from stock video card to GTX 260 OC

[clapperboy]

has anyone tried one of these GTX 260 OC cards in their '08 MacPro Octo?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130426896463&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I'd like to move up from the stock ATI card, for rendering Magic Bullet/Colorista/RedGiant products in FCP6, and possibly CUDA for CS5, but still on CS4 so far. Would it make any difference for AE CS4?

The GTX 285 is another obvious choice, but at twice the price, I doubt if it will provide twice the performance.

Let me know your experience or comments.

 

[raphael120]

Also interested in this...

I'm wondering the same thing, how much of an upgrade is the 285 from the 260. Ive heard theyre coming out with new Fermi cards but unsure if they're compatible with your '08. I got a '09 8 core myself.

 

[alphaod]

These won't work in OS X, but if you're running Windows, then these will work fine.

 

[raphael120]

These won't work in OS X, but if you're running Windows, then these will work fine.

They make versions of the GTX for Mac and work in OS X...im unsure what you're talking about. I know right now the Fermi cards are just for PC, but they're coming out with mac ones soon

 

[Hellhammer]

They make versions of the GTX for Mac and work in OS X...im unsure what you're talking about. I know right now the Fermi cards are just for PC, but they're coming out with mac ones soon

Currently, the only GTX for Mac is the GTX 285. Some cards may be flashable but I'm no help in that thing

 

[alphaod]

They make versions of the GTX for Mac and work in OS X...im unsure what you're talking about. I know right now the Fermi cards are just for PC, but they're coming out with mac ones soon

How do you know they are releasing Fermi cards for Mac? Just look at the Mac 5870; it's been out for ages now and have been shipping for 2010 Mac Pros, but we can't even buy them yet for the 2009 people.

Besides like the Hellhammer pointed out, they only 200 series card for the Mac Pro is the GTX285 which is no longer produced.

 

[clapperboy]

here are some notes on the GFX260

I just installed the new nVidia GFX 260 with 896 MB of memory in my early 08 MacProOcto/2.8GHz/6GB

Here are some observations so far.
-Installation was a bit tricky since it's hard to see the slot, and the mount is a hair wide, so the retainer was tough to reinstall. The power cables plug in deep to the left, which took some standing on my head, but OK. It runs quiet as the old card.

System Profiler reads the card as a GFX285 with 896MB ram.

Here are some comparisons with the stock X1900XT/256MB based on filters applied to a 26s clip of ProRes 1080p24 in FCP6---

Looks with Soft Diffusion and Vignette...
...XT->playback super rough almost worthless, render time 202s
...GFX-> playback rough usable, render time 186s

Colorista II demo with some adjustments, contrast, pop...
...XT->playback rough, Render@159s
...GFX->playback rough and usable, Render@185s

Apple 3-way CC with some adjustments and a secondary mask...
...XT->playback OK useful, Render@120s
...GFX->playback OK useful, Render@131s

Photoshop CS4 benchmark actions from hardwareheaven.com...
...XT-> 357.5s
...GFX-> 355.8s

I'm not a gamer, so can't do any benchmarking along those lines.

Let me know your thoughts and if you have other ideas for testing.