graphics card recommendations for 30" display?

[txdawg]

Hi all: I am about to sink the bucks into a 30" display, and have realized that I also need a new graphics card in order to be able to use it. (my g5 from 10/03 has a Radeon 9600 Pro with 64MB of VRAM currently). It seems there are several options but I'm a little lost at the difference between them:

Any reccomendations on what card to get?
The 9600 Pro with 256? Someone else recommended the ATI X800, which is a lot more expensive, but is it worth the price because it makes a difference? And most of the Apple literature seems to mention the NVIDIA GeForce 4500 card or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 card...?

(I do video graphics work, so if the difference is worth it, I might as well just deal with it and pay it...)

any thoughts out there? thanks!

 

[imacintel]

ATI all the way.

 

[PaulinMaryland]

Matrox

Matrox continues to make its reputation on its crisp 2D images. Check out the Matrox Parhelia DL256. It's reviewed here with a Cinema 30.

 

[camomac]

Matrox continues to make its reputation on its crisp 2D images. Check out the Matrox Parhelia DL256. It's reviewed here with a Cinema 30.

that card has no apple support. the OP asked about his G5.

ATi should be interesting now that AMD bought them, so who knows how long apple will keep supporting updates/drivers.

find yourself a nvidia 6800, DDL or GT on ebay. i think i even say one a fry's that looked like it had been sitting there for a while. so maybe your local fry's might have something too.

Personally i like my 6800DDL/30" combination on a 2.0 DP G5.

 

[sysiphus]

I'm with camomac in my support of the nVidia cards, but just to be clear, both the Apple-version 6800 cards have the DDL designation (which refers to dual dual-link DVI ports), thus you should be looking for a 6800 GT DDL or 6800 Ultra DDL. ATI cards are good, but were I buying now (naturally, my new MBP has an ATI card...) I would get nVidia since there could be an Apple/ATI split because of the AMD takeover.

Also, the cards Apple is listing on their website now will NOT work with your machine; they are PCI Express (NOT the same as PCI-X), and you need an AGP card...so if you demand new, you'll likely end up with an ATI card, since the nVidia 6800 cards were only sold BTO and in very limited quantities through Apple retail stores (which no longer carry them).

 

[camomac]

just to be clear, both the Apple-version 6800 cards have the DDL designation (which refers to dual dual-link DVI ports), thus you should be looking for a 6800 GT DDL or 6800 Ultra DDL.

yep. that is right. it has been a while since i did any video card research. what i meant to say was i am happy with my 6800 ultra/30" combo.

thanks.