Margin of betterness between the GTX 285 and ATi 4870 1GB?

[chiefroastbeef]

Hello folks,

I have spent most of today looking at the gpu posts on the forum. I am about to purchase an 09' Mac Pro Quad 2.6.

I have been reading about the different video cards choices, such as the 4890, 285, 4870 512mb/1gb cards etc. I rather not go through the flashing process, since there seems to be more trouble than success. I pondered about the 4870 512mb card that Apple offers, however, most people on here agree that it is too high a price Apple is asking.

I then came across this 4870 1gb preflashed card, and wonder if you guys think this is a good deal?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATi-Radeon-HD-4...34.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|301:0|293:1|294:30


Thanks a bunch!

 

[super_kev]

Hello folks,

I have spent most of today looking at the gpu posts on the forum. I am about to purchase an 09' Mac Pro Quad 2.6.

I have been reading about the different video cards choices, such as the 4890, 285, 4870 512mb/1gb cards etc. I rather not go through the flashing process, since there seems to be more trouble than success. I pondered about the 4870 512mb card that Apple offers, however, most people on here agree that it is too high a price Apple is asking.

I then came across this 4870 1gb preflashed card, and wonder if you guys think this is a good deal?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATi-Radeon-HD-4...34.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|301:0|293:1|294:30


Thanks a bunch!

Are you buying a new MP? If so, the Apple store has the 4870 for $200 as an option. If you are willing to pay that much for a flashed card, I'll do it for you for cheaper. Seriously, flash an XFX for $150 and be done with it. With the XFX (vs. a Sapphire for example), both DVI ports are functional. The XFX & Apple 4870's are ATI reference designs, so they run hot. The thread above has more information and a modified BIOS to run the card cooler.

In my opinion, ATI's OS X drivers have been better than Nvidias for years. On Windows, the gap isn't so large, but in OS X, you are wasting money to go with an Nvidia card.

 

[barefeats]

Benchmarks under Vista 64 (Boot Camp)

I just posted benchmarks for the GTX 285 running 3D apps under Vista 64 (Boot Camp) on the Nehalem Mac Pro:
http://barefeats.com/nehal13.html

Other "Mac and PC" cards included in the mix include the Radeon HD 4870, GeForce 8800 GT, Radeon HD 3870, and GeForce 120 GT.

For OS X benchmarks, see:
http://barefeats.com/nehal11.html
and
http://barefeats.com/nehal12.html

 

[chiefroastbeef]

Thank you so much for the help guys, I really appreciate it!

I don't think I am going to drop the cash for the 285, it is a bit much at the moment. Being in Hong Kong at the moment, there isn't much refurbished mac pros around to save cash on. Only one refurbed Mac Pro on the HK site at the moment.

After reading the threads on the 4870, 4890, and GTX 285, I am a little reluctant on flashing the cards myself. One time or another somebody have reported difficulty with the cards. I am just wondering which card is more fail-safe for use on the Mac?

Thank you again guys, I hope I am making sense!

 

[kbonnel]

Are you buying a new MP? If so, the Apple store has the 4870 for $200 as an option. If you are willing to pay that much for a flashed card, I'll do it for you for cheaper. Seriously, flash an XFX for $150 and be done with it. With the XFX (vs. a Sapphire for example), both DVI ports are functional. The XFX & Apple 4870's are ATI reference designs, so they run hot. The thread above has more information and a modified BIOS to run the card cooler.

In my opinion, ATI's OS X drivers have been better than Nvidias for years. On Windows, the gap isn't so large, but in OS X, you are wasting money to go with an Nvidia card.

Does anybody know if the XFX 4870, once flashed, are going to act properly when/if apple updates the 4870 firmware? When I had my 06 MP 2.66, I performed a flash on the X1900 and it basically turned it into the apple card, allowing for future firmware updates, etc.

I will say, I have not read the entire thread on flahsing the 4870, so it might have been stated in there. What I did get out of that thread, was the feeling that the flash of the XFX or Sapphire cards were working, but with some strange "issues"

Thanks