You go from 128MB RAM to a 256MB RAM GPU that also supports a single 30" ACD. Now you decide if it's worth the $50.
The single most important factor for Quartz 2D Extreme is the amount of video memory, not the speed of the card. So that's a good guess as to why they upgraded to that particular card.
The single most important factor for Quartz 2D Extreme is the amount of video memory, not the speed of the card. So that's a good guess as to why they upgraded to that particular card.
Video cards have processing units, commonly measured in mhz, like CPUs; the difference in speed is a factor in the performance of video cards. "They" is probably ATI, the Radeon's manufacturer.
I'm puzzled here: why doesn't Apple offer the ATI 9800 Pro, at least as a BTO ? And then there's the X800, wich is a much better card. Too expensive ? Ok, but at least give us a choice.
I'm puzzled here: why doesn't Apple offer the ATI 9800 Pro, at least as a BTO ? And then there's the X800, wich is a much better card. Too expensive ? Ok, but at least give us a choice.
I have the same question. After reading reviews, the Radeon X800 XT is supposed to be some wicked stuff. Yet I don't understand why Apple does not offer this as an option. I'm kinda bickering because I would like to configure my new PM with such a card.
Does anyone know if the 9600 and 9650 are pretty good cards? I just read about them at the ATI site and they seem pretty solid.
By speed, I mean more than just the clock rate. I mean the amount of pixels that it can process, the number of triangles it can process, and the bandwidth. Quartz 2-D Extreme relies on re-using textures and objects cached on the video card, and the Cocoa programming has to be done in a certain way in order to maximize re-using already generated graphic objects. The more VRAM that the card has, the more it can cache and re-use. Quartz has its own little virtual memory system for the graphics card, so if the memory on the card gets full it has to swap some things out to regular RAM over the AGP bus. This swapping (avoiding it), not the speed of the card, is the most important factor.
I have the same question. After reading reviews, the Radeon X800 XT is supposed to be some wicked stuff. Yet I don't understand why Apple does not offer this as an option. I'm kinda bickering because I would like to configure my new PM with such a card.
....
yup this absolutely baffles me, why wouldn't Apple offer the 9800 pro and x800xt as built-to-order options, it would 1. make the powermac g5 more attractive 2. add a bit to the profit margin 3. generally improve apple-ati dealings 4. keep consumers happy
right now it is a bit annoying no? that you have to sell your 9600/9650 on ebay or something if you want to upgrade your GPU card
particularly you know, if the 9800 pro was offered as built to order for say $100-$150 extra, and the x800xt was offered as built to order for say, $300-$400 extra, people that want that would be all over it like bees on honey.... and it would be good for apple, good for ati, good for consumers. everybody wins...
Comments
Originally posted by imiloa
does anyone know the 9650 tech specs? it's not listed on ATI's site.
Only thing listed on Apple's site about it is:
ATI Radeon 9650 with 256MB DDR SDRAM, one single-link and one dual-link DVI port
Originally posted by O4BlackWRX
You go from 128MB RAM to a 256MB RAM GPU that also supports a single 30" ACD. Now you decide if it's worth the $50.
The single most important factor for Quartz 2D Extreme is the amount of video memory, not the speed of the card. So that's a good guess as to why they upgraded to that particular card.
Originally posted by lundy
The single most important factor for Quartz 2D Extreme is the amount of video memory, not the speed of the card. So that's a good guess as to why they upgraded to that particular card.
speed of the card? huh? who's "they?"
1. ATI Radeon 9600 XT (for single 1.8GHz G5 systems only)
[...] The Radeon 9600 XT is capable of delivering over 1.6 billion textured pixels per second.
2. ATI Radeon 9600 (available for dual processor Power Mac G5 systems)
[...] The Radeon 9600 is capable of delivering over 1.3 billion textured pixels per second.
3. ATI Radeon 9650 (available for dual processor Power Mac G5 systems)
The Radeon 9650 [...] is capable of delivering over 1.6 billion textured pixels per second.
I translate that to
1. "old" 9600 XT @ 400 MHz
2. 9600 @ 325 MHz
3. 9650 @ 400 MHz
Originally posted by timmy o'tool
Simple question is the ATI Radeon 9650 worth the $50?
No.
The 9600 is not fast enough to really use 256MB RAM.
Download ATIccelerator II and save $50
Originally posted by Silver
I'm puzzled here: why doesn't Apple offer the ATI 9800 Pro, at least as a BTO ? And then there's the X800, wich is a much better card. Too expensive ? Ok, but at least give us a choice.
I have the same question. After reading reviews, the Radeon X800 XT is supposed to be some wicked stuff. Yet I don't understand why Apple does not offer this as an option. I'm kinda bickering because I would like to configure my new PM with such a card.
Does anyone know if the 9600 and 9650 are pretty good cards? I just read about them at the ATI site and they seem pretty solid.
http://www.ati.com/products/radeon96...ome/index.html
Originally posted by Performa636CD
speed of the card? huh?
By speed, I mean more than just the clock rate. I mean the amount of pixels that it can process, the number of triangles it can process, and the bandwidth. Quartz 2-D Extreme relies on re-using textures and objects cached on the video card, and the Cocoa programming has to be done in a certain way in order to maximize re-using already generated graphic objects. The more VRAM that the card has, the more it can cache and re-use. Quartz has its own little virtual memory system for the graphics card, so if the memory on the card gets full it has to swap some things out to regular RAM over the AGP bus. This swapping (avoiding it), not the speed of the card, is the most important factor.
Quote:
who's "they?"
Apple.
Originally posted by c2poon
I have the same question. After reading reviews, the Radeon X800 XT is supposed to be some wicked stuff. Yet I don't understand why Apple does not offer this as an option. I'm kinda bickering because I would like to configure my new PM with such a card.
....
yup this absolutely baffles me, why wouldn't Apple offer the 9800 pro and x800xt as built-to-order options, it would 1. make the powermac g5 more attractive 2. add a bit to the profit margin 3. generally improve apple-ati dealings 4. keep consumers happy
right now it is a bit annoying no? that you have to sell your 9600/9650 on ebay or something if you want to upgrade your GPU card
particularly you know, if the 9800 pro was offered as built to order for say $100-$150 extra, and the x800xt was offered as built to order for say, $300-$400 extra, people that want that would be all over it like bees on honey.... and it would be good for apple, good for ati, good for consumers. everybody wins...