Is the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS worth the money for Final Cut Express?

Hi,
I'm considering a new iMac 24, but not sure if the speedier on is worth the money.
Currently I use a MacBook Pro 2.2 for Final Cut Express with a 23" cinema (mostly DV, some HD) and that works okay, but won't play back in real time when I composit video.
Anybody know if the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS will help in that area?
Thanks,
KC

The speedier video card is great for 3D stuff, but it won't matter a wink for Final Cut Express, which barely makes use of the video card.
Keep in mind that Final Cut is using the CPU, not video card, to perform the editing, decoding, and encoding of the video. The only time the video card comes into play is during playback of the video, and any of the video options available for iMacs will handle that just fine.
When you composite video, the hard-disk throughput will start to come into play. The dinky 5400 RPM disk in your laptop will adversely affect the performance of that.

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Are the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 shipping, at all?

has ANYONE actually gotten a new 3.2 with an 8800 in it delivered to them?
I'm wondering if there is a major problem, or its just in short supply
i ordered a:
Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeo
2GB (2x1GB)
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb
Two 16x SuperDrives
AirPort Extreme Card (Wi-Fi)
I ordered it on Jan 8th...

We have some interesting numbers to share while we're waiting for our 8800 GT kit to arrive for our 3.2GHz. With the help of a second party who just received his 8800 GT equipped Mac Pro we have this:
3DMark06 overall rating with default settings and default tests:
Radeon HD 2600 XT under Vista 64 = 4894
GeForce 8800 GT under Windows XP = 13404
GeForce 8800 GTX under Vista 64 = 14242
I think the 8800 GT will be worth the wait.

Photoshop CS4 Issues with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800?

I have an Mac Pro Intel 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon with 6GB RAM running OS X 10.5.5 and an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT driving two monitors.
I just installed Adobe Photoshop CS4 fresh from a factory CD.
When I perform a Distort -> Lens Correction or do a Free Transform to rotate an image an arbitrary amount, and then follow that with a resize (tried 133% and 166%), the image ends up with a pattern of gray plaid overlaid -- especially visible in the darkest shadows. The pattern appears only on the rotated layers of an image.
This pattern persists if I quit and restart Photoshop, BUT -- there's no pattern visible if I open the same image in Photoshop CS3. It only appears in CS4.
This is easy to reproduce -- I just tried it with an image I created in Photoshop at 5x7" at 240dpi and filled with solid black.
I dropped a Bug Report to Adobe, and they wrote back suggesting "This is most likely an issue with your video card driver."
Anybody else out there having this issue? Anyone with an identical setup want to test this?
-=-Joe

sako75 wrote:
I'm seeing what you are talking about when viewing at 200% and up on my 300dpi images. I'm thinking that its the new pixel grid overlay for dialing in the details on the image.
No, that's not it. I can see it at 100%, and only on images that have been rotated and resized.
In fact, yesterday I rotated one layer under an unrotated layer, and only the rotated layer showed the plaid pattern.
And it's not a simple grid -- it's a real plaid-like gray, almost like stretch marks.
-=-Joe

Is the ATI Radeon HD 4870 quiter than the NVidia GeForce 8800 GT ?

My NVidia GeForce 8800 GT just died and I have the choice to have the same one installed or to to go for the ATI 4870. (Technically I prefer the ATI but my family would prefer the quieter one!)
My main concern is the noise. Is the 4870 quieter or noisier?

I haven't run Photoshop for hours on end or otherwise made such intensive use of my card but I don't hear the 4870 run at all, As the Hatter says there is a noise at startup but no more. I have never used the other card you mention to compare it.

Do I need the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB?

I'm looking at purchasing the 24" iMac. However, I'm wondering if I will need the higher end graphics card. I don't intend to do any gaming on the system, but will definitely use Aperture, iMovie and more than likely Final Cut Express for home movies. Will the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB card suffice or should I go for the updgrade? Thanks...

Just my 2cents worth...
At the moment I'd be tempted to go for the more powerful of the 2 cards (assuming the increase in cost is affordable of course). Why? [Snow Leopard|http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard> (OS X 10.6):
OpenCL
Another powerful Snow Leopard technology, OpenCL (Open Computing Language), makes it possible for developers to efficiently tap the vast gigaflops of computing power currently locked up in the graphics processing unit (GPU). With GPUs approaching processing speeds of a trillion operations per second, they’re capable of considerably more than just drawing pictures. OpenCL takes that power and redirects it for general-purpose computing.
By getting the more powerful, you would hope to see great performance in Snow Leopard and help 'future proof' yourself a bit. (Note that no release date has been set for OS X 10.6 so it could be a long time before you get these additional benefits.)
And now for the disclaimer part... Apple have been known to scale back planned features in OS X so there's nothing to stop them from dropping OpenCL support in 10.6. They also haven't stated which graphics cards it will work with so this is very much a random punt in the dark! Edit: Even the bottom of the Snow Leopard page states "All features on this page are subject to change."

Will the new GeForce 8800 make a difference for Final Cut Express?

Planning to buy soon a new 24 inches iMac, I am wondering if the new GeForce 8800 graphic card will make a significative difference compared with the ATI 2600 Pro?

Basically, no. The additional VRAM may enhance your overall RT Effects capability and may provide some general benefit if you run 2 monitors in extended desktop mode. But it won't make a difference in general editing or playback of your videos.

How can i get the 4.01 upgrade for Final Cut Express 4.01

I have problems importing movieclips from my Sony HD camcorder (Sony HDR-CX350VE) in Final Cut Express. Surfing some Mac forums I jumped to the conclusion that I am not the only one. FCE sees the clips, but when I try to import them I get an error (idle). On one of the Mac forums I read that al lot of the AVCHD problems have been solved in the 4.0.1. update of FCE. I have 4.0 but I don't get the 4.01 update offered on Software update (although I have registered the software) and I can't find the 4.0.1 update on the Apple support or downloadsite. Does anywhone how I can get this update. It must exist because I found the releasenotes.

The Application is called Final Cut Express, but it wasn't at the top level. I put it there and tried Software-update again. And Yes it found the 4.01 update. Stupid of me and very clever of you, Tom!
Thanks a lot

Where can I find the 1080i25 codec for Final Cut Express?

I have found that the Sony HDR-HC3E is use the 1080i25 Codec,
Final Cut Express only provide 1080i50 and 1080i60,
So the quality of source after capture is very poor!
Is that FCE has 1080i25 codec?
Where can I find?

There's no such thing as 1080i25. The i is for interlaced and has either 50 fields or 60 fields (actually 59.97, but that's another story). There is 1080p25, but I don't believe that camera can shoot that.
Where are you looking at the playback of the captured material? QuickTime player set to high quality or somewhere else?

The best video converter for Final Cut Express format?

I used to have a registration code for Visual Hub so I could convert files from my video camera so they would work with final cut express. My computer crashed awhile back so I lost my registration information (they are no longer selling these codes). Does anyone know a really good (fairly easy to use) video converter? Or maybe like to share a registration code :-)!

I would like one that can do many different formats like Visual Hub did, but the file I am converting is a MPEG file. Also, I have some stuff that I made into a DVD using a Sony DVD burner and I needed to get those files converted.

Upgrade the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT?

I upgraded to this card when I ordered the early 2008 MacPro, what is the upgrade to this card? Is it worth the cost, i.e., what improvements would I see compared to the current GPU?
*used for Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.
Thanks in advance,
Geoff

The drivers have improved, and if it does what you need, I'd wait.
http://www.apple.com/macpro/features/graphics.html
The only card that may offer some improvement is the ATI Radeon 4870.
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal06.html
Gaming helps show where it falls and how well it does:
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal07.html
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal05.html
Next up: Quadro FX4800 for $1600

Apple, please boost the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT!

Dear Apple, Im sure a lot of people have requested that somehow you look into this top notch video card, and why it doesnt perform like it should. Some people say its the drivers, some people say its just not built for the Pro applications, and some people say its amazing for games. I personally have not seen much improvement over the stock HD2600. On that note I have one monitor plugged up to the 8800 and the second to the 2600, correct me if im wrong but should that increase performance?
Well I hope you can provide some insight as to why, and how we can see the true potential of this card come out especially in the Pro applications. Apple, do whats right for your loyal customers and stop playing games.

Well,
3870?
Forget it.
The reflashed 4870 1 GB GPU works just fine for me tonight, this very night (I just looked and in my excitement I forgot that it is tomorrow here).
By far the fastest GPU in Boot Camp w/Vista Ultimate/32 I've ever installed (and I've previously installed the 8800 GT, the reflashed 8800 GTS, the reflashed 3870 and the reflashed 9800 GT).
The 4870 is the quiet one.
To be clear, I have an early 2007 Mac Pro (EFI32) and I've taken the time to test this new 4870 in OS X 10.5.6.
For OS X, I needed and obtained the 10.5.7 drivers from where I obtained the reflashed 4870:
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bruinmacsW0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQmdoZ
If you have an early Mac Pro, other solutions are out there, but this is one cool GPU!
You don't have to wait for Apple to make it available, either...
FYI...
Cheers,
tyvol

Is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M in the new MacBook Pro supported by Adobe for Premiere & After Effects

As the title states.
Is it worth getting the 15" MacBook Pro with the Nvidia graphics card over the 15" version without for use with both Premiere Pro & After Effects CC?
Thanks

Chrisstockwell wrote:
As the title states.
Is it worth getting the 15" MacBook Pro with the Nvidia graphics card over the 15" version without for use with both Premiere Pro & After Effects CC?
Thanks
Unfortunately, I've found that many of the users here are PC users. While they are helpful, it's rare to get anything beyond guesses for Adobe Premiere CC performance on Macs.
I've noticed that the list of "supported" GPU's is not updated all that much by Adobe. It took a while after last year's macs were released for that list to be updated with those GPUs. But the 750M has 2GB VRAM and pretty much any GPU with 1GB of VRAM or more can take advantage of the Mercury Playback Engine on Premiere CC (http://blogs.adobe.com/premierepro/2013/06/adobe-premiere-pro-cc-and-gpu-support.html) With CS6, if your card isn't on the "list" you could add it using that hack that people talk about but you don't have to worry about that with CC as the above link explains.
While the regular 15" Macbook with the integrated graphics card is probably good enough to edit w/ Premiere CC, I don't think you'll be able to take advantage of any GPU acceleration because of the lack of a dedicated GPU with 1GB of VRAM. I am running Premiere CC on an iMac with an AMD GPU that isn't on the list, but does have 1GB of VRAM so I can take advantage of gpu accleration (however, while it's smoother than "software only", it definitely has it's REALLY annoying issues). I'm sure it'd be better with a newer NVIDIA card (from what I've read anyway) but like you, it's hard to get feedback from many people on these forums who use macs.
Hope this helps. I for one would go with the 750M. It's more $$$, but I'm guessing it'll be worth it. Just a guess though. I wish someone with that laptop (or even a 2013 iMac with similar GPU) would chime in with their thoughts.

Yet another problematic iMac 24" - 3.06Ghz - Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS

My iMac 24" (Early 2008) - 3.06Ghz - Model A1225 with the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS card does not work properly.
I purchased my machine in September of 2008 and the issues began about four years later, in late sprin of 2012.
When the screen/display/video problems started, I got blue or pink screen startup failures, beachballing, crazy static lines through the screen, sometimes beeps or screen flickers. All of this started four years after buying it—and it is NOT unreasonable to expect a $3200 machine to last far more than four years.
When my machine stopped working I spent hours over doing diagnostics, reseating the RAM, a reinstall of the OS, all to no avail.
Digging for information on the Internet pointed to so very many other owners of this machine type having the same problem! But the cost to repair the card, as reported time time again, was close to $900. Angry and bitter, I boxed up my machine and started saving—and went back to using my 20” white G5 iMac (no problems with this machine, thank heavens!).
Is there any recall movement in effect? I don’t want to have to pay 900 or so dollars to repair a video card that is inherently defective!
Nvidia recently admitted to having produced lots of faulty Geforce cards for their laptops but also stated that there could be other products with similar faults (http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000119312508145974/d8k.htm). They have set aside about $150 million to redress the matter.
There is a UK forum dedicated to helping laptop owners with problematic Nvidia cards get help and they have started fielding quesitons from iMac owners, as well (
http://www.nvidiadefect.com/apple-imac-24-early-2008-imac8-1-defect-geforce-8800 -gs-t3813.html).
Is anyone else an unhappy owner of an early iMac 24" (Early 2008) - 3.06Ghz - Model A1225 with the Nvidia Geforce 8800 GS?

After a lengthy long-distance call to Apple Tech Support, both agents I spoke to told me that this is the first time they have heard about this issue. There are no repair protocols in place for this make and model of iMac with these issues.
I asked the senior of the two again, just to clarify, if this was the first time he heard about such a problem and he said yes. I then asked him if he knew the subject was being discussed here on the Apple Support Communities forum and he said that this forum is for users and is not used by them. I asked him if he thought it would make sense for Apple Techs to be up to date about common repair issues being discussed on Apple's own forums, and he said that he can't speak for Apple. I then asked him his opinion about the matter and he said, "I suppose so."
The "suppose so" line told that that I would get nowhere with him. I just hope the authorized repair center I visit is more up to date about this problematic iMac build that Apple's own Tech Support staff are.
Shame on you, Apple!

IMac Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS Drivers

I am running XP Professional via Boot Camp. I run XP so I can play America's Army since it is a Windows only based game. The problem I am having is when I expand Americas Army full screen it completely locks up my iMac and I have to hold down the power button to reset it.
I have been told by several people that the problem is from the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS drivers. I tried to up date the graphics drivers from Apple's and Nvidia's website with the latest driver. When I try to install the graphics driver from the setup file, it gives me the following error.
"The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."
Here is the location where I downloaded the driver from.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp175.19whql.html
Here is a link to America's Army on the support forums.
http://forum.americasarmy.com/viewtopic.php?t=279590
Any help is appreciated.
Message was edited by: allen2680

Hey guys,
I encountered problems renaming the nv4 disp file that allen sent me (drivers still would not install)...so instead of replacing the original nv4 disp.inf file in windows, I opened the nv4 disp file allen sent me, copied the text, and pasted it in the original nv4 disp file in the NVIDIA folder after deleting the text of the original file and saved it...after that, the new drivers installed without a hitch...have yet to test whether or not the infinite loop is gone or not in Age of Empires 3 though...will keep u updated...thx for the file allen!

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT and 10.5.7

The OpenGL problems with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT video appear to be fixed in 10.5.7.
No screen artifacts, no screen redraw issue so far.

Very nice. My 3d objects no longer turn white while painting on them or manipulating them, though painting into the surface appears to be considerably slower than it used to be.
edit: I have an m8600GT, but had OpenGL issues which are resolved nonetheless.

Is the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS worth the money for Final Cut Express?

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