What vid card for first Mac Pro?

[vansouza]

I am thinking of getting a Mac Pro and the only game I play is WingNuts. Is the base video card ok or should I upgraded to another Apple offering? Sorry if this has been done to death... and thanks...

 

[pastrychef]

Based on what I saw from the system requirements of Wing Nuts, I think the base card would work fine for you.

 

[Kosh66]

The base graphics card has more than enough power to run WingNuts.

 

[akdj]

You are buying a new Mac Pro? An incredible investment...Don't short-change your rig or any of your future gaming enjoyment with the stock card. Step up to the 8800 for a measley $200...the difference is worth many times that dollar amount, seriously!

Jeremy

 

[vansouza]

Thank you all, it does seem like a good idea to ramp up since it is a Mac Pro. As for monitors, as Apple's 30in is so expensive I was thinking of Dell... any thoughts?

 

[pastrychef]

I've been using a Dell 3007WFP-HC for a while now and I'm still in love with it. The screen real estate is great!

 

[krye]

For the extra $200, I'd get the 8800. I don't game either and I opted for the 8800. In the long run, the 8800 is the better card and stands less a chance of becoming inadequate for whatever you may get into later on down the road. You never know, a year from now you might be all about games, or 3D animation stuff, or digital photography. Don't leave yourself in a pinch by settling on the stock card now.

 

[vansouza]

Thanks the 8800 sounds good to me also. What about keeping the standard 320gig hard drive and getting two 500's from OWC? Should all the drives be the same size?

And thanks for the monitor info. I think I am going to bite the bullet and get the Apple 30 inch or two 23 inchers.

 

[FireSlash]

The HDDs are normal SATA drives. You can get them anywhere. You only need to match sizes if you intend to run some kind of hardware mirroring/striping setup (RAID), which you probably won't want to do.

 

[akdj]

Looks like you have money to invest into your Pro...if that is the case (you ARE considering the ACD30), grab yourself some more RAM while shopping at OWC. Their prices are terrific and the shipping almost instantaneous. I went through the same process as you last week.

I bought the 3.0ghz with the stock 2gig RAM and an upgrade HD to 1TB. From OWC, I bought 2 more 1TB drives (they are only about 250!) and 8 more gigs of RAM (4x2g sticks). It is insanely easy to put the drives and RAM into your machine within minutes. There are step by step instructions in the manual...really, it is incredibly easy.

From what I have read, it is good to have at least a gig of RAM per core and with 8 cores inside the Pros, that means 8gigs. I don't think it is mandatory by any means, but it should be a goal 🙂

I am only bringing up these points because you have the money to spare with the monitor(s). Speaking of which, as nice as the 30 is, two 23's would be VERY cool too...tough choice. I bought the single 23"ACD and Love it!

Good Luck!

Jeremy