Graphics Card for a PMG4 Dual 867 MDD?

[DesmoPilot]

Hey there, first of all the complete spec's of the system: Dual 867MHz MDD, 1.5GB RAM, ATI Radeon 9000 64MB, 500GB and 120GB HD, i mainly use OS 10.4.11 but have 10.5.2 installed as well.

Recently acquired this system (It will be used as my main machine) and I'm looking to upgrade the graphics card, I know the 9800 Pro would be overkill in this system, and the 256MB 9600 probably is to. My question though, how much better is the 256MB 9600 over my current 64MB 9000? I play Wolfenstein (and a bunch of other Q3 engine games), Ghost Recon and Halo.

Thanks for reading and any help is appreciated.

 

[canucks-17]

The 9800 or the 9600 would suit it perfectly IMO. The reason being that they both enable Core Image/ Animation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_Image). If you are on a tight budget, however, you can always go the flashing route. These cards could potentially enable Core Image/ Animation, while still not having the highest of clock speeds. I have done this with a Geforce FX 5200. The clock was low, but all I was looking for was an upgrade from my 2MX, and Core Image enable.

Flashing Guides:
Nvidia: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/nvidia-general-flashing
ATI: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/ati-flash
Drivers:
http://themacelite.wikidot.com/wikidownloads2
Support:
http://themacelite.com/forums/

Hope this helped.

 

[DesmoPilot]

Thanks for the reply, I considered the flashing route but decided against it.

Sadly i can't find any benchmarks with the 256MB 9600 in a G4 around my spec, can anyone help me out there?

At this point I'm leaning towards the 256MB 9600.

 

[dabirdwell]

9800

Just this year I replaced my Radeon 9000 with the 9800 Pro and have been very happy with it other than the fact that it doesn't have an ADC connector so I had to get the adaptor for my original 20" ACD.

Core animation works great, and I'm going to experiment with a little after effects soon. Seems like there's not much of a difference between the 128 MB version and the 256, at least on the G4.