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Agree with Buzz--no easy answers here.
For your use, I'd probably buy the Chris machine, slap an SSD and better video card in it, and then use if for a while to see if I need more CPU speed. Services will do that kind of upgrade for maybe $400? $600? Haven't looked lately.....
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mikebw wrote:
[quote=tahoedrew]
If you go for it and want a better video card, I'd make a deal with you for your GT120 and some cash for my Radeon 5870: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?3,2098206
~A
The GT120 is a dog, and I find it strange that it would only have the one. He must have removed something better and put this in. It's basically the minimum card you would need to get up and running.
That's the stock card for a 2009. He probably pulled whatever he upgraded to and put the stock card back in. 2010s and 2012s came stock with a 5770.
By the way, I don't see anything compelling on ebay right now. But I'm sure something will show up if you can wait.
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AllGold wrote:
[quote=mikebw]
[quote=tahoedrew]
If you go for it and want a better video card, I'd make a deal with you for your GT120 and some cash for my Radeon 5870: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?3,2098206
~A
The GT120 is a dog, and I find it strange that it would only have the one. He must have removed something better and put this in. It's basically the minimum card you would need to get up and running.
That's the stock card for a 2009. He probably pulled whatever he upgraded to and put the stock card back in. 2010s and 2012s came stock with a 5770.
Agree on all fronts. I want a GT120 as a backup to my non-Apple blessed GTX 970 in case I have bootup issues or need a fully compatible video card for troubleshooting.
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ah..interesting on the video card,.I need to run an NEC Pa272w which has 2560x1440 native res..but I'd need a second monitor as well
Is this going to strain things?
Not even sure how a card like this suffers when stressed..What actually happens? slow rewrites?
I do a bit of home cooked video but no gaming
Mainly photoshop work etc.
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agree, the nVidia gt120 suxs. And, without a SATA-III controller or PCI-e host card,
drive throughput is hamstrung.
Also consider, you will spend more $$ to get USB-3, BT-4, etc. Adds up quickly :oldfogey:
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Coming from a 7300GT in a Mac Pro 1,1, I think the GT120 is awesome. :wink: It will handle 2560x1440 just fine.
But I think the O.P. would be better off with a 2010 or 2012 anyway, and those come with a 5770.
Also, a PCIe card for an SSD ( https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDACL6G.S/) and USB 3.0 are definitely nice, but not neccessary.
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MrNoBody wrote:
agree, the nVidia gt120 suxs. And, without a SATA-III controller or PCI-e host card,
drive throughput is hamstrung.
Also consider, you will spend more $$ to get USB-3, BT-4, etc. Adds up quickly :oldfogey:
Mr..
Based on that scathing critique, what are you suggesting I do : )
So these machines are SATA II..
Aware of the USB 2.0 issue
EDIT: Also, what is the "PCI-e host card you are referring to, USB 3?
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You know, Gene L mentioned a couple of days ago that he has a Mac Pro lying around just getting underfoot. You might consider pinging him to see if the two of you can come to an agreement of some sort.
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Kraniac, just saying $750 seems steep for what you're getting.
"Also, what is the "PCI-e host card..."
A card like the Apricorn Velocity Solo x2, lets you mount a SATA 6G SSD
on the card which plugs into a PCI-e 2X slot plus the Solo x2 has a second
port for another SATA 6G drive.
USB-3 cards are <$20 & a BlueTooth 4 dongle is <$10 (MP 3,1 & 4,1 have
documented issues with the built-in BT-2 module).
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AllGold wrote:
Coming from a 7300GT in a Mac Pro 1,1, I think the GT120 is awesome. :wink: It will handle 2560x1440 just fine.
But I think the O.P. would be better off with a 2010 or 2012 anyway, and those come with a 5770.
Also, a PCIe card for an SSD ( https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDACL6G.S/) and USB 3.0 are definitely nice, but not necessary.
After you try it, you'll disagree w/ yourself and insist on PCIe booting, whether it be via an adapter w/ the SSD mounted on it, or a pricier blade configuration. Difficult to explain, but while booting and using whatever's in the drive bays of either of our Mac Pro's is nice; going the PCIe route actually makes me smile every time.
Also, I like the pep of the 5870, just wish it wasn't such a power monger... I've been on the lookout for a high performance GPU that doesn't tax the state's hydroelectric resources quite a much. Also, another vote that the GT120 barks.
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