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Best graphics card for Aperture and G5?

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paulzoom

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I have a dual GHZ G5 with 2.5 gigs of Ram. What is the best graphics card available? If I did upgrade how close would performance be compared to an intel Mac Desktop? Will more memory make much of a difference. My version of the G5 has 8 slots. I've read that Aperture relies mainly on the graphics card so I'm not sure how much difference memory would make.
 
If you have an AGP PowerMac then the best card would probably be the X800 or X850 APG card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X800-XT-256M-DualVGA-POWER-MAC-G4-VIDEO-CARD_W0QQitemZ250117989268QQihZ015QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good deal for an X800XT card, but it's a flashes PC card, works fine on the Mac, but only has VGA ports, no DVI or AGP support

If your Mac usee PCI-Express, then look for the X1900

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X1900-G5-MAC-EDITION-256MB-PCI-EXPRESS-NEW_W0QQitemZ160120112128QQihZ006QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Up to a certain extent, Aperture also likes more memory. I went to 2 gigs and it helped, but when I went to 4 gigs, not so much.
--
Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}
http://www.dougwigton.com/
 
I'm not at my computer right now. How can I tell which model it is? I do not it's the Dual 2.0ghz mode that had 8 memory slots; would that be a clue?
 
Sorry for the bad spelling. I was trying to say it is the G5 with 8 memory slots. I thought there was only one version of that for the G5, the PCI-express, I think.
 
Hi paulzoom,

I did a graphics card upgrade about 2 months ago and am very happy with the results. I posted a similar question to yours and got great advice here.

I am on a Dual 2.3 GHz PPC G5. I upgraded to the ATI RADEON X1900 from the Nivdia GeForce 6600 card that came with the machine. I also added RAM, going from 2.5 GB to 4.5 GB.

The added RAM was to improve the speed of Photoshop. It made a really noticable difference with PS speed; thus the combined upgrade of RAM and graphics card has turned this into a great machine.

My experience with Aperture is that the X1900 has improved performance from what I consider "poor", to very good. Aperture launches much faster, the HUD comes up practically as soon as I click on the icon and all HUD adjustments are completed quickly. With the X1900, there is almost no time delay between the time I adjust the slider and the visible adjustment on the image onscreen. Cycling through images in Aperture is faster. I'm happy with the improvement in speed. One thing though, I would not condider Aperture a "lightening fast" program. Aperture offers a lot of things that I need/like in a program, but "super fast speed" is not one of them (at least not with the configuration I am using).

Having said that, the performance of Aperture has improved greatly with the new graphics card. After using the X1900, I would not consider using a slower graphics card with Aperture.

If you upgrade your graphics card, make certain the card is for a dual core PCI EXPRESS bus. There are a couple of different cards available.

I don't know anything about the speed difference between the PPC and the Intel Macs, so can't reply to that part of your question.

regards,
Londongal
 
Thanks for the info. Once I get home and verify which G5 I have I can make a decision.
Londongal said:
Hi paulzoom,

I did a graphics card upgrade about 2 months ago and am very happy
with the results. I posted a similar question to yours and got
great advice here.

I am on a Dual 2.3 GHz PPC G5. I upgraded to the ATI RADEON X1900
from the Nivdia GeForce 6600 card that came with the machine. I
also added RAM, going from 2.5 GB to 4.5 GB.

The added RAM was to improve the speed of Photoshop. It made a
really noticable difference with PS speed; thus the combined
upgrade of RAM and graphics card has turned this into a great
machine.

My experience with Aperture is that the X1900 has improved
performance from what I consider "poor", to very good. Aperture
launches much faster, the HUD comes up practically as soon as I
click on the icon and all HUD adjustments are completed quickly.
With the X1900, there is almost no time delay between the time I
adjust the slider and the visible adjustment on the image onscreen.
Cycling through images in Aperture is faster. I'm happy with the
improvement in speed. One thing though, I would not condider
Aperture a "lightening fast" program. Aperture offers a lot of
things that I need/like in a program, but "super fast speed" is not
one of them (at least not with the configuration I am using).

Having said that, the performance of Aperture has improved greatly
with the new graphics card. After using the X1900, I would not
consider using a slower graphics card with Aperture.

If you upgrade your graphics card, make certain the card is for a
dual core PCI EXPRESS bus. There are a couple of different cards
available.

I don't know anything about the speed difference between the PPC
and the Intel Macs, so can't reply to that part of your question.

regards,
Londongal
Click to expand...
 
I assume this means I have the AGP model:

ATI Radeon 9600 XT:

Chipset Model: ATY,RV360
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
Slot: SLOT-1
VRAM (Total): 128 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x4152
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-A13602-121
Jon Laye said:
If you have an AGP PowerMac then the best card would probably be
the X800 or X850 APG card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X800-XT-256M-DualVGA-POWER-MAC-G4-VIDEO-CARD_W0QQitemZ250117989268QQihZ015QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good deal for an X800XT card, but it's a flashes PC card, works
fine on the Mac, but only has VGA ports, no DVI or AGP support

If your Mac usee PCI-Express, then look for the X1900

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X1900-G5-MAC-EDITION-256MB-PCI-EXPRESS-NEW_W0QQitemZ160120112128QQihZ006QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...
 
I need DVI so I found this graphics card--RADEON™ 9800 PRO MAC EDITION. How much of an improvement would I see compared to my current Radeon 9600 XT?
 
The 9800 is better, but still old technology. I think you may get the same performance from a 6600 card, which is a mid range card, but much newer. I don't think I would spend the time or money to go from the 9600XT to the 9800. Perhaps an older 6800GT card?

Jon
 
Jon Laye said:
If you have an AGP PowerMac then the best card would probably be
the X800 or X850 APG card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X800-XT-256M-DualVGA-POWER-MAC-G4-VIDEO-CARD_W0QQitemZ250117989268QQihZ015QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good deal for an X800XT card, but it's a flashes PC card, works
fine on the Mac, but only has VGA ports, no DVI or AGP support

If your Mac usee PCI-Express, then look for the X1900

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X1900-G5-MAC-EDITION-256MB-PCI-EXPRESS-NEW_W0QQitemZ160120112128QQihZ006QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...
BEWARE FOLKS! This will not work for what you want it to do. If you're a gamer and not concerned with color depth or real resolution, then this card is for you. However, this card's DVI output is NON-FUNCTIONAL and you can only use ONE VGA monitor with this. The X800 XT Mac Edition (not the flashed version) has a DVI and ADC connector (which can easily be converted to another DVI with an adapter).

Go to the great folks at OtherWorld Computing. They will give you a GENUINE Mac card that works without workarounds and weirdness.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI%20Technologies/100435338/

Good luck!
Jeff
 
Lazarus the Mac said:
Jon Laye said:
If you have an AGP PowerMac then the best card would probably be
the X800 or X850 APG card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X800-XT-256M-DualVGA-POWER-MAC-G4-VIDEO-CARD_W0QQitemZ250117989268QQihZ015QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good deal for an X800XT card, but it's a flashes PC card, works
fine on the Mac, but only has VGA ports, no DVI or AGP support

If your Mac usee PCI-Express, then look for the X1900

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-RADEON-X1900-G5-MAC-EDITION-256MB-PCI-EXPRESS-NEW_W0QQitemZ160120112128QQihZ006QQcategoryZ25449QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...
BEWARE FOLKS! This will not work for what you want it to do. If
you're a gamer and not concerned with color depth or real
resolution, then this card is for you. However, this card's DVI
output is NON-FUNCTIONAL and you can only use ONE VGA monitor with
this. The X800 XT Mac Edition (not the flashed version) has a DVI
and ADC connector (which can easily be converted to another DVI
with an adapter).

Go to the great folks at OtherWorld Computing. They will give you
a GENUINE Mac card that works without workarounds and weirdness.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI%20Technologies/100435338/

Good luck!
Jeff
Click to expand...
Hi Jeff,

I'm confused about what you wrote here, would you clarify this for me please? I'm not a gamer and am looking to have the "best" performance I can achieve from my dual core G5. Forgive me if I'm asking an obvious question, but I'm at the early-ish stages of this learning curve.

I'm on a Mac and recently upgraded to the Radeon X1900 video card. From what I'm experiencing, the card is working well; colours and resolution are good, speed is much better than it was with my original card. Is there something I am missing here, with respect to my understanding and knowledge of what "good colours and resolution" is all about?

Thanks!
Londongal
 
These cards are great for gaming, but Aperture also uses the power in the graphics card to display ande render your images as you work. This moves CPU intensive tasks away from the CPU, leaving it for other intensive tasks. The cards listed on Ebay are PC cards that have been altered to work in the Mac. Make sure they have the connectors you need to attach whatever monitors you are using.

Jon
 
I'll add my vote for the X800 XT. I switched to that card on my G5 dual 1.8 w/ 4GB Ram a couple of months after Aperture 1.5 was released. The combo of card and speed increases in the software made a very noticeable improvement in usability. Slider controls are still 'sticky' for some the more GPU intensive controls, so for those I've set up presets that get close to typical adjustments I make for that parameter then click on the fine adjustment arrows.

Craig
 
Sounds like Paul needs an AGP card, which means X800 rather than X1900. The X800 is not that far behind the X1900 in terms of pipelines and speed. It was a real screamer in its day - at least twice as fast as the 9800.

Paul, don't bother with a 9800. Find yourself Mac-version X800, then start saving for a MacPro. Barefeats.com did some tests that showed the X800 WAY ahead of the 9800 on Core Image tasks. They also showed that a 2GHz dual G5 + X800 outperformed a MacPro + stock Nvidia 7300 card. To top an AGP G5 + X800, you'll need a newer PCIe G5 or MacPro + X1900 or better.

Regarding RAM, I also went from 2GB to 4GB and didn't see much improvement when running Aperture solo. The extra RAM definitely helps, though, when running Aperture and Photoshop simultaneously. So does a fast second internal HD (or eSATA external HD) for the Aperture library and image files.

I've got a 2GHz dual G5 + X800 + 4GB RAM + 500GB Maxtor Ultra16, and it runs Aperture pretty well. Bogs down some when stamping adjustments to multiple images or spotting a lot in a large (25,000+) library, but I think this is more an issue of software than of hardware. Looking forward to Aperture 2.0.

--
'No matter where you go, there you are.'
 
be very careful in your hunt. there are lots of fake x800's on ebay that are flashed as noted above. a real x800 used is going for more than they sold for new. while the 9800's aren't the end all be all, at least you can find them and it will be a step up from the 9600 line. i use a 9800 pro se 256mb (basically the last 9800 series produced) and i'm ok with aperture on my dp 2.5GHz with 3.5 gb ram running a ACD 23" (the older plastic one). i'd like an x800 too, but till the supply catches up with the current demand, i'll sit tight. the tests on barefeets.com are very useful in seeing the differences between the cards. my guess is that if the x800 is never again produced, it will make more folks like me just suck it up for a year or 2 and then pony up for whatever the new mac pro is. i try to get 5 years out of a mac before it gets a new brother or sister from apple.com and i'm almost exactly at 3 years now with mine. still highly productive though.
 
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