How does the gaming performance of the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro compare to earlier models?

Please note that all models mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. The "Early 2009" Mac Pro line was replaced by the "Mid-2010" line on July 27, 2010.

In Apple's own testing, the company reports that the stock NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory in the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models is 2.9 times and 2.2 times faster in Call of Duty 4 and Quake 4, respectively, than the stock ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory in the "Early 2008" Mac Pro.

Apple also reports that the ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory -- available for the "Early 2009/Nehalem" models as a US$200 build-to-order option -- is 6.6 times and 5.1 times faster in Call of Duty 4 and Quake 4, respectively, than the stock graphics card in their predecessors.

However, for gaming, nothing beats real-world opinions regarding performance.

In its review, Engadget was unimpressed by the gaming performance of the stock graphics card, noting:

It's just marginally faster than much cheaper consumer-level rigs at doing consumer-level things, and it's downright lousy at gaming. In fact, we had to force the resolution to 1600x1200 and turn anti-aliasing off entirely to get Call of Duty 4 to become playable.

In a more detailed review, C|Net also tested Call of Duty 4 and found:

Yes, the 512 MB GeForce GT 120 card provides a marked improvement in 3D performance compared with the older Mac Pros. But our Call of Duty 4 time-demo tests ran at 1680x1050 and 4x anti-aliasing, both relatively forgiving settings, and the new Mac Pro was unable to hit an even 30 frames per second.

The superb BareFeats -- always the source to go to for gaming results -- hit the "Early 2009" Mac Pro with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Call of Duty 4, Prey, and Halo, and reported:

The GeForce 120 GT is obviously weak when it comes to 3G gaming (or any 3D accelerated app). It's better than the Radeon HD 2600 [in the previous model] or GeForce 7300 GT and does sell in a kit for [US]$150. It works in older models of Mac Pro, but it's not in the same league as the GeForce 8800 GT and Radeon HD 3870 -- much less the 4870 [available by build-to-order]. . .

Notice that the GeForce 130 GT that comes in the high-end iMac ran right in the middle of the pack. And it blows away the 120 GT comes standard on the Mac Pro.

Ultimately, the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models are capable of gaming, but gaming is not their strongest attribute. Given the relatively high price of the Mac Pro, gamers would be better off considering a recent high-end iMac, a custom built gaming computer, or a games console to meet their gaming needs.

Site sponsor PowerMax has new and used Mac Pro models available free of sales tax. Site sponsor Other World Computing sells high-quality hard drives and memory for the Mac Pro for hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than Apple charges.

Also see:

• How does the gaming performance of the "Early 2009" Aluminum iMac Core 2 Duo models compare to earlier Aluminum iMac models? How much faster are the graphics?
• How much faster are the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models than the "Early 2008" Mac Pro models?