Mac Pros - what graphics card to get?

Raider

Raider

Raider

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My Dad wants a new desktop for his study / music studio. I'm trying to persuade him to go Mac, and he's tempted. Anyway I'm trying to spec up a Mac Pro. Currently looking at the base model:

# Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
# 1GB (2 x 512MB)
# NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
# 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
# One 16x SuperDrive
# Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse - British (wireless)

I'll then probably buy him 4GB of Crucial RAM for £200 as Apple want £450 extra for that! :eek:

However I have no idea what the graphics cards are like. Is it worth upgrading to 2 x 7300GT? Or can I buy a decent graphics card myself?

I was hoping to have Bootcamp on there so my Dad can boot into Windows XP to play a few current FPS games. What graphics card will he need for that? :confused:

Ta!
 
tbh, I would go with the x1900 xt. Its showing its age nowadays but its a decent card and should easily handle the odd FPS.
 
It's a shame the standard GPU that comes with the MacPro is so poor. I would have considered getting one of them but I want to play games. :(
 
theheyes said:
You probably wont have to wait long for an upgrade to the Mac Pro. Its a bit overdue.
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I'm weighing up building a new PC - but if a decently specced MacPro came along then I'd definitely consider it. Not sure it would be a wise decision though given that I'll probably not need the second processor.

Any idea when a MacPro upgrade is likely? I would have thought they'd have done it sooner.
 
Cheers Matt.

Just had a look on their site, I think I would be a bit mad to get a MacPro. I have the money for it but £1,669.00 for a computer with a 256mb 7300 GT and one gig of RAM would leave me insane. And possibly suicidal.

Although they really are nice machines. :D
 
Slogan said:
Cheers Matt.

Just had a look on their site, I think I would be a bit mad to get a MacPro. I have the money for it but £1,669.00 for a computer with a 256mb 7300 GT and one gig of RAM would leave me insane. And possibly suicidal.

Although they really are nice machines. :D
Click to expand...
Obviously the looks is the main reason for buying one. :D
 
Slogan said:
I think it would be cheaper to pick up the empty case and build a PC inside of it.

Now there's a plan...
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£100 can buy you a new one (maybe its $) as I was going to do it before I got my MacBook, then install OSX on it.
 
kvfb97 said:
£100 can buy you a new one (maybe its $) as I was going to do it before I got my MacBook, then install OSX on it.
Click to expand...

How far did you look into it?

It would be my luck to get it and find all the connections and/or board sizes are different, along with how the drives are mounted etc.
 
Slogan said:
How far did you look into it?

It would be my luck to get it and find all the connections and/or board sizes are different, along with how the drives are mounted etc.
Click to expand...
On one of the OSX boards which is Insane about Mac ;) have a whole thread about it and how someone done it.

If your installing OSX you need to look into the hardware first. If it will just be a PC then its pretty straight forward, thought most people just mount the motherboard to the side of the case in the middle, then just run wires through the pci slots (their not actually linked up). I think the MacPro mother board is at the opposite side of the case than a PC.
 
Don't go buying just yet. Tuesday is the start of Paris expo which is a prime site for an announcement, may not have anything interesting though, although there is a rumour for a new macbook/mini macbook pro design.
You also have Leopard coming out in about a month so that would be more expense you may need to spend if you don't wait.
 
kvfb97 said:
£100 can buy you a new one (maybe its $) as I was going to do it before I got my MacBook, then install OSX on it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a knock off.

New G5 Cases were near £400 from Apple, not that the public could buy them, but franchised retailers could.
 
I was going to get a Mac Pro.

Decided that a 2.4ghz 15 Inch MBP was a much better idea.

Gonna keep my PC and upgrade the gfx, then to penryn next year.

Neeeeed moooooreeeee moneeeeeh
 
It seems like a new Mac Pro is due, what with the last one being 13 months old now...

I guess waiting a bit might be a good idea :)
 
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