Early 2009 MacPro with GTX 285 (Mac Edition) - Dual Monitor Setup

Question

Hey Guys - I tried going through the forum to find this, and I think I see some common responses, but wanted to detail my question and make sure I have it right.
I have a MacPro (early 2009) with the EVGA GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition GPU. I replaced the GT120 that came with the MacPro. I was initially planning on attaching two monitors to the GTX 285, but I have heard rumors that for smoother performance, I should hook up the GT120 as well and hook up one monitor to that one.
However, I am reading posts regarding other configurations (4870 and GT120, etc), and it seems like there are different responses. Basically, I am looking for better performance for graphics demanding application (gaming, photo-edit, movie, etc).
Thanks for your time and responses ahead of time.

Answer 1

I'm so happy that you're soooo happy. If you were so so happy, I would be disappointed. Blessed? You honor me Japamac-san. I have not bestowed blessings in years, it must have been accidental. Well, I am getting old, there's a reason people move away from me on the subway. I'm glad you interpreted it that way.
Well, ok, the cats out of the bag. I do expect 10.6.2 to do something significant for this card. For gosh sake something has to one day justify this investment...
Both EVGA and Nvidia say it's all up to Apple.
Apple says,... well Apple never says anything,.. but since they sell it on their website one would think it was in their interest to do their best. It's really not nice to sell one card as a 200 dollar option, granted 350 by itself, and another for well over 400 that is only marginally better. It's like looking for a Ford, changing your mind for the Porsche, and ending up getting a Ford with a Porsche sticker on it. This card wails in Windows, how can Apple deny that performance to it's own OS?
While OS changes are incremental one doesn't necessarily expect that all things related to the industry will be. CUDA and Open CL are emerging technologies, but the 285 is real and out there. And it has been for quite some time now. Perhaps more honest marketing campaigns are needed, something like, "Here's the best video card for the Mac out there in existence, you'll just have to wait a few years to see that for yourself, maybe".
Nah, it's not right, you buy a product for what it is, not for what it could be. If it gets better over time that's great, but right from the start it should be worth the price. The 285 hasn't been that yet.
And we 285 owners waited for Snow, with all the talk of Apple's unleashing the power of the GPU. It came and the card ran slower. 10.6.1,... well at least the OS ran better. 10.6.2, well I can't say much about it, but if one can believe what they read, it looks like Apple is at least aware of certain things to be especially worked on. The question for me is to what degree they fine tune things. Can it really be as difficult to create a driver for Nvidia cards, unlike the drivers for ATIs which seem to work with such ease? It's almost like Apple and ATI are intrinsically bound somehow. For instance, with the 285 a new game like COD4 runs just perfectly for me with a 30" monitor, but another game under Rosetta runs not too well at all. Put the 4870 in and COD4 runs very well but not as good as the 285. The Rosetta game however runs great with the ATI. It's things like that I find to be very weird.
If the history of OS X has shown us anything
The history of anything only shows me we learn nothing from it. That's my biggest fear in this case, but I'm encouraged by what I hear.
Expecting 10.6.1 or even 10.6.2, .3, or even .4 to be perfect
That's an odd thing isn't it? How long would car companies last if they fine tuned their cars by analyzing how they failed and crashed for their customers on the road? "Yo, Edsel, I think we need a way to stop them once they're going".
Yet as much as we pay for our computers and equipment we realize that the companies are using us as their R&D Depts. It's an interesting cycle, we're sold things that don't work well, give feedback to make them work well, and next time we buy the better product and it starts all over again.
Well, it's been an interesting chat, full of sound and fury, signifying... well, probably something.