Mac Pro queries

I have just bought a Mac Pro over easter. It's the bog standard dual 2.8 quad core with the stock 2Gb ram and the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB ram. I downloaded the latest SL client and wasn't overly impressed with the framerates compared to my PC with a 2.3 core 2 duo and a 7900GT graphics. I would have liked the 8800GT card with the Mac but I didnt want to wait, and finances won. Will probably get one later. Would the nVidea card make much difference to the 2600XT with SL?

The other problem is when I set the water ripple effects in the settings it crashes the client.
There also seems to be some controvesy on the video ram settings. I have tried setting to 256 and also 128 with no noticable difference.

I haven't had the opportunity to try those video cards on a Mac Pro yet. (All the Mac Pro systems I have used are the previous generation of hardware.) Based on my experiences on Windows boxes, I would expect the 8800GT to make a big difference -- 1.5 to 2x the frame rate. Results on a Mac might be different because of video drivers, but I certainly expect the NVidia card to be an improvement.

I've found the 8800GT (512mb) to be a superb card. My previous machine had a 6800 Ultra (256mb) and ran at frame-rates of around 15 to 25fps on the release candidate viewer with medium detail and low draw distance. With my new machine I get frame-rates closer to 50 to 60 fps with full-detail and the same draw-distance (64m, I rarely see the benefit of more).

So that's a good double speed increase for me, your improvement may vary depending how you usually use SL and what you do in it. But I'm certainly pleased.

My long-term plan is see if Apple eventually sees reason and creates drivers for ATI cards that support Crossfire (linking cards) at which point I will get myself two good ATI cards to put in the two 16x PCI-E slots.