there is no problem with the PSU, it's 1000W. The stock Mac Pro uses 150-350 watts. The 4870 uses 2 connectors... there are a total of 2 connectors on the motherboard, so 1 4870 uses all the connectors in the system. What components could you possibly add that would need a 6 pin connector? What "more stuff" are you going to put into the tower? I can't imagine you have anything in mind if you want to play games in windows and don't even know what crossfire is.
Thats me, or at least 1 is me.
No it is not impossible, just that you need to buy additional cables and flash PC cards. The motherboard definitely supports crossfire. The only reason why I sent the cards back is they made a very annoying buzzing noise (both cards) whether 1 card or both were in the system. The apple card is silent (capacitors are physically bigger too, maybe part of the reason) probably because it is built to a better quality.
For someone who doesn't know what crossfire is and if ATI or Nvidia cards will run in windows, flashing is the last thing they should be doing.
You can't crossfire/SLI in OSX at all, no matter what mac or video cards you have.
You can crossfire in windows if you have 2 windows cards, but I think most apple cards can as well, just not the 4870.
But what do you really NEED 2 cards for ? If you haven't heard about dual GPU set ups I don't think you'll need it that much, but I may be wrong.
EDIT: I read the previous post, I think one 4870 should handle all games out right now, and most games that will come out anytime soon.
You can crossfire in windows if you have 2 windows cards, but I think most apple cards can as well, just not the 4870.
But what do you really NEED 2 cards for ? If you haven't heard about dual GPU set ups I don't think you'll need it that much, but I may be wrong.
EDIT: I read the previous post, I think one 4870 should handle all games out right now, and most games that will come out anytime soon.
Its not possible as their is only one power connector for the card itself, unless you want to rip of the dvd drives for the other one
I said there were 2. Anyways reviews said it was physically impossible as the mobo does not support it in osx or windows
You said 2. And crossfire does work. Wherever you read that, it was wrong plain and simple.
There are 2 connectors... and both are used for the card, not 1.
I am a video editor and 3D animator...
Get the 8 core Mac Pro and teh video card that comes with it.
For video editing the 8 core is just fine, the problem would be video ram IF there is any problem.
For 3D animation I am using Cinema 4D. My 8 core came with 256MB of video ram, your come with the double so you will be fine.
In the case of rendering in 3D, Cinema 4D has a very simple net render options and I am using 2 more Macs accelerating the render a lot. I can use PCs too but there is an issue with the color Gamma in PC and the frames looks different but that is another story.
I was taking a look at the aspects of the dual quad mac pro today and I believe is perfect. Actually with 6GB of ram you are all set because no 3D software (nor After Effects) uses more than 3GB of ram. I have 10GB of ram and is basically useless, with 6GB I am fine and I am rendering in HD full quality.
So, get the Mac Pro 8 cores and you will be just fine at least for one more year easy (actually for the next 3).
Get the 8 core Mac Pro and teh video card that comes with it.
For video editing the 8 core is just fine, the problem would be video ram IF there is any problem.
For 3D animation I am using Cinema 4D. My 8 core came with 256MB of video ram, your come with the double so you will be fine.
In the case of rendering in 3D, Cinema 4D has a very simple net render options and I am using 2 more Macs accelerating the render a lot. I can use PCs too but there is an issue with the color Gamma in PC and the frames looks different but that is another story.
I was taking a look at the aspects of the dual quad mac pro today and I believe is perfect. Actually with 6GB of ram you are all set because no 3D software (nor After Effects) uses more than 3GB of ram. I have 10GB of ram and is basically useless, with 6GB I am fine and I am rendering in HD full quality.
So, get the Mac Pro 8 cores and you will be just fine at least for one more year easy (actually for the next 3).
To all who replied to OP: When answering questions, try to keep it simple. This thread got real confusing for the casual observer very quickly.
If you don't know enough to answer his question (say, about whether or not a 120 requires PCIe power connectors - it doesn't - or about how many power taps are required for a 4870), please don't throw in an ill-informed answer. It doesn't help him to just throw out, "Get a 285!".
Briefly: Both GPUs work under windows, as of right now the 4870 is the better performer for video work but we don't know if that will remain true. Since you have to ask and you don't know why it makes a difference, you're probably fine with either card.
There is no multi-card functionality in OS X at this time. You only need one card, unless you want to run 2 24" ACDs, in which case you will need two Apple-provided cards.
If you have to ask whether or not the 8 core machine offers more benefits over the 4 core machine, then you don't need an 8-core machine. I'm assuming you're not a very experienced editor because you have to ask, but more cores will only useful if you want to harness them all for compression or do more advanced work. I suggest brushing up on video editing and its related technology before you jump into a purchase.
If you tell us which apps you're actually using, we can answer your questions better. That's probably why Google didn't answer your questions - because it's not as simple as "Which is better?". It depends on what you're doing, specifically.
For example, the 4870 appears to perform badly in OpenCL (Not a concern now but possibly in the future), yet has far better Core Image performance than the more powerful and expensive GTX 285 due to ATI driver support.
If you don't know enough to answer his question (say, about whether or not a 120 requires PCIe power connectors - it doesn't - or about how many power taps are required for a 4870), please don't throw in an ill-informed answer. It doesn't help him to just throw out, "Get a 285!".
Briefly: Both GPUs work under windows, as of right now the 4870 is the better performer for video work but we don't know if that will remain true. Since you have to ask and you don't know why it makes a difference, you're probably fine with either card.
There is no multi-card functionality in OS X at this time. You only need one card, unless you want to run 2 24" ACDs, in which case you will need two Apple-provided cards.
If you have to ask whether or not the 8 core machine offers more benefits over the 4 core machine, then you don't need an 8-core machine. I'm assuming you're not a very experienced editor because you have to ask, but more cores will only useful if you want to harness them all for compression or do more advanced work. I suggest brushing up on video editing and its related technology before you jump into a purchase.
If you tell us which apps you're actually using, we can answer your questions better. That's probably why Google didn't answer your questions - because it's not as simple as "Which is better?". It depends on what you're doing, specifically.
For example, the 4870 appears to perform badly in OpenCL (Not a concern now but possibly in the future), yet has far better Core Image performance than the more powerful and expensive GTX 285 due to ATI driver support.
Linking video cards depend on the mother board, is not the OS. Apple does not support and will not support such functionality with actual hardware.
Final cut Pro work on anything basically. Having more video ram is key. 512MB of Vram is very very good.
Yes, multiprocessor are good when rendering only.
Ram... 6GB is enough. Having 300 applications open is useless because when ever you start to render with one (lest say 3D) the rest of the application get really really slow because the processor are in use. Have your Activity Monitor application and you will tell the consumption.
I won't get a simple dual core, dual quad core will last more.
Final cut Pro work on anything basically. Having more video ram is key. 512MB of Vram is very very good.
Yes, multiprocessor are good when rendering only.
Ram... 6GB is enough. Having 300 applications open is useless because when ever you start to render with one (lest say 3D) the rest of the application get really really slow because the processor are in use. Have your Activity Monitor application and you will tell the consumption.
I won't get a simple dual core, dual quad core will last more.