Gaming video card? (while in Boot Camp)

[alcimedes]

Ok, so here's the deal. I have a MacPro tower at home. It's the 3.1 version.

One 16x SuperDrive
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
2GB (2 x 1GB)
Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
Apple Mighty Mouse
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB (Two dual-link DVI)

So, the question is, what video card would you all recommend for playing games IN WINDOWS.

I normally game in Boot camp, never really in OSX, so I don't really care if the video card works in OSX or not. So all you gamers out there, what card would you recommend for PC gaming that's in the $100 to $250 range? Anything special I should keep in mind with this being a Mac? If i have two PCI-X 2.0 slots I should be able to get another decent video card in there, right?

[torifile]

In that price range, you could get a Radeon HD 4890. Here's a comprehensive review (http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/18549-ati-radeon-hd-4890-roundup-asus-diamond-his-sapphire-xfx.html) of the various cards. I've got the Diamond XOC card and it works well for Windows and in OS X, though I'm not sure if it would work on a real Mac in OS X.

[PB PM]

In that range I'd say your best options are, ATI 4870 or Nvidia GTS 260, in terms of bang for your buck.

[Eugene]

The HD 5850 comes out this month and should be $250, on the high end of your price range.

[Luca]

There's a monthly Tom's Hardware guide that compares various graphics cards at different price points. The first page will also give you an idea of what to expect in the future. Right now I think finding a good deal on a Radeon 4870/4890 or GeForce GTX 260/275 is the best way to go. I wouldn't drop much more than $150 or so on a card right now with new hardware coming out fairly soon and no major performance increases or price drops in the last few months.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404.html

[Maciej]

Does his hardware support dual GPUs?

[PB PM]

Mac Pros don't support SLI/Crossfire, but you can have two cards. It works best if you if you have two of the same brand though.

[alcimedes]

The HD 5850 comes out this month and should be $250, on the high end of your price range.

I wish I could say I know what that means. :D

I assume it's a solid video card? It's been a decade since I built a gaming rig, and I'm so far out of the game at this point I feel like my Grandpa learning to play solitaire on the computer when I go to the gaming sites.

The resolutions they're playing these games at seem unbelievable to me. I think the last time I bought a video card they topped out at 1280x1024 with a whopping 2x AA going. :D

I'll check out Tom's hardware again. Had forgotten about them, but used to go there regularly when checking out pricing.

Edit:

After reading it sounds like Eugene has the right idea. Wait a month, see what's what.

[Xaqtly]

This doesn't help really, but I got the Mac edition GTX 285 last week. In Windows 7 RC, it seems to perform pretty well. I was able to run Crysis on ultimate with everything all the way up at over 30 fps.

[Luca]

This doesn't help really, but I got the Mac edition GTX 285 last week. In Windows 7 RC, it seems to perform pretty well. I was able to run Crysis on ultimate with everything all the way up at over 30 fps.

Wow, the GTX 285 Mac Edition is $100 more than the PC version. Is it really worth it when you're just booting into Windows for games anyway? Or did you sell your old video card to make up the difference?

[Eugene]

Radeon HD 5000 series officially blows away everything else: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3643

[turtle]

That 5000 series looks really good. I'd consider switching from my 4870 if I thought I'd use the features of the new card. :D

[torifile]

I'm still within my return period. If I knew that the 5800 series worked in a hackintosh I'd seriously consider it.