I too was shocked at a new PCI card. The folks at the nVidia booth at this past summer's MacWorld NY said they had no plans to do anything with PCI in the future. There are enough pre-AGP Macs out there that are still carrying the workload for their owners that the market for an upgraded video card is a viable one. ATi had lost a big chunk of the Mac market to nVidia when the Gforce cards came out, but now they look ready to take it back. ATi's drivers have always been way ahead of nVidia's anyway so I'm glad they're taking the Mac market seriously. Go ATi !!
$130 isn't exactly dirt cheap.......but I assume I could find one around $100 and it's good to know they're available now. Think Microcenter would have some?
Don't forget that the $129 is the MSRP (manufacturer's suggest retail price) so I think they would be a little cheaper from stores. For instance the MSRP of the 8500 and GeForce 3 cards is higher than what they go for. Except for my CompUSA, they are waaaaaaaaaaaayy overpriced.
The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition is a PCI-based graphics card which features 32MB of DDR memory. The card supports Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, accelerating QuickTime and OpenGL graphics rendering. The card supports DVD playback via ATI's Video Immersion technology, and Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) technology can be activated to smooth jaggy 3D images in real time.
The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition features three video connectors -- DVI-I, a digital interface compatible with many third-party flat panel displays; VGA, for standard CRT monitors, and S-Video out. Any two of the three connectors can be used to output video, enabling users to utilize a Mac equipped with the card as a dual-display system.
ATI said the card will be shipping to distributors and retailers and will be on shelves next week. The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition card carries a suggested retail price of US$129.
Radeon 8500 Mac Edition
ATI has also introduced its answer to rival nVidia's GeForce 3 graphics hardware, the AGP-based Radeon 8500 Mac Edition. The graphics board uses the Radeon 8500 graphics processing unit ATI originally released in 2001 for PC users.
The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition features a core clock speed of 250MHz and a memory clock speed of 275MHz. 64 MB of DDR memory is included.
The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition introduces Mac users to a number of new technologies, including:
*\tTruform, ATI's rendering technology which smooths 3D images in a way that doesn't significantly impact the card's ability to process complex 3D graphics;
*\tSmoothvision, a full scene anti-aliasing technology.
*\tSmartshader, ATI's programmable pixel and vertex shader technology;
*\tHyper Z II, a memory bandwidth saving technology;
*\tCharisma Engine II, a hardware transform, clipping and lighting engine that features a peak processing capability of up to 62.5 million triangles per second;
*\tPixel Tapestry II, a high-performance 3D rendering engine featuring four rendering pipelines;
*\tVideo Immersion II, the second generation of ATI's DVD playback and video de-interlacing technology.
The card is compatible with AGP-equipped Power Mac G4s running Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X (no PCI version is available). The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition also sports DVI-I, VGA and TV-out connectors, and like the Radeon 7500 Mac Edition, this card can be used with multiple displays.
ATI said the Radeon 8500 Mac Edition card will be available beginning in February. It carries a suggested retail price of US$299. MacCentral will be meeting with ATI during this week's Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Calif. Anticipate seeing more details soon.
<strong>I wonder if the s-video out work under OSX....
Can anyone confirm?</strong><hr></blockquote>
yep, works.
it also works on the OLD retail radeon which is surprising. there is just no specific software setup for the old radeon and I believe there IS one on the new one.
The radeon 8500 is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be too.
299 ain't that bad. wish it was BTO at the apple store on powermacs instead of the crappy overpriced geforce 3 they're still selling. they should at least update the nVidia options to current standards
Comments
new features such as FSAA and some new DVD Playback smoothing/optimization features.
and it's cheap.
good card. wish there was an AGP version
<strong>it's a tad bit better and supports dual displays.
new features such as FSAA and some new DVD Playback smoothing/optimization features.
and it's cheap.
good card. wish there was an AGP version
Thanx applenut, I think I'll pick this one up. I was surprised to find that ATI made new PCI cards, even more surprised to find the 7000 only PCI
Can anyone confirm?
Once I see hard evidence that the 7000 has two VGA outs (ATI's site is a bit vague), I'll get one to use for 2nd and 3rd displays.
The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition is a PCI-based graphics card which features 32MB of DDR memory. The card supports Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, accelerating QuickTime and OpenGL graphics rendering. The card supports DVD playback via ATI's Video Immersion technology, and Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) technology can be activated to smooth jaggy 3D images in real time.
The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition features three video connectors -- DVI-I, a digital interface compatible with many third-party flat panel displays; VGA, for standard CRT monitors, and S-Video out. Any two of the three connectors can be used to output video, enabling users to utilize a Mac equipped with the card as a dual-display system.
ATI said the card will be shipping to distributors and retailers and will be on shelves next week. The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition card carries a suggested retail price of US$129.
Radeon 8500 Mac Edition
ATI has also introduced its answer to rival nVidia's GeForce 3 graphics hardware, the AGP-based Radeon 8500 Mac Edition. The graphics board uses the Radeon 8500 graphics processing unit ATI originally released in 2001 for PC users.
The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition features a core clock speed of 250MHz and a memory clock speed of 275MHz. 64 MB of DDR memory is included.
The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition introduces Mac users to a number of new technologies, including:
*\tTruform, ATI's rendering technology which smooths 3D images in a way that doesn't significantly impact the card's ability to process complex 3D graphics;
*\tSmoothvision, a full scene anti-aliasing technology.
*\tSmartshader, ATI's programmable pixel and vertex shader technology;
*\tHyper Z II, a memory bandwidth saving technology;
*\tCharisma Engine II, a hardware transform, clipping and lighting engine that features a peak processing capability of up to 62.5 million triangles per second;
*\tPixel Tapestry II, a high-performance 3D rendering engine featuring four rendering pipelines;
*\tVideo Immersion II, the second generation of ATI's DVD playback and video de-interlacing technology.
The card is compatible with AGP-equipped Power Mac G4s running Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X (no PCI version is available). The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition also sports DVI-I, VGA and TV-out connectors, and like the Radeon 7500 Mac Edition, this card can be used with multiple displays.
ATI said the Radeon 8500 Mac Edition card will be available beginning in February. It carries a suggested retail price of US$299. MacCentral will be meeting with ATI during this week's Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Calif. Anticipate seeing more details soon.
<strong>I wonder if the s-video out work under OSX....
Can anyone confirm?</strong><hr></blockquote>
yep, works.
it also works on the OLD retail radeon which is surprising. there is just no specific software setup for the old radeon and I believe there IS one on the new one.
The radeon 8500 is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be too.
299 ain't that bad. wish it was BTO at the apple store on powermacs instead of the crappy overpriced geforce 3 they're still selling. they should at least update the nVidia options to current standards