Graphics card questions

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Well currently the only card available out of those three is the 285, and that is the best single GPU card. 9600GT is basically and older card with lower speeds than all those others and is a low end solution. The GTX 480 isnt even spoken of yet because there isn't much information about it, I doubt we'll see it in the near future. GTX 395's are rumored to be coming out soon this year but come with an estimated price tag of about 700-800 USD. You will probably never see anything like them (except the 9600) in a mac.
 
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Mercedes1787
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Man, apple really needs to do something in the hardware department. I probably won't get a new iMac 'till mid or late next year but I hope they support better graphics cards (and have them use multiple ones better as well, e.g 3x NVIIDA GTX 285 [or 395/480 when they come out] or have SLI and CROSSFIRE)

Now I know someone's gonna say something about building a PC, well I have an Xbox 360, a PSP, and I might be buying a PS2 soon so I'm not that into using my computer as a gaming machine, but I just wanna use a good graphics card. I'll just wait 'till they support better ones and have them use multiple ones better.
 
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You'd be better off going Mac Pro if your interest is having a choice of graphics cards. If that doesn't suffice, PC is the way to go.
 
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Mercedes1787
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Yeah, I hope the late 2010 model or the early/mid 2011 model supports larger graphics cards, or uses multiple ones better (or has SLI and CROSSFIRE)
 
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chas_m

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Man, apple really needs to do something in the hardware department.

Not really.

The cards in the iMacs (et al) may not impress gamers and 3D render artists, but they impress everyone else. Indeed they are WAY overkill for the purposes 95% of Mac users put them to, which is precisely why Apple pioneered Quartz (now Core Animation).

They have a machine for people who need to play the every-year-a-better-video-card game; it's called a Mac Pro.

I'm using Photoshop every day on a GMA950 chipset; I don't even HAVE a real video card and I have ZERO complaints about the speed and performance (and yes, I'm aware I'd have negative numbers of complaints if I *did* have a real video card!).

Gamers should offload their gaming to machines built for that purpose, or order the best video card available at the time and live with it.
 
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You ask alot of questions. I suggest google. If you want to know what certain things are like SLI and Xfire, or about benchmarks of graphics cards, GOOGLE it. I've read this thread over and over and you always come back to the same questions. I have a gtx260 in my pc at home and it destroys my ATI 5770 i have. Note that each of the different graphics card manufacturers have theyre own pluses and downsides. ATI lately runs cooler the nvidia. But there are many reasons for this. Faster core speeds, but smaller bandwidths, Open coolers, different architectures. Where as nvidia has double and triple the bandwidth but slower clock speeds.

You seem to be so into ATI but I'd say try both and take your own route. I own both and I prefer to use my Nvidia cards more. Also note that macs use mac SPECIFIC cards only, You can't just plug in any ole card and hope it works. The architecture on pc/mac cards are different, and thus the mac cards are more expensive.

Further questions regards to benchmarking , whats better for gaming etc. I'd recommend google. You would be amazed at the answers you'll find alot quicker then waiting for someone to post.
 
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Mercedes1787
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How good is the EVGA GeForce GTX 285 for gaming and same goes for the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 for Mac by PNY
 

pigoo3

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Thanks guys

THIS TOPIC CAN BE CLOSED NOW

If you want some friendly advice...if you want this topic/thread to end...STOP REPLYING TO IT!;)

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