Powermac Graphics Cards and Monitors

[Bryson]

I'm just in the process of speccing a Powermac for work. It'll be primarily used for Final Cut Pro, Motion and a bit of Photoshop. I'm going to be using 2 x large Monitors (undecided as to which at the moment), and it'll either be the Dual 2.3 or the Dual 2.7. My questions are twofold:

1: If I end up with the Dual 2.3, the upgrade to the 9650 is a given (£23.50 - seems crazy not to have included it in the first place) but is it worth upgrading the 9650 to the Nvidia 6800 (£258.50) for the applications I'm going to be using?

2: Which monitors? Obviously I'm tempted by the Apple 23" Cinema Displays, but I see good things about the Dell 24" displays. CRTs may be better for colour, but I'll have a 9' Sony video preview monitor for that sort of thing in Final Cut anyway.

Many thanks in advance.

[BenRoethig]

For what you need, I think the 6800 would be worth the price. As for the Display, I'm heard very good things about the Dell. Those Mac users who can get past the nameplate seem to like it. I can't say about the UK, but they're on sale here for about $1000. That's close to $500 cheaper than the cinema display. The Cinema display's one advantage (other than they match the PowerMac) is the built in USB hub. It's not something I'd spend that much money on though.

[Luca]

I was going to disagree about the 6800, then I saw you put Motion as one of the things you'd be using it for. Get the 6800... it'll help for Motion, especially when you have dual monitors.

For monitors, if you're going dual you might consider the Dell 2001FP instead. It's a standard aspect ratio 20" that does 1600x1200. OTOH, maybe you should just get the 24" ones instead so each one can do full HD resolution. I would also personally avoid the Apple 23" because of the serious and seemingly neverending color problems. Combine that with the single DVI-only input and you're not in good shape. The Dells are going to be a lot more versatile, less expensive, and have better image quality to boot.