10.6.3 Graphics update?

Hi Pierre,

Appreciate your comments. 🙂
I think the 4870 is a great card. Works great overall as you say. I didn't test it after the 10.6.3 update so I'll assume it's just running fine as usual but still be capable of more.
I've been waiting a long time for the GeForce 285 I have to just match the 4870's performance. It's always seemed to lag behind the Radeon, especially as regards system interface. It seemed clumsier.
In Apps like PS4 and AE, tests confirmed the 4870 was the slightly faster card. And one Rosetta game I really liked played horribly with the Nvidia, the gamers card.

But... I think 10.6.3 turned it around. At least it's on a par with the 4870 now. I think the responsiveness of the system interface is still off, but it seems better. I think it will go on into the future that Nvidia still can't make cards that "meld" together with a Mac like ATI/AMD cards have.
But the tests I've run since the change to 6.3 say it's slightly over that of the 4870 now. Adobe apps show that to me anyway. The one game I had problems with is much better though I think the Radeon was sharper. Still, Apple must have addressed something there. Something with the graphics or with Rosetta.

Well, the changes aren't enough to justify the cost of the card in my view, but for those of us who fell for it, at least it's among the two best cards out there,...now... 😉

Merci, Pierre.

Thanks, BEIGE,

I had heard before that the 285 was not working out for Maya and other 3D apps. That's a pretty graphic example of it not.
My 3D programs aren't in the class of yours so I wouldn't be able to tell if 6.3 made a difference. If I were using Maya or similar programs (which I would be if I had money, dang it), that would be pretty much the final straw in even considering the GTX285.

I had gone back to the Radeon a long time ago, it always seemed to work better overall and the scores in the tests I made were more than fine. But with every mention of a graphics change, usually in a OS update, I put the 285 back in again and see if it's improved. Well, against the 4870 at least, it never really has.
As I said though, I thought some improvement had occurred in 6.3. It seemed so minor that I needed another perspective or two though. So I thank you BEIGE for a great reply. And one that should help a lot of people who are into the apps you are.

For me I think I'm watching a pot boil, where the oven may or may not even be turned on.

It's a pleasure talking to you.

Always the same here, Mon Ami, I like your spirit ... 🙂

The " Meld". What could that possibly be? Is there something inherent in Nvidia graphic cards, the drivers maybe as is said, that Apple simply cannot understand or work with to get Nvidia cards to work as well as ATI cards generally do in Macs?

Nah, can't be. Apple knows everything... 😎

I've tried updating Flash player a couple times in the past month or so and the opened file always said I was using an even later (newer) version, so it wouldn't install. Has Adobe come out with something new? An effort to please Apple during these rancorous times? I'll have to go sneak around and see...

Message was edited by: Samsara

I downloaded and installed it without using the uninstaller first. There seemed to be none. Just a straight install with no error messages saying the revision was too old or too new. It popped right in. Safari seemed the same.
So, now what? Lol. 🙂

"Important: All users should uninstall any currently installed Flash Player before installing the latest prerelease. See below and the Release Notes for more information."

Did that apply to me ? Lol. Not the first time I rushed in a head without thinking. Bit of the tempus fugit lately.
Ok, I'll go back and see what I'm missing. Thanks Hatter.

With 2.93 x 8, you don't have to worry about off loading from cpu to gpu, and you are running with GTX as it isn't supported with ATI. OpenCL is being ported and ATI will eventually do more with GPGPU/CUDA.

Have any good articles about that? I don't see much of what's happening in terms of Graphics development. I hear a term and topic like OpenCL come along and then it fades into bits and pieces on the web. It's hard to get a picture of where or what anything is at any one time.
A ways away I would guess. The 285 as I understood was supposed to have "untapped" abilities to make it a better card for the new technologies coming out. Since the 285's drivers seem out of Apples control to master, I'd always hoped that the industries moving forward in general would push the 285 into the something special category. That may be the case, but it seems there will be other, better cards out there to choose from way before that.

Quality stuff. Pays to keep an eye out.
I'll miss ya, H-man. 🙂