ATI has discontinued the 'G5 only' Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition (8X AGP, 256MB) and the 'works on anything' Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition (2X/4X AGP, 128MB). They replaced them with an 'all for one and one for all' card: the Radeon 9800 Pro Mac (2X/4X AGP, 256MB), compatible with all AGP G4 and G5 Power Macs. It's targeted as a mid range graphics card with enough memory to handle any Core Image and OpenGL task you throw at it.
Since it's been announced, G5 owners have emailed me their concerned about the 2X/4X rating, fearing they will be giving up some speed without an 8X rating. But as you will see below, the new 'compromise' 9800 Pro runs just as fast as the old 'G5 only' 9800 Pro:
GRAPH LEGEND:
X800 XT 8X 256M = Radeon X800 XT (8X AGP, 256MB, DL-DVI+ADC)
9800 Pro 8X 256M = Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition (8X AGP, 256MB, DVI+ADC)
9800 Pro 4X 256M = Radeon 9800 Pro Mac (2X/4X AGP, 256MB, DVI + VGA)
9800 Pro 4X 128M = Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition (2X/4X AGP, 256MB, DVI + VGA)
9600 Pro 4X 256M = Radeon 9600 Pro PC and Mac Edition (4X AGP, 256MB, DL-DVI + DVI)
ANALYSIS
How can a 2X/4X AGP card run as fast as an 8X AGP card? Because even at 4X, the AGP bus isn't saturated. In reality, the 8X bus is under-utilized. Also, the core clock and core memory speeds are identical to the 8X Mac Special Edition. So if you own a G5 and waited too late to buy the 'G5 only' 8X version of the Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition, you won't be disappointed with the speed of the replacement 'works on anything' 2X/4X Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition (256MB).
Those of you with G4 Power Macs (including QuickSilver, Digital Audio, and MDD) have a great GPU upgrade option with plenty of video memory.
I included the $399 Radeon X800 XT 'high end' and the $199 Radeon 9600 Pro 'low-medium' cards in this test session to show why I call the $299 9800 Pro series 'mid level.'
TWO CAVEATS
There are two things you need to know about the new card, however, before you plop down your $250 (OWC price). First, it requires a power source. It comes with a pass-through power cable with 4 pin Molex connectors. If you are using it on a G4 Power Mac, there should be some spare power drops inside. If you are using it on a G5 Power Mac, you'll need to remove the SuperDrive or Combo DVD/CD optical drive so you can reach its power connector and attach the pass-through power cable for the Radeon 9800 Pro.
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ATI warns that this card requires a 300 watt power supply but owners with Sawtooth G4 Power Macs with 200 watt power supplies have not reported any problems running it.
Second caveat: It has one DVI and one VGA port. I wish it had two DVI ports but that would have required a major redesign. You see, this card is, in reality, the old 128MB 9800 Pro with memory added. I complained back when the 128MB card came out that it should have had two DVI ports. I argued that you can always 'dumb' a DVI port down to VGA, but you can't turn a VGA magically into a true digital video port.
DESIGNED FOR MID RANGE POWER
I think the Radeon 9800 Pro is a great upgrade for those G4 Power Mac owners who want Core Image and OpenGL acceleration but don't want to pay an 'arm and a leg.' I've run this card on a everything from a 'hopped up' naked G4 Cube (too big to fit with the case on) to the 'last great' G4 Power Mac, the dual 1.42GHz 'FW800' with L3 cache. It's always been faster than any other retail or OEM graphics card for those systems -- significantly faster. (Stay tuned for test results on various G4 Power Macs.)
For the G5 Power Mac owner, it's much faster than the Radeon 9600, 9600 Pro, 9600 XT, and GeForce FX 5200 -- cards that came as factory default. And it costs hundreds less than the GeForce 6800 GT, Ultra, and Radeon X800 XT kits that Apple sells in their 'DISPLAYS' section of the online store.
BIG THANKS TO OWC
This test page was made possible through the generosity of Other World Computing. I couldn't convince ATI Public Relations to send me a test unit. They felt there was no real need since it was 'just a memory upgrade' of the 128MB model. But I know (and OWC knows) that you, the consumer, wanted assurance that it is as fast as the 8X version that was discontinued.
You can now order yours with piece of mind and a discount ($250 at OWC).
