ATI or NVIDIA which is the best way to go???

[BigLu]

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
or
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB

Which graphics card is the better way to go?
Melrose Mac is pushing the NVIDIA but im not so sure its a safe bet.

Ive read a few posts on similar subject but i would like to hear the latest info on this please.

 

[Andrae Palmer]

ATI Radeon 3870 is the best way to go for intel mac apps. GPU acceleration for apps like aperture, motion & color works best with the ATI X1900 or ATI 3870.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Actually the acceleration with the nVidia 8800GT is pretty equal with the ATI 3870 after the 10.5.5 update. And the 8800GT was still always faster than the X1900 in Apple's apps. The 2600HD is crap. It's slower than the older X1900 card, it just adds a few other features like 2 x DVI|DL ports.

IMO, I would recommend buying the system with the 8800GT and purchasing the 3870 separate -- the 3870 is an aftermarket card anyway. You could go with the 2600HD and swap out for the 3870 if you want to go that route... Might save you $100 I think.

That said, I would still recommend the 3870 to anyone who does a lot with Motion3 or Color. Other apps it really doesn't matter. If you're doing 3D work with Modo, Maya, etc.. Then nVidia is better. 20+ hours a week in Maya and you'll be wanting that Quadro card anyway.

 

[Kaku Ito]

Thanks to Jeff, my 3870's been working great for me, too.

 

[Loren White]

What about the quardo cards?