Hi

I have an early 2008 Mac Pro, 2 x 3GHz, quad-Core Xeon, 8GB ram, latest OS, latest FC Studio, with original Nvidia 8800 GT card…Would you recommend the ATI 5870 card for my set up? Would it work well in this set up for both FCP 7 and MOTION 4, and would I notice a definite speed/reliability improvement over the 8800 GT?

If so, where best to purchase the ATI 5870?

Thanks
K

Kent,

I'm in the same boat as you except I have an ATI Radeon HD2600 card. Badly need to upgrade but I can't find any solid info on what's best. All reviews seem to address gaming with graphics cards, but not editing. Would love to know what others are using. Tired of getting this message from FCP "Your hardware cannot render at the requested size and depth."

Well, it seems this is the current answer - The Chock of the Titans in Motion: ATI 5870 vs Quadro 4000 | Übermedia (http://www.ubermediahd.com/blog/?p=137)

Bout $500 once you add tax/shipping

Currently you won't see much difference between 5870 and 5770 on Pro Apps but that could change with the next Final Cut Studio in spring.

5870 vs Quadra 4000 similar to the tests you point to.
Quadro 4000 for Mac > Pro Apps (http://barefeats.com/wst10g10.html)

5870 vs 5770 on various Mac Pros not much of a difference on Pro Apps.
Radeon 5770 and 5870 on various Mac Pro models (http://barefeats.com/wst10g7.html)

Bit a bigger difference in other tests. This using 2008 Mac Pro
http://barefeats.com/wst10g6.html

Very helpful - Thanks Craig

Thanks, guys. This is a big help.

I use an 8-core Mac Pro with a 5870 card, and I've been working a lot with After Effects, which runs quite nicely -- and AE requires much more power than Motion. I haven't cranked up Motion on my new box yet, but have no doubt it would run at screaming speeds, since I've run Motion on systems that totally choke on AE.