The 9000 would logically seem like the more powerful card - but it seems they match up almost identical in tests - and the 8500 is more expensive on maczone.com
Technically, the 9000 and the 8500 are supposed to perform the same, since the 9000 is lower power, lower cost version of the 8500. In reality, the 8500 is faster than the 9000 in some things and vice versa. I think, overall, the 8500 has a slight edge in 3D.
The 8500 is better. If you have the money, and you want a nice graphics card, get the 8500. If you want to save money, get the 9000. They're both good graphics cards, but the 8500 is better.
Comments
ATI's own reply on how the two compare
http://www.ati.com:80/products/mac/r...ome/faq.html#6
Official links to the two different cards
http://mirror.ati.com/products/mac/r...ome/index.html
http://mirror.ati.com/products/mac/r...0me/index.html
Moving now...