NVIDIA GeForce 120 or ATI Radeon X1900... which is better?

Hi-
I currently have the ATI Radeon X1900 graphics card installed in my Mac Pro 2.26 Nehalem. I'm not having any issue's with the card except that the fans turn On quite frequently, and they're a little loud.
I'm not using it for any games, etc... My primary use is with Pro Tools (a music DAW application).
The ATI Radeon X1900 is running a Apple 30" display and a Sony Bravia 46" LCD.
If I replaced the ATI Radeon X1900 with a NVIDIA GeForce 120, would I be asking for trouble?
Thanks in advance.

If I replaced the ATI Radeon X1900 with a NVIDIA GeForce 120, would I be asking for trouble?
If your Mac Pro came with ATI Radeon X1900, then it needs a card with EFI-32 firmware. The NVIDIA GeForce 120 has EFI-64 firmware, and won't work in the pre 2008 Mac Pro. The only upgrade for early Mac Pros is the ATI Radeon HD 4870
<http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB999ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MTA4MzU2NTc>
(Despite what Apple says, it will work in any Mac Pro.)
You will need a Mini DisplayPort adapter for the second display,

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Nvidia Geforce 120 vs ATI radeonX800XT

I just purchased a new Mac Pro with the Nvidia card. I have the X800XT from the old G5 Powermac that it is replacing. I know Aperture like a fast video card, which should I use, the newer low end Nvidia or the older higher end ATI? I can't seem to find a direct comparison.

The X800XT won't physically fit in your new Mac Pro, so it's a non-issue.
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I have a Mac Pro 2,1 running 10.6.1 and BootCamp.
I had a Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT video card in it and it ran well under BootCamp.
I installed a ATI Radeon X1900 XT.
Under BootCamp the 2 cards seem incompatible, with an error message that the driver on the Nvidia card has been disables due to an incompatibility with the other card.
Is there a solution for this?
If I wanted 2 cards inside would they both need to be the ATI's or Nvidia's?
Thanks

Hi I would maybe get a Apple Upgrade Kit the GT 120 is 512MB's & dose not use all 16 lanes as it like to make you think & will work on 2006 Mac Pro's at $149.00 I would say if you just want more displays get two & eBay your old cards. Please know if you game you will want more power but if only for more displays this 1 slot card is great.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro (early 2009)
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It as well as the much better 4870 both work with the Mac Pro 1,1 & 2,1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro (early 2009)
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 includes 512MB of GDDR3 memory, uses the PCI Express 2.0 interface, and includes one Mini DisplayPort and one dual-link DVI port.
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The NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory delivers excellent all-around performance whether your playing games or dealing with creative and scientific applications. With up to four NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics cards installed, a Mac Pro can support up to eight displays simultaneously.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 includes two video ports: one Mini DisplayPort and one dual-link DVI port. This allows you to connect both the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display or another Mini DisplayPort-based display, and a DVI-based display such as the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. Display adapters are available to connect VGA displays.
Good Luck man
Thomas

Running ATI Radeon x1900 XT along with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Possible?

Can I run the ATI Radeon x1900 XT along with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT together in my mac pro?

The X1900 would have to go in double wide slot, you would have to run one or both at 8x.
I think something like ATI 2600 might make more sense. The 8800GT is listed as discontinued (have a thread or two about it being EOL). So unless you have the 8800GT may not be an option anyway.
The 4870 + 2600 combo would be best I can think of for us with 1st gen now.
This assumes you simply need to drive 3 monitors. And don't want to wait and see if the Nvidia eVGA GTX 285 (doubtful) will support 1st gen EFI32's.

ATI Radeon X1900 vs Nvidia Ge Force 6600

I predominantly edit video, create graphics using Adobe CS2 and animate and composite using After Effects.
I currently have a Nvidia GeForce 6600, and I was wondering if the ATI Radeon X1900 will be a significant upgrade. Has anyone used both of these cards and noticed one was better than the other?
Also in system profiler the GeForce 6600 is listed as a PCI card, so this should mean that I can install the ATI Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition?
thanks.

Adding additional RAM will definitely help. AE7 and higher can address up to 3 GB of RAM by itself, and this is directly related to the length of the RAM preview you can do.
If you're doing a RAM preview (or a render) in AE, open up Activity Monitor located in /Applications/Utilities. What you'll notice is that most of your CPU is not being used effectively. Nucleo & Nucleo Pro launch background instances of AE and this causes your CPUs to be fully utilized, hence the reduction in time needed to do a RAM preview or a render.
One of my favorite features is the Speculative Preview that does RAM previews in the background without the user having to invoke them. It automatically RAM previews your work area, and if you make a change to something, it throws out the frames that need to be updated and immediately starts RAM previewing the new frames. So, by the time you're ready to preview your work area, it's probably already been rendered!
The background renderer is also great. You put a composition into the render queue and Nucleo Pro starts rendering it in the background. This means that you can go back into AE and keep working on something else rather than having to wait until AE finishes rendering what's in the queue.
Take a look at the product overview in the link in my previous post so you can see if it's right for you. There's also a demo version that watermarks everything so you can get a feel for how it'll fit into your workflow.
If you decide that you don't need all the features that Nucleo Pro has, you can get the standard Nucleo which does RAM previews only for AE 7 and 6.5. If you're upgrading to AE CS3, this basic functionality is built-in, so you won't need Nucleo at all except for the additional features that Nucleo Pro offers.
In GPU accelerated programs like Motion, the memory on the video card can matter. Each element is treated as a texture and has to fit in the video card's onboard memory for best performance. If you have many elements that you're working with, it's conceivable that you'd fill up the card's memory and hurt performance. For a G5, the only available 512MB card is nVidia's QuadroFX 4500 which is incredibly expensive. It was only available as an option at the time the computer was built, so to get one now means you have to get it as a replacement part, and that'll set you back ~$1,500. Not worth it, in all but extreme cases.

Upgrade MacPro1,1 with ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB and Open GL 1.7.7. to recommended system requirements for heli simulator: OpenGL Version 2.1 compatible 3D-graphics card from NVIDIA or ATI with 512MB.

I want to install a helicopter simulator into my MacPro1,1 with ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB and Open GL 1.7.7. Recommended system requirements for the heli simulator are: OpenGL Version 2.1 compatible 3D-graphics card from NVIDIA or ATI with 512MB (at least as fast as NVIDIA 8600, 9400 or ATI Radeon HD 2400). Is there such a graphics card available that will work in my Mac Pro?

Are you really still running 10.6.3? you will need 10.6.5+ so do that and make a clone.
ATI 5770 from Apple Store - like 1000s of others have done and in the comments section on the store page.

Please help: what options do we have other than ATI Radeon X1900 XT

I think my video card (ATI Radeon X1900 XT) is about to die and I'm trying to figure out what to replace it with. (I'm on a 1st gen MacPro, still on Tiger).
What I can't easily figure out from this site, however, is a list of alternative cards I could purchase that will fit in this machine. I gather from the ratings that the ATI X1900 has failed for just about everyone that has used it intensely. And I'd like to avoid buying the same one that is about to fail for me now, but how can I tell what my alternatives are and if they will fit in the slot and/or be compatible with my machine?
I have been to the Mac Pro spec area, and it lists these as the "build to order" options:
* ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (two dual-link DVI)
* NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB (stereo 3D, two dual-link DVI)
* Two NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
* Three NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
* Four NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
are those the only cards I can choose from? Are there any other better options?
Forgive me if I sound like a totally idiot. I'm just trying to learn...

You should visit Bare Feats and see the various reviews and benchmarks. You have several options now available besides the ones that came originally with your model. There is now an NVidia 8800 card in a version for pre-2008 MPs, the ATI 2600, and the new ATI 3870 just released. You can learn more at Bare Feats and by searching the MP forums.
You have posted this topic in the MacBook Pro forum which is the wrong forum for your question.

Brandnew 8-core MacPro and ATI Radeon X1900 xt

I had this quadcore MacPro with an ATI Radeon X1900 XT and now I am switching to a newer octo-core MacPro.
I managed to install the card into the computer case. But alas, i don't see anything on my screen...
System Profiler discovers the card but gives it an generic name "Display" with Vendor ATI and DeviceID 0x7249.
But no "displays" found attached to it, which is b.s.
Please please don't tell me i cannot use this graphics card in the octo-core MacPro?!

I am surprised .... I don't have (any ideas), so I don't know for sure
You know, that doesn't help or further things and puts out false ideas that there even might. Then I'll hear "but I read somewhere something."
Apple changed the firmware on 2008. That is well known and pretty obvious, and graphic cards have to follow suit.
Nvidia doesn't seem to know or follow ATI's path of using a "hybred" (for want of better term) EFD? ROM that works across EFI32 and EFI64. Been explained over and over, or if not explained, given as cause to why.
At least we have a few years before EFI128!
NVidia GeForce 7400 gfx card
Now that is very elusive.
The 7300GT works only in 2006-7 Mac Pro, which were dual processor / dual or quad-core, but all used EFI32; 667MHz FBDIMM; had 1333MHz front side bus; PCIe 1.0/1.1 (but not PCIe 2.0 that came out in 2008).
And with brand new 2009, DDR3, you graphic option is really between GTX 285 and ATI HD 4870 - forget the GT120 even as a viable option for most.

Avid and ati radeon x1900

hello, i was wondering if anyone out there has a macpro with a ati radeon x1900 graphiccard running avid. i am not sure if i should buy the radeon card, i think im just scared to make the commitment, afraid the card will not work with my avid. i would appreciate any help...
thanks

I am surprised .... I don't have (any ideas), so I don't know for sure
You know, that doesn't help or further things and puts out false ideas that there even might. Then I'll hear "but I read somewhere something."
Apple changed the firmware on 2008. That is well known and pretty obvious, and graphic cards have to follow suit.
Nvidia doesn't seem to know or follow ATI's path of using a "hybred" (for want of better term) EFD? ROM that works across EFI32 and EFI64. Been explained over and over, or if not explained, given as cause to why.
At least we have a few years before EFI128!
NVidia GeForce 7400 gfx card
Now that is very elusive.
The 7300GT works only in 2006-7 Mac Pro, which were dual processor / dual or quad-core, but all used EFI32; 667MHz FBDIMM; had 1333MHz front side bus; PCIe 1.0/1.1 (but not PCIe 2.0 that came out in 2008).
And with brand new 2009, DDR3, you graphic option is really between GTX 285 and ATI HD 4870 - forget the GT120 even as a viable option for most.

ATI Radeon X1900 worth it for only FCP and Color?

Hello,
I've been looking around these posts for a while and I can't seem to find this specific answer, so I apologize if my question has been asked already.
I am looking to purchase a MacPro tower. I don't use Motion. I don't play video games. I don't need 8 zillion giant monitors. I intend to use the computer mainly for Final Cut Pro 6.0 and probably a fair amount of Color as well.
With this being the case, what are the benefits of the
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB Graphics Card, over the
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB Graphics Card? Is it really worth the money? I've seen some posts that say you won't see a difference in FCP, but is this also true for Color? And if so, what exactly will the difference be?
Thanks,

Here's what they said at the Color board...
With anything less than an ATI x1900...you may experience issues such as lack of realtime playback, missing support for 10-bit images and 2K frame sizes, no float support for your grade settings.
For this version of Color, ATI is the way to go. I wouldn't go so far as to say an Nvidia card gives you a crippled version of the program, but it's close.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4611284&#4611284
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4672792&#4672792
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4620097&#4620097

Can I use a ATI Radeon X1900 XT ?

I have a 2 year old Intel Mac Pro 4 core with a twin port NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with 256MB VRAM.
And my 3 year old PC has a twin port ATI Radeon X1900 XT PCI Express card with 512MB of VRAM
Is the ATI card compatible with Mac Pros and would it improve the speed of my Mac Pro swapping the NVIDIA for the ATI?
Thx
Kevin
Message was edited by: FedFilms

The PC card won't work in the Mac Pro. They need cards with EFI firmware.

ATI Radeon X1900 XT upgrade issue

Hey guys, hopefully someone here can help me with my problem.
I recently bought one of the 8 core mac pros with the nvidia 7300GT cards in them. I later decided to upgrade to the ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB card. The apple website said it was going to take 10 - 12 weeks for delivery, so imagine my surprise when I got it 2 days after I placed my order.
I didn't have any problems with the removal of my nvidia cards or with the installation of the ATI card.
I started up my computer, and up popped the Expansion Slot Utility program which told me that I needed to choose a different profile so as to maximize my card's speed. I think it was set on the 4th option before (x8, x8, x4, x4). The program recommended that I try option 1 or 2, both of which were x16 for slot 1 which is the slot i had plugged my ATI into and were the only two options that had a green bubble next to them.
So I chose option 1 (x16, x1, x1, x8) and clicked on the "save and restart" button. Computer shut down... restarted...
Suddenly, the graphics card fan was blowing at full speed and my screen was blank. I waited for a minute, and then had to use the power button to shut it down.
I tried a couple of things from there.
First I put the ATI card in slot 2, and later 3. The computer started up without any problems and with no fan noise. When the Expansion Slot Utility popped up again, I choose option 2 (x16, x1, x4, x4) and put the ATI back into slot 1. I got the same problem of the screen staying black and the ATI fan going crazy.
So as not to constantly have to change the ATI card every time i wanted to change a setting under the Expansion Slot Utility, I kept the ATI in slot 1 and installed the nvidia in slot 4.
What I basically found was that the ATI did not work under options 1 and 2 in the Expansion Slot Utility where it has a x16 lane, but works perfectly fine with options 3 and 4 where it is limited to the x8 lane.
So I'm not sure where to go from here. Considering that I bought this computer two months ago with nvidia cards in it, does it mean I have to get a particular driver for the ATI to work on x16 lane? Is there a significant performance drop if the card is set to x8 lane?
Any help would be appreciated.
OKS

Yup, I had them connected. Just to be safe I tried plugging the cable into the other auxiliary power connector so as to see if the problem was with one of them. Unfortunately I got the same problem.
I also noticed that when I go to the Expansion Slot Utility program after I start the computer in x16 mode, and when I have the screen plugged into the nvidia card, it only shows the nvidia card in the program. The ATI is missing. Even though the card's fan is blowing like crazy.
In other words, when i choose to give the ATI x16 lane in the Expansion Slot Utility program it vanishes from the program upon restarting the computer under that profile. I also checked under the system profiler, and the ATI card is gone there as well.
I'm not really used to writing about computer issues, so if I'm unclear about certain points, please don't hesitate to let me know.
OKS

ATI RADEON X1900 XT Bad resolution display with SNOW LEOPARD

Hi all!!
I just install a clean version of snow leopard 10.6.2 on my mac pro and everything works good.
Only problem I have, less resolution choice.
I am stuck with 1600x1200 60 Hz but before I was in 1600x1024 76hz.
This mac has a ATI RADEON X1900 XT graphic card.
I try on different mac pro with geforce and the resolution display is good.
It is not the problem of the graphic distorsion in top site of safari,
It's totally in the display.
Thank you!
BP

I use the same video card without any difficulty, under 10.6.2, in an older MacPro. If your card works OK in Leopard, then it's not likely to be a hardware problem. If it happens in Leopard, too, then a hardware failure is possible.
If this happened to me I'd clean the card's contacts, make sure that its supplemental power connection was tight on both ends, and re-install the card.
If the problem remained, I'd try the card in a different slot. If it persisted, I'd do a clean-install on a different drive and boot from it. If the problem recurred with a clean-installed second boot drive, then I'd suspect a hardware problem on the card or, less likely, on the logic board.
At this point I'd visually inspect the "GPU PRESENT" LED on the logic board, under the memory cage, next to PCI slot 1. As you use something completely non-conductive to press the "DIAG LED" button, which is adjacent to the diagnostic LEDs, see if the "GPU_PRESENT" LED comes on. If that LED stays off, it means the machine's EFI (extensible firmware interface) was unable to configure the graphics card, which would indicate a hardware problem on the graphics card, or possibly on the logic board. If the diagnostic LED comes on, it means EFI could configure the card. This does not necessarily mean that the card is functioning properly. The LED staying off, however, would strongly suggest some kind of a hardware problem.
If you have access to another graphics card, see if a similar problem occurs using it. Short of a thorough circuit-check in a shop, that's the only practical way to determine if it's a PCI card or logic board problem. Either way, there'd be a hardware repair/replacement on the horizon.
Message was edited by: Hominahomina

After Effects 7 with ATI Radeon X1900 XT

Hi everyone,
I use Adobe After Effects 7 a lot and I'm not happy with my current machine (PowerPC G5 2x1.8GHZ, 2GB DDR SDRAM, ATI Radeon X800 XT), it is too slow to work smoothly when I have several layers and effects going on. Previewing the work on the timeline (OpenGL or Adaptative resolution) is painfully slow and takes on my nerves. I believe this is mainly due to my graphics card, and the fact is not 100% compatible with OpenGL on After effects.
I'm ready to upgrade with a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz Quad Xeon with ATI Radeon X1900 XT, but only if I'm going to enjoy a real improve with After Effects 7, as this is my main editing application right now.
Does anybody have experience with this configuration?
Thanks in advance for reading and replies!
PowerPC G5 2x1.8GHZ Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2GB DDR SDRAM, ATI Radeon X800 XT

I have this configuration, but sadly have had no time to play around with After Effects. AE's realtime playback capabilities are limited (especially when compared with something like Motion), so you're probably still going to be rendering to RAM a lot. I believe the OpenGL support is for things like anti-aliasing, blur, and blending modes -- so a faster video card may not automatically equal huge performance boost across the board. Four Xeon cores and a lot of RAM will help it a lot more (see exception below).
Also, AE 7 still has to run under Rosetta which results in a slower performance than if it was native. Also, be aware that there is a limit placed on all Rosetta processes that do not allow them to address more than 1.5GB of RAM combined. This will most likely limit your render speed and preview lengths. See this thread on Adobe's forums for more info:
http://www.creativecow.net/articles/jonesgraham/AE7_on_IntelMacPro/index.html
EDIT: The above link was to the performance comparisons, but not the original Adobe forum thread. Here it is:
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc2401b
However, if you read the thread, and follow the link in it, the author is seeing huge performance gains with AE7 on his MacPro 3GBs over his old dual G5 4.5GBs.
So most likely, you'll see a performance benefit from upgrading. And when an Intel native version of AE ships, things will really fly.

Can I put two ATI Radeon X1900 XT's into a MacPro?

Hi
We've just bought a MacPro, with 3 NVIDEA 7300 cards. Sadly it seems the 7300 does not support the apple DVI-Video adapter. Our system requires three dual link DVI ports supporting the adapter, so on face value we should be able achieve this by removing the 7300's and installing two ATI Radeon X1900 XT's instead.
The question is is it possible to put two ATI Radeon X1900 XT's into a MacPro? Has any one done this? or indeed does anyone know how to get the 7300's to recognize a DVPAL device such as video projector or analogue video monitor?
Cheers
Nick
MacPro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

PCI-E (Peripheral Component Interconnect-Express) is a newer implementation of PCI which uses a much faster physical-layer communications protocol than older PCI bus architectures.
Rather than using a bus as PCI did, PCI-E uses dedicated, unidirectional, point-to-point connections known as "lanes" to communicate with PCI-E devices.
The Mac Pro features four PCI-E 16-"lane" connectors on the main logic board. In PCI-E, these are known as "x16" slots. These can be used for PCI-E-compatible cards, like the ATI Radeon card that is available as a configure-to-order option in the Mac Pro.
PCI-E cards will work in slots that are at least as large as the card is. This means that the "x16" slots in the Mac Pro computer also supports "x1" and "x4" cards as well. However, all four slots cannot simultaneously support four cards that implement the same lane configuration. Only one slot actually has 16 lanes going to it—you can put a x16 card into a slot that is only using one lane and it will operate properly, but it will operate more slowly than the same card in a x4, x8 or x16 slot.
The Expansion Slot Utility, located in /System/Library/Core Services, allows you to configure the PCI-E expansion slots and how many lanes each slot will support, as illustrated below. This example shows a "x16" graphics card occupying the first slot, and the other slots are configured to support an "x1" card in slot two and "x4" cards in slots three and four. The example shows the other options available. When you have picked the appropriate configuration of slots to support your compliment of PCI-E cards, click the Save and Restart... button to implement the configuration.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304122
Michael

NVIDIA GeForce 120 or ATI Radeon X1900... which is better?

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