Video Card Advice?

midwinter

Hi all.



I'm considering picking up a new video card so I can take advantage of Quartz Extreme. Right now, I've got an AGP Rage Pro in there (16 MB), and I'm not sure what to get.



I'm not much of a gamer, although I do play Q3A from time to time, and I own a copy of WC3 (although I'm so disgustingly bad at it that I rarely play it). Mostly, though, I'm hopeful that the window resizing and transparency effects won't hog my processor while I'm doing other things.



This would be going in a G4/533 digital audio.



So...considering my needs aren't all that demanding, which card do you all recommend? I'm looking hard at the Radeon 8500 at the moment.



Thanks in advance for the advice.



Cheers

Scott

bioflavonoid

ATI over Nvidia!

roduk

I'd get a Radeon 8500. I think it's still one of the best Mac graphics cards on the market, unless you're a hardcore gamer and prepared to shell out for a GeForce4 Titanium or Radeon 9700 when it becomes available.

tik

Is the 8500 better than the 9000?



How so?

eugene

I'd go with the Radeon 9000 Pro. It's cheaper, and the ones I've seen on PCs are fanless.

luca

The 8500 is definitely faster than the 9000 though. Same amount of VRAM, but the 8500 is faster and more powerful. However, if you buy it right from ATI it won't have an ADC port, you'd need an Apple OEM card to get ADC. Otherwise you'll have to just stick with DVI and VGA (a more versatile setup anyway, IMO).



It just depends on if you'd like to spend a bit more money for a faster card. Right now the best Mac card is the Radeon 9700, though it's not available yet so the GeForce 4 Ti4600 is the best. The Radeon 8500 is just behind the Ti. After that, I'm not sure. Probably the GeForce 3.

kenneth

I'm suprised on the "fanless" Radeon 9000 Pro as well.. does it mean a weak card? <img src="embarrassed.gif" border="0">

roduk

[quote]Originally posted by Tik:

<strong>Is the 8500 better than the 9000?



How so?</strong><hr></blockquote>



I'd say marginally, but it depends on what you use it for. I believe the 9000 has a higher core clock speed, but the 8500 produces higher frame rates in games due to its more advanced pixel/vertex shaders and/or rendering pipelines. The older 8500 was a high end card when it was released, whereas the newer 9000 is a mainstream card. I'd say the choice boils down to whether you need a ADC port. The retail version of the 9000 has ADC, the 8500 doesn't.



[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: RodUK ]</p>

eugene

Another plus for the 9000 Pro. The retail card includes one DVI-I and one ADC port.

roduk

[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

<strong>Another plus for the 9000 Pro. The retail card includes one DVI-I and one ADC port.</strong><hr></blockquote>



And, I believe, a DVI to VGA adapter, so you get maximum compatability.

eugene

[quote]Originally posted by RodUK:

<strong>



And, I believe, a DVI to VGA adapter, so you get maximum compatability.</strong><hr></blockquote>



Well, the 8500 comes with one too, which allows you to use two CRTs. The 9000 Pro doesn't seem to come with an ADC--&gt;VGA adapter though, which is practically as simple to make since they're just physical adapters.



ATI's hype machine also seems to have started-up again. They have a vague splash screen on their mainpage that lets you sign up for a mailing list. R350 is coming and we still don't have the Radeon 9700 Pro.

tik

Anyone know when the 9700 is coming?

midwinter

So...since I'm not a gamer, is there any real point in getting the 8500 over the 9000? I mean, it's only $10 or so, but I thought I'd ask.



Cheers

Scott