GPU (graphics card) and DP

[billgers]

Hey all-

as I am finalizing my attempt to milk my early 2008 Mac for another few years, one of the remaining upgrades I am considering is a new GPU. Right now, I have a stock ATI Radeon 2600XT in the machine. I also have a nVidia GeForce GT 120 sitting in a box in my closet. It was the stock base GPU for the 2009 model, but I've never used it and I've heard it would be a minimal performance upgrade. I've done some research and it appears that if I want a bit more boost, I could go with any of the GeForce GTX660, or the Radeon HD5770 or 4870. There are pluses and minuses to each of these along the bang/buck continuum. I understand that the GTX660 would be fastest, but I also understand that I would lose my boot screen.

The question is this: for audio production (primarily MIDI and VI's) in DP, does the GPU make a big difference? Is there any point in upgrading and if I do it will I notice a performance boost in terms of scrolling or ability to run more VI's? If I do the upgrade, should I use the GT120 that is in my closet or pay up to go with something better? Lastly, if I got with the GTX660, does it make a difference that I would lose my boot screen? What are the disadvantages of that situation?

Thanks!

[James Steele]

I understand that the GTX660 would be fastest, but I also understand that I would lose my boot screen.

I may not have much to add here, but sometimes the first reply will get the ball rolling a bit. Is the GTX660 not a Mac card? Is that why you'd lose the boot screen? I've had a couple of times where having the ability to hold down the Option key during boot and designate the boot partition has saved my butt, and for that reason alone I would never install a GPU that was designed by the manufacturer for use with Macs. I know in many cases, you can flash Windows graphics cards to work on Macs but you forfeit this ability and thus, for ME, they're not worth the money saved over the "official" Mac version of a card.

I don't honestly know how much a faster GPU contributes to improved AUDIO performance of DP. I plead ignorance. I thought of it as more of a convenience to allow for faster screen updates and scrolling, and assumed it didn't really make much impact on audio tasks. I may be completely wrong there and, if so, hopefully others with more experience regarding that can educate me.

[HCMarkus]

I recall a lot of folks working with sound for picture having real issues with GPUs that were older than the 5770. If you are dealing with audio only, your needs may be less stringent.

[James Steele]

I recall a lot of folks working with sound for picture having real issues with GPUs that were older than the 5770. If you are dealing with audio only, your needs may be less stringent.

Good point! I imagine if you're using the Movie Window a great deal that would totally account for it.

[billgers]

I understand that the GTX660 would be fastest, but I also understand that I would lose my boot screen.

I may not have much to add here, but sometimes the first reply will get the ball rolling a bit. Is the GTX660 not a Mac card? Is that why you'd lose the boot screen? I've had a couple of times where having the ability to hold down the Option key during boot and designate the boot partition has saved my butt, and for that reason alone I would never install a GPU that was designed by the manufacturer for use with Macs. I know in many cases, you can flash Windows graphics cards to work on Macs but you forfeit this ability and thus, for ME, they're not worth the money saved over the "official" Mac version of a card.

I don't honestly know how much a faster GPU contributes to improved AUDIO performance of DP. I plead ignorance. I thought of it as more of a convenience to allow for faster screen updates and scrolling, and assumed it didn't really make much impact on audio tasks. I may be completely wrong there and, if so, hopefully others with more experience regarding that can educate me.

James - thank your for the response. It has been about a month since I did all my research on this, but I seem to recall that the GTX660 could work in certain situation. Ok - I just did a google search and found the following posted on the apple forums ('cause everything you read on the internet is true )

bubbamj
Feb 17, 2013 11:40 AM
in response to Kappy

"The last AMD card to work at ALL is the 5870. Nvidia, however, has native support under 10.8, so GTX 500/600 cards DO have boot screens, even though they are normal PC graphics cards. Google it, and you will find many forum posts about it. "

OTOH, I posted this topic on KVR Audio and the first responder told me not to waste my time because I will see negligible improvement for the type of work that I do. So, perhaps this would be a waste of time and money. I'm just dying to figure out how to best maximize what I've got.

[James Steele]

I have a friend who recently upgraded his sample drive to an SSD and he told me it made a pretty major difference. I guess a lot of VIs stream samples, and so, according to him, he saw a noticeable improvement in this amount of VIs he could run.

[billgers]

I have a friend who recently upgraded his sample drive to an SSD and he told me it made a pretty major difference. I guess a lot of VIs stream samples, and so, according to him, he saw a noticeable improvement in this amount of VIs he could run.

That was on my list of possible upgrades. So far I've moved all my apps to a new SSD boot drive and I've upgraded to Mavericks and 8.06. I would imagine that streaming off an SSD would definitely make a difference although I may wait on that because I would need a 1TB drive to take all my sample libraries.