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Will I notice a difference betw the nVidia 5200, ATI 9600 and 9800?

O

onlydroops

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 5, 2003
87
0
I'll be doing print design on a G5 with a 20" Cinema display...

Am I going to notice the difference between these cards? Will 128mb of memory make a difference when doing 2d work using Photoshop, Illus., Quark?

I'd like to go with the 5200 since it is cheap, but I'm willing to spend more if it will make a significant difference.
 
I don't think you'll find any real difference between those grfx cards if you are not playing games, or 3D rendering apps.
I wonder if the apps you are talking about use all that VRAM. I think the memory is only used for 3D xlration....
If I were you, I would invest in CPU, rather than GPU.
 
Apple's ATI Radeon 9600 Pro is 64mb also. Go with the 9600 Pro tho, the geforce fx 5200 is a replacement for the geforce4mx so its a very low end card, to where the 9600 is a very good performing card. I dont think you'll "see" much difference, but to measure it there will be a major difference.
 
I don't mean to start a flame war, but Apple is using some pretty cheap cards in their VERY expensive towers... :(
 
Originally posted by ZildjianKX
I don't mean to start a flame war, but Apple is using some pretty cheap cards in their VERY expensive towers... :(
Click to expand...

THe radeon 9600 is a very good card, even with 64mb, but it should be the base, that FX 5200 shouldnt be there, a $2,000 PC comes with a radeon 9800 now days, Apple needs pro video support too, how about a quatro fx? Pro's need these things, not a flippin FX 5200. I agree. Apple isnt wowing me with video card options in the "Worlds Fastest, Most Powerful Personal Computer"
 
Originally posted by hugemullens
THe radeon 9600 is a very good card, even with 64mb, but it should be the base, that FX 5200 shouldnt be there, a $2,000 PC comes with a radeon 9800 now days, Apple needs pro video support too, how about a quatro fx?
Click to expand...
Actually, my $600 Dell Dimension 8300 came with a Radeon 9800 card (not pro), which was easily flashable to a Radeon 9800 Pro by just flashing it with the right BIOS.

Apple needs to pull their head out and start putting better graphics cards in their machines. I think part of the problem is that Dell buys in such volume from ATI and Nvidia that they get better prices than Apple does, so they can offer the parts for so much cheaper.
 
Originally posted by illumin8
Actually, my $600 Dell Dimension 8300 came with a Radeon 9800 card (not pro), which was easily flashable to a Radeon 9800 Pro by just flashing it with the right BIOS.

Apple needs to pull their head out and start putting better graphics cards in their machines. I think part of the problem is that Dell buys in such volume from ATI and Nvidia that they get better prices than Apple does, so they can offer the parts for so much cheaper.
Click to expand...

Tell me, how in the heck did you configure that Dimension 8300 to get it down to $600?!? Muchless with the 9800 graphics card??? Even stripped down as much as I could get it (with a GeForce 4MX and no monitor), the cheapest I could get one to in the "home" section was $999 after the $100 rebate. In the "small business" section I could get one down to $839 after the rebate. Also, the default card for the base configuration on the 8300 is the FX5200 as well, the 9800 (not pro) is an extra $115 regardless of which Dell "store" it was in. Tell me what I'm missing here please...obviously I'm not looking in the right place on their site or something.
 
Originally posted by ZildjianKX
I don't mean to start a flame war, but Apple is using some pretty cheap cards in their VERY expensive towers... :(
Click to expand...

I agree, but I blame ATI and nVIDIA for not having Mac drivers for the good cards.

It's not like Apple is putting in not-the-best cards available. The sad thing is, this is all you can get for the Mac. Whereas PC cards have hit 256 megs, we're still at 128.

It's somewhat better than it used to be, but it's getting worse. There was a time I think, for a little while a few months after nVIDIA signed on, where we were on par, but that's not the case anymore.

Hopefully, the popularity of the G5 will be an impetus for graphics card makers.
 
Originally posted by hugemullens
THe radeon 9600 is a very good card, even with 64mb, but it should be the base, that FX 5200 shouldnt be there, a $2,000 PC comes with a radeon 9800 now days, Apple needs pro video support too, how about a quatro fx? Pro's need these things, not a flippin FX 5200. I agree. Apple isnt wowing me with video card options in the "Worlds Fastest, Most Powerful Personal Computer"
Click to expand...

Panther is meant to support these pro graphics cards, so we should see them soon. All it proves is that Apple still does not want people to use its computers for gaming, this is one of the main reasons they lost the computer race at the begining, they were trying to stop people making games for the Mac so it would be more of a business machine like IBMs.
 
Try panther's fast user switching with a 5200. I am curious to see how that card handles that.

In the PC world, NV cards often have inferior RAMDACs. That could mean lower image quality.

I would spend the $45 for a 9600.

Besides, you never know when a good game will get your attention.
 
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