Worth buying a ati 9600 pro??

[doucy2]

i am thinking about buying a ati radeon 9600 pro for my powermac G4
right now i currently have a 9000
how much of a difference would i feel beween the two cards
my powermac specs are

Powermac G4 AGP
1ghz
1.5gb ram
80gb hd
superdrive
ati 9000

any sugestions would be helpful

cheers

 

[doucy2]

or should i go with the 9200

 

[amholl]

Id go with the 9600. You should get a pretty preformance jump and core image compatibility.

 

[yoda13]

go with the 9600.

 

[tweakers_suck]

Check support before you buy.

Are you referring to the new ATI 9600 Pro PC and Mac edition? I believe that the PM G4 AGP is not supported with new ATI 9600 Pro PC and Mac

http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9600/radeon9600propcmac/specs.html

System Requirements
Power Mac® G4, G5 from Apple or PC
AGP* graphics slot available on the motherboard
300-Watt power supply or greater recommended
* Compatible with AGP 8X and 4X systems.

My PM G4 (Sawtooth) AGP has a 2X AGP slot. It would appear that a 4X slot minimum is now required.

Depending on your specific use and requirements, you may be best off with your current card. The 9000 is an AGP card, if you went with the 9200 you get a PCI card. Is PCI ok for you? Do you need an extra monitor? You won't have any real benefits unless you can find a used 8500 AGP on eBay or whereever.

Best of luck to you.

 

[0939084]

Well wait, before you upgrade, it depends what you do on your mac. Unless you game there isn't a whole lot of point in upgrading to the 9600 unless you want Coreimage support (which I think requires a 9600 or above). Also, a Radeon 9200 is a rebranded Radeon 8500. A Radeon 9000 is somewhat slower. And lastly, a Radeon 9600 is also very slow. If you want to game the absolute minimum you consider should be a Radeon 9800 Pro (I would go to stragedogs.com and find out how to flash a PC one to a Mac one.) Anyway, let me know what you plan to use it for and I can be more helpful.

 

[tweakers_suck]

9800 might suit your needs.

pmartin is right, the 9800 could be an option for you ( a bit expensive though).

It should work in a 2X AGP slot.

http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800prome/specs.html

System Requirements
Mac® OS X 10.2.5 or later
AGP 4x or 2x capable Macintosh®
128MB of system memory
Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
DVD playback requires DVD drive
Power connection to the computer
Radeon® 9800 PRO Mac Edition requires connection to your computer’s internal power supply for operation. ATI recommends a 300-Watt power supply or greater to ensure normal system operation where a number of other internal devices are installed.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The 9600 should work fine. It and the new 9800 are AGP 4x/8x compatible, which means all G4s except the Cube and Sawtooth will work.

The 9000 and 9200 are very inferior to the 9600/9800, and neither is fully compatible with Core Image. The 9600 will be perfectly adequate for games like Halo, UT 2004, Call of Duty etc. It can run the big Apple 30" LCD too. In other words, the 9600 can handle anything your 1GHz G4 can handle.

If you are planning on heavy gaming I recommend the new retail 9800, since it will give you better performance - but it is $100 more.

 

[doucy2]

thanks guys for all your input
what i'll prob end up doing is getting the 9800 so i can use it in a MDD or G5 when i upgrade
so for now im gonna sell me 8500 and 9000 to get money for the 9800
if anyone is interested PM me

 

[0939084]

Don't forget to check out the Stangedog forums (http://www.strangedogs.com), as a PC 9800 is cheaper than a Mac 9600 and can be flashed to a Mac version.

 

[doucy2]

Don't forget to check out the Stangedog forums (http://www.strangedogs.com), as a PC 9800 is cheaper than a Mac 9600 and can be flashed to a Mac version.

thans for the tip