video card questions - :)

[abrader]

Hi-

I am working on a new crazy build a PC plan;

I am trying to choose between Nvidia and ATI video card hardware.

Would you say it is better to buy;

- 1X Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT W/ 512 MB Vram

OR

- 2X ATI Radeon HD 2600 256 MB Vram

From everything I am reading it seems that ATI video cards stomp the Nvidia stuff - BUT will most applications be able to take advantage of an array of ATI cards?

[Draft]

Get one 4850 instead of two 2600s.

[disgruntled_jojo]

Get one 4850 instead of two 2600s.

Yep.

[abrader]

Anyone disagree that ATI > Nvidia?

[Draft]

The new ATI cards are better than the new Nvidia cards.

[Smooth Groove]

Nvidia is still the fastest but ATI wins easily in terms of price/performance.  Supposedly, Nvidia is building some new cards to battle ATI in the value sector though. 

If you don't want to spend too much and still have really good performance, get a 4870.  It's only $300.  You spend that much on games each month. 

[abrader]

Cool.

Im considering building out a 8 core mac pro with OS X and Windows running on it.

This is what I have so far;

Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
4GB (4 x 1GB)
2X 300GB 15,000-rpm SAS HDD

I need to pick the video card hardware.

I realized that I have a nice 30" 2500x1600 available to me

[Smooth Groove]

The 8 core motherboard is actually slower for most games.  It's not made for gaming.  Just get a regular quad-core setup. 

You need to buy a SLI ready motherboard if you want 2 Nvidia cards to drive that 30" mon.  In terms of multi-gpu, Nvidia is still more reliable than ATI. 

[disgruntled_jojo]

Cool.

Im considering building out a 8 core mac pro with OS X and Windows running on it.

This is what I have so far;

Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
4GB (4 x 1GB)
2X 300GB 15,000-rpm SAS HDD

I need to pick the video card hardware.

I realized that I have a nice 30" 2500x1600 available to me

I'd recommend Tom's Hardware's latest video card charts when you're trying to decide on a video card.  If you have the money to blow and a mobo that supports it, two 4850s would serve you better than a 4870 in terms of future-proofing.  Also note that although the new nvidia cards are not as good in terms of price/performance for pure graphics, they do include a physics processor on board.  Any game that uses PhysX you can turn on hardware physics acceleration.  If that's important to you.  I'd suggest you just go with an ATI card for now