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Should I upgrade my Nvidia geforce 120 card?

Noctilux.95

Noctilux.95

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
625
497
LA
I have a 2009 Mac Pro with the Nvidia GeForce 120 video card.
I only use my computer for PS CS5, Aperture, and Photo Mechanic.
Would a better video card make any difference?

Btw I have an apple 27" LED.

Thanks!
 
Are you experiencing issues with your workflow in any of those apps? An upgrade could really improve Aperture at least, as it relies heavily on the GPU. Plus, you're pushing a lot of pixels to that monitor, which could cause slowdowns. But, if everything is working well for you, no reason to upgrade.
 
Aperture is VRAM-heavy. if it ever slows to a crawl for you, then you're probably out of VRAM. in that case, any 1GB card will do. otherwise, I don't see a need.
 
I have the GT 120 as well and running Spaces gets slightly choppy while running 1 27" (2560x1440) and 1 22" (1650x1080) LCDs. I use Aperture and I'm curious if the 5770 that I've ordered will make any difference. Will let you know.
 
I am planning to upgrade my nVidia in the future, but not with an ATI Radeon 5870, as it is expensive and the drivers are slow in comparison to the Windows version. (Cinebench test proves it).
 
I would suggest anything over the GT120. It's the slowest stock GPU they've offered in years. (It is slower than the stock card from the 2008 model)
 
I bought an ATI Radeon 5770 at the Apple Store for my MacPro 2009.
Hopefully I will see some benefits from the upgrade.
I was thinking of putting the old Geforce GT 120 in the third PCI-e slot. Will it consume power if no display is attached to it?

TIA
 
Does anyone know if I should desactivate Adobe and Quark software before replacing the nVidia GT 120 with the ATI Radeon 5770?
 
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