3 GHz MacPro video card choice

[curtd]

Does anybody have thoughts on the choices available for video cards with the new MacPro?

2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $150]
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $250]
3 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $300]
4 x NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB [Add $450]
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI) [Add $1650]

I'll be using Photoshop CS2 and Apetrure mostly. Thanks all!

[Ken_Tanaka]

Curt: I chose the (standard?) single NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT for use with my (also new) 30" Cinema display. It's just fine, producing the target resolution of 2560x1600 at 32-bit color. I do not play games with my computer, so cannot comment from that perspective. My usage is mostly image-based work with CS2, Bridge, and other related apps.

[fxgeek]

If you're going to be using Aperture, I suggest you opt for the X1900. It has considerably better performance than the 7300 but without the expense of the 4500 (which isn't really worth it unless you're doing heavy 3d graphics or motion work)

[Martin_Doudoroff]

This is a really interesting question, and I'm unaware of any concrete data on which to draw a conclusion. First of all, you don't mention whether you're planning to use one monitor, or two, nor whether one or two of those monitors will be of the 30" variety. The choice between two cards and one card might be relevant. Second, there's the driver question: you're comparing options from two different chipset manufacturers, so two different drivers for two different graphics architectures. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, nobody has run benchmarks on these video cards vis a vis the software you intend to use.

My general inclination would be to pick up the X1900--in fact, that's what I did. I'm also using Aperture and Photoshop. I would second the statement that the Quadro is probably a waste of money if you're not into CAD.

You can take a little consolation in the fact that the video card(s) are a relatively insignificant cost factor in your purchase, so if you choose to replace them down the line, it isn't too tragic.