Video Card: Cores vs RAM

I am looking into upgrading the video cards on my system, with the primary intention being to speed up OpenGL applications, primarily After Effects. I have narrowed down the field to two choices based on price and performance:
2x Geforce GTX 260 w/ 1792MB RAM
2x Geforce GTX 275 w/ 896MB RAM
I will be alternating between SLI and non-SLI depending on the application and how many monitors I want to use. What I'm trying to determine (and have had no luck) is whether I would see better performance with the faster and higher number of processing cores in the 275, or the doubled RAM of the 260. They fall within $5 per card of each other, so price is a non-issue at this point.
Thanks for any assistance!
-Kevin

Thanks! I actually use 4 monitors for some applications, so a pair of cards is a necessity for me. I'm currently running one GTX 260 and one GT9400, which works just fine most of the time, with the exception being consistent failures of OpenGL in AE (which are annoying, but not fatal). I'm thinking I might just wait a while to make a purchase... I'm pretty sure I can make do until they announce any new and exciting features in CS5 that I'll want to make sure I'm prepared for.
-Kevin

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MB 915/G Combo MS-7058 video card options or suggestions on the new market

First off my apologies. I wasn't sure which forum to place my question under,
Retired Motherboards or Video Cards.
Quick summary I'm looking to upgrade my video card on an older mother board and have run into problems with a new board working. I think the problem is a backwards compatibility issue. I need help with a list of what video cards I can buy that are available new preferably if not a list of where to go and what to watch for. I would like to increase the speed/ram. My skill level is around, open the case swap out the item and insert the disk. With a search forums and try to find the answer/follow directions or suggestions.
In more detail,
I'm looking to upgrade my video card from NVIDIA GeForce 6 Series NX-6600 256mb card on a an MSI 915P/G combo. The install/instruction manual lists under the above combo name MS-7058 (v1.X) ATX Motherboard and below the image of the board there is also the text of G52-M7058x1.
The video card option for placement is in the sole PCI Express X16 slot (no on motherboard graphics and/or connection options I know of) and I assuming from what I've tried researching that the PCI Express x1(mentioned elsewhere but all suggestions were cards no longer for sale) is some sort of standard of limit and my motherboard is too old despite newer cards fitting into the slot and claiming backwards compatibility to the "PCI Express or Pci Express 2.0".
Part of that possible assumption of my issue comes from the fact the mother board can have ether DDR1 or DDR2 ram for memory but a video card with DDR3 ram would not work. Also the software from the included disk and from the from the website install correctly for the card to function other than the basic windows drivers leaving the card unable to run any games. For reference the video card purchased and tried was a EVGA Geforce GT 610 SC9super clocked) with 2 GB of DDR3 Memory. Which i hopefully will have returned for a refund soon. I spent most of the day trying to install the software by their program , by launching from disk directly, from downloading the most current version from the manufacturer's website and checking with Microsoft for possible system change updates.
My original invoice August 2005 lists the pre order lists the Item VGMS-NX6600/256E then under description MSI NX6600-TD256E/PCIEX/256MB for the grand price of $169.00 deleviery receipt lists the card as item VGXM-X66DHEJTZ1 Description XMEDIA 6600 256MB PCIE DVI/TV
Power Supply 630 watts installed July 2008 I can not get the full listings of voltage and amps per connectors without taking the powers supply loose from the case(which requires shutting the system off, so I hoping I won't need to but will if the information will help). I do not feel power is an issue due to the size and the power supply was unneeded upgrade, that I just wanted to replace when swapping out a motherboards damaged from a lighting hit or power surge. System was running fine for years.
General system information
Windows XP professional SP3 All updates current.
Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz
2.00 GB of Ram DDR 1
Videocard NVIDA 6600 Driver 6.14.12.9573
3 hard drives of varying sizes 500GB,1TB and 2TB Plus one external with external power supply 1.5TB drive
If more information is needed please let me know.
The best advice and help would be a list of currently for sale video cards that will work with links to places (and the actual model even better) like New Egg, or if there is such a card at the local Best Buy(outstanding advice on this non compatible/working card....I won't digress into my own mistake of buying there). I'm way out of date on information and standards about computers and hardware and need help figuring out what Video Cards to look at for purchasing. Preferably new, then re manufactured with warranty then used... The main game I play that strains my system but is playable is call of duty modern warfare 2 and would like to run 3 if possible. Although better rates with COD MW2 and COD 4 MW.

100% correct on the mother board
The card I had tried was EVGA---GeForce-GT-610 2GB DDR3 I can't post external links but it was from Best Buy. The box claimed requirements are that it needs PCI Express or PCI Express 2.0 compliant motherboards with one open graphic slot. The best I could get out of it was slightly working with Windows XP basic driver which no games would run. No selecting drivers helped from the Add Hardware program.
So I should make sure it lists "PCI Express X16" and " version 1 " "1MB(in reference to what part?)" or words to that effect? I was mislead by the box above for capability and "NVIDIA" on it, am I correct in assuming it was a generic whore knock off which bought the rights to stick NVIDIA name on the outside for a standard or software? Especially since the actual video card says EVGA and not NVIDIA on it.... I won't make that mistake hopefully again.
Due to age I was buying a cheap fill in card,(old one was working fine but I figured a good training/practice exercise and to see how much better the games looked to encourage me going forward on my first build) until I can start ordering and building to the current upgradeable standards. I'm trying to catch up on standards and not have a firewire or zipdrive experience. Although I might put a 5 1/4 disk drive in unused bay for show I would prefer not to buy another per-assembled option and decent computer part stores near me are lacking. Or I lack knowledge of their locations. If it matters I'm in Charlotte, NC USA
My budget is up to about $200 although I would like to stay around $100.00 (usa dollars) if possible. I think that gives me realistic options even with places like Best Buy. If I'm not, please correct me. I'm aware best Buy will give me a special 30-50% price increase but my local options for shops are hurting, the "best place for reputation" is a story of shame.

I want to upgrade my Mac Pro video card. I am using a mac quad core 2.7 GHz 8 megs of ram and an ATI Radeon 3870. Where do I start?

I am using a mac pro with a 2.7 GHz processor 8 gigs of ram and a Radeon HD 3870 video card with 512 megs of vram.
I want to upgrade to 1 gig of vram if possible.
Can anyone tell me where I can begin looking, what brand to buy, and what options I have?
I want to be able to use the Element 3D plug in After Effects.
Also, would I need to upgrade my operating system?
Thanks,
Faucheux

Shop for them at the Apple Online Store. I would suggest the ATI 5770 or 5870 or one of the new Nvidia GTX models - 650 Ti, 660, or 680.
Note that unless your Mac Pro has PCIe 2.0 slots you should stick with the ATI 5770.

Have imac osx 10.6.8 with 2 gb 667 mhz ddr2 sdram. Can I get more ram and a good video card to use CS6 Premiere Pro

I'd like to upgrade with more ram and a proper video card to properly use Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.
I have an imac version 10.6.8 Can I boost this mac.
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          iMac
Model Identifier:          iMac5,2
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          1.83 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          2 MB
Memory:          2 GB
Bus Speed:          667 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          IM52.0090.B09
SMC Version (system):          1.6f0
Serial Number (system):          W86510LAWH5
Hardware UUID:          00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017F2CA47EB

Sorry, you have the maximum amount of RAM in your computer, as shown in the specs below. Also the video card can not be upgraded.
Maximum Memory     2.0 GB
Memory Slots     2 - 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

Upgrading Mac Pro RAM and Video Card?

Are these parts compatible with the Mac Pro 1,1 2x3.0Ghz?
Any suggestions, but my budget is 300$ and under.
RAM: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006E2Q64C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1& smid=AXCSB4T0AK26Y
Video Card: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B62NNA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1& smid=A30OETJJNX7BIR
Microphone (I like to record and was wondering if this is compatible): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OO18NS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1& smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Can this run Minecraft at at least 30 fps?
Thanks in Advance!

yes:
System Requirements
Runs on 2006 or 2007 (EFI32) Mac Pros with OSX 10.5.6 or later installed.
But when Apple introduced the Apple-firmware 5770, they said it was up to 5x faster than the GT120. You said you won't spend the required US$250 to get the Apple firmware 5770.
Baseline
x
Up to 5x faster than previous-generation standard graphics
Testing conducted by Apple in May 2012 using preproduction Mac Pro 12-core 3.06GHz units with ATI Radeon HD 5770 and shipping Mac Pro 8-core 2.93GHz units with prerelease OS and NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, all configured with 12GB of RAM. Civilization V (1.0.1.511) tested with the built-in leader benchmark at 2560x1440. StarCraft II (1.4.3.21029) tested using the 2012 MLG Winter Arena EGIdrA vs IMNesTea replay from 11:00-16:00 at 2560x1440. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Pro.

I want to use Final Cut Pro v 10 on my MacBook Pro and need advice with ram, video card or HD upgrade for optimal performance.

I currently have 8GB ram and the stock video card and an ssd HD 240 GB.

what Russ said…
ext.HDD, for simple AVCHD tasks, I would recommend usb3 too…
It's not state of the art hardware, but it's not chopped liver either.
LOL Thank, you, Russ for phrase-of-the-day!
<scribbling into my vocabulary book>

I need to know if ECC ram in a HPZ1 is compatible with Quadro 500M, 1000M, 2000M video cards

hello,
i purchased a refurbished hpz1 a year ago, equipped with a Quadro 500M and 16 GB of ECC ram. The cpu is a Xeon e3 1245 v2.
I have lots of trouble trying to use this workstation with certain graphics programs, like Sketchup 2013 and 2014, as well as rendering programs. Anything from program freezing/shutting down shortly after opening to locking up the machine midstream. Yes, I have updated video drivers, several times, but still plagued with the same problem. Not all the time, but frequently.
In shopping for upgrades to the 500M card (like 3000M, perhaps) I have come across video card vendors that specifically mention these older Quadro cards are NOT compatible with ECC ram. I have brought this to the attention of the workstation vendor, IT Creations, in California, and they claim to never hearing of this issue.
I have spent dozens of futile hours over the past year dealing with system instability, issues like bootup screens informing me the ram system chip count has (erroneously) changed, requiring immediate shutdown and booting back up to override the message.
Is it true? CAN or SHOULD ECC ram be used with earlier Quadro cards using MXM3.0?

Hi:
You may also want to post your question on the HP Business Support Forum -- z Workstations section.
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Workstations-z-series-xw-series/bd-p/bsc-272#.U5cLUOlOW9I

Upgrading Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 Ram/Video Card/Hard Drives

Hi there,
Ok so I am an avid Mac user, but have neglected one of my machines lately. This old Power Mac G5 just pushed the 3 year mark and I had a bunch of repairs done to it (New Logic Board, Hard Drive, Power Supply) before the Apple Care ran out. I used to do all of my editing and stuff on it but haven't had time this past year so it has just sat here and not gotten any use. I felt as if it was time to get back in the game so I picked up another Apple 20" monitor, some M-Audio studio monitors, a 11" Wacom, but feel the machine is too outdated to do anything.
Ok first off, I am looking to upgrade from the four 256 sticks (1GB) that I have in my computer with some 2 2GB kits (1GB x 2) (4GB total) and have been looking at the ram that Crucial suggests for this machine (8 Slots). Is there anything that I should look for in ram that will help me get through all of my 3D motion design faster (HD Final Cut too). I don't know a lot about ram when it comes to buffers and such, just how to buy compatible ram. Any suggestions?
Second I am looking to upgrade my video card. I currently have the GeForce FX 5200 with 64 MB of VRAM, which is completely unacceptable. I am looking for a card that can handle all of my motion work along with rendering in Final Cut, something with 256MB of VRAM or more.. I want something that has 2 DVI connections so I don't need an adapter like I currently do with this card to hook up both Apple displays. Suggestions?
Lastly I am looking to up my storage space on this beast. I currently have a brand new 160GB main HDD (Courtesy Apple Care) and a 250GB Maxtor internally. I would really like to have at least a TB of storage. My question is wether I should just keep the 160 for the main boot up drive and apps along with minimum documents to keep the speeds faster, and get a 500 internal and 500 exclosure, or get two 500's for internal?

Hi-
With RAM, fancy isn't necessary, compatible is. Buffers aren't supported, so stick with the recommended memory. Memory should be 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMMs that are 2.5 volt, unbuffered, 8-byte, nonparity, and DDR400-compliant (PC3200).
Important: DIMMs with any of the following features are not supported in the Power Mac G5 computer: registers or buffers, PLLs, ECC, parity, or EDO RAM.
For two DVI outputs, and the power to run your software, the only choices are the Geforce 6800GT and the Geforce 6800 Ultra. For a bit less money, but requires an ADC to DVI adapter for second DVI, the Radeon X800XT will help with the softwares needs. These benchmarks will help you see the performance of the cards.
For storage, the 160gb will work for OS and applications, but you might as well add two 500gb-750gb drives. The new, enterprise drives have great performance, and though larger, will most probably work faster as a startup drive than the 160gb drive. These benchmarks are from a Mac Pro test, but the results illustrate the speed of the larger drives.
The Western Digital SE16 series, or the Seagate ES series offer excellent performance and reliability. See Storage Reviews. For a 1tb drive, see this article.
Of course, whatever you install, add enough external for full backup capabilities.

How can i allocate more RAM for my onboard video card on a 2011 macbook pro 13 inch running windows 7 via bootcamp

I noticed that since Macbooks.. macs in general use an EFI instead of BIOS. . .. Now i need to allocate some more RAM for the onboard video card since its currently running with an estimated 50mb.. I would like to increase this to 512 and cut the 3.95 down to 3.5 MB for the rest of the system ( allowing me to run more graphic intensive games and the such ... ) I know this could slow down the entire system.. ( i am aware of this ) and have gotten a 3rd party application to control and close out uneeded processes during gaming.. I just need more ram for my onboard video card.. Any help?

You don't allocate more RAM towards your video card, you put more RAM into the machine and hopefully some machines will bump the CPU graphics RAM allocation up a little.
The problem is you bought a integrated only graphics computer, if you want to 3D game you need a dedicated graphics computer with it's own or dedicated VRAM.
If your this serious about 3D gaming, your on the wrong platform.
Get a Windows 7 64bit i7 8GB RAM expandable 3D gaming tower with a good power supply and video card upgrade path, this way every few years you buy and stick in a new video card to play the latest games.
Mac's are not gaming machines and never will be because they would last too long if we could upgrade them.
http://www.cbscores.com/index.php?sort=ogl&order=desc

I have CC and while attempting Light Effects, the Layer will appear in the layers panel, but the option bar will not appear and neither will the Properties panel. All my preferences are set correct, and my computer has a compatible video card and RAM. Ple

I have CC and while attempting Light Effects, the Light Effects Layer will appear in the layers panel, but the option bar will not appear and neither will the Properties panel. All my preferences are set correct, and my computer has a compatible video card and RAM. Please help!
I tried to delete the layer attempt again. I am in a Photoshop class, but the work is all online, so all my teacher is going to do is send me to this site. I am trying to edit a photo for this class, and without this working, i go to filter>render>light effects. the bar and panel will pop up for about 2 seconds, then disappear. How do i get the options bar and properties panel to display?

I was about to suggest resetting LE from the Workspace drop-down top right corner, but if you can't see the Options Bar, I guess that is not going to happen. The normal Tool reset is grey out for LE, so it might be a case of resetting Preferences.
Reset Preferences
Windows — Hold down Shift Ctrl Alt immediately after starting Photoshop
Mac — Hold down Shift Cmd Opt immediately after starting Photoshop

What is better - a great video card or just a bunch of Ram

We are starting a broadcasting section at our college and I am purchasing some hardware (macs of course) and software. We will be using Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and other software.
My question is: If you only had a limited amount of money would you buy the best video card you could, or would it be better to put as much RAM in the machine as possible. (4gigs or 8gigs or RAM).
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dan

So, with the current available video cards from apple. Which one would I get and is the NVIDIA Quadro FX really worth the extra $1300?
1) 2x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256mb
2) ATI Radeon X190 XT 512mb (2 x dual link DVI)
3) 3x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256mb
4) 4x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256mb
5) NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512mb, stereo 3D (2 x dual link DVI)
I was going to purchase the ATI Radeon Card - is that a wise choice?

The AVI Radeon X1900 XT video card in my Mac Pro Dual-Core went bad and I need to replace it. I found one that is $250 but I don't think that I need the gaming-type processor. I am using a 23" Apple Display. Are there lower cost options? -C

The Radeon X1900 XT video card went bad in my Mac Pro Dual-Core Intel Xeon. (I tried it with a good one at the office). I found one online that was $250. I don't need the gaming capacity of this card and was wondering if there were less expensive video cards that I could use in this machine. I run Adobe Creative Suites for graphics design and have a 23" Apply display. Thank you for any help that you can provide. -PretzelMcK

Then pick up the ATI 5770 AND upgrade to 10.6.8.
Same price for a good card that will work and helps to have 1GB VRAM.
There aren't any other real choices let alone less expensive.
Even the ebay links I had and not a lot of choices.

How to add more ram to video card

Hello, to play a game I need to have 1 GB of ram dedicated. I looked all over to find where I can allocate more ram, but I can't seem to find anything. Does anyone know how to allocate more ram to a video card? Is it possible?
My card is Intel HD Graphics 4600

HPliker wrote:
Hello, to play a game I need to have 1 GB of ram dedicated. I looked all over to find where I can allocate more ram, but I can't seem to find anything. Does anyone know how to allocate more ram to a video card? Is it possible?
My card is Intel HD Graphics 4600
You have shared RAM you don't have dedicated Video RAM that is shared with your regular Computer RAM.
I am a Volunteer to help others on here-not a HP employee.
Replies aren't online 24/7 because of Time Zone differences.
Remember in this Day and Age of Computing the Internet is Knowledge at your fingertips if you choose understand it. -2015-

Better video cards for the new 8-core Mac Pro...?

I don't know a ton about video cards. I did some research and the internet says that the Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 video card is the best card out right now. Will it work in the 8-core macpro? If not, or if it's not the best, what is the best video card that will work in the 8-core macpro?
P.S.
Does anyone know how to tell exactly whether a video card is better from another? I mean I can guess a video card at 1792MB is going to be better then one at 512MB, but I've also heard that, for example, the ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB is better then the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB, and apple charges more for it so it probably is better, but all that tells me is the name of the cards, and that they are both at 512MB, so from that without any other information I would assume they're exactly the same just made by different companies, but there must be some other details that would explain why it's better right? Thanks in advance

Well I found out the Quadro FX 4800 works on it, that looks pretty good.
It's a good card, but it has a different application focus.
What applications do you use?
Answering that helps determine what the best card is.
The 5800 is better though, will it work?
Better, how?
The spec's read better?
How about real world performance?
Benchmarks?
They are very similar in shape and such.
Shape has little to do with anything.
The ROM is the key.
If the card is not produced as "OS X compatible", it does not have Mac ROM and cannot be used.
If there is a Mac edition that is similar (same GPU series, similar architecture) the ROM may be flashed to Mac ROM.
Especially in Geforce cards, the ability to edit ROMs and even write portions of the ROM is necessary to be able to flash a card.
Even then, no guarantees.
Often a port on a flashed card won't work after flashing.
Seems the 5800 has a 10 bit display port, so if the card were flashable, the display port wouldn't work.
The ROM chip size of a card is also of concern.
Many cards require either a new, larger ROM chip to accept the Mac ROM (soldering), or, require a hacked, "reduced" ROM to be written to allow flash.
Invariably, there will be some feature loss with a reduced ROM, but a good hacker usually gets rid of superfluous stuff.
Cards with more VRAM than the Mac counterpart will often times lose the extra VRAM- it won't be read by OS X.
Then there is the EFI question, which often creates a final stumbling block for converting a card.
There are many pioneers who flash cards.
If a card is flashable, it has already been done.
The Quadro 4500, 4800, and 5600 have all been worked out.
As of yet, the 5800 hasn't been sussed out for flash (as far as I can find).
Flashing the card is easy.
Finding a physically compatible card and a compatible ROM are the hard parts.
The two best retail cards for the Mac Pro are the Geforce GTX 285 and the Radeon HD 4870.

Upgrade RAM or Separate Video Card

I'm looking to buy a 21.5" iMac. I do some photo editing with photoshop elements and iphoto. I also use iMovie but don't do intense graphics or video work.
So I have two considerations:
1. Should I purchase the iMac with a separate NVIDIA graphics card?
2. Should I upgrade to 16GB of RAM
Doing both would be a bit too expensive so I need to know if the base model will likely be fine for me or if I should consider upgrading the ram or video card.
Thoughts?

Can I ask what you determine the difference to be between professional use and home movie use? I once made a home movie that was over an hour long.
Basically I would like to purchase a new 15" MacBook Pro and am wondering if I should get the more expensive one with the Nvidia Graphics Card or without. I like to do a lot of video editing on iMovie and have thousands and thousands of photos on iPhoto that I like to edit.
Do I need the Nvidia graphics card or should I get the standard 15" model and up the memory/processor/hard drive?
Thank you!

Video Card: Cores vs RAM

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