ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb or 256mb for PowerMac G4 MDD

I hane just a bought a PowerMac G4 MDD dual core 1.25 GHZ. I t has the old ATI Radeon 9000 pro. I am definately going to buy a 9800 Pro. But, I would like to know wether or not to spend the extra $70 on the 256mb card, rather than pay only $90 for the 128MB edition. I am not going to be doing anything CRAZY like photoshoping, or final cut pro or anything like that, bu I am going to be playing the casual 2002-2004 game here and there (Half-Life 2). And, I would also be running emulators. So, I have compared the two cards and have not noticed anything different as far as specs go. Except for 128MB more ram. I am on a budget, but would like the extra performance.
Thanks for repsonding,
Tanner (armadaskier4123)

There is virtually NO performance difference between the 256 MB version and the 128 MB version of the 9800 Pro.
Even with a digital monitor of 23" at full, native resolution of 1920x1200, the 256 MB version shows NO benefit.
In actual tests, the 256 MB version shows slightly slower, but mostly equal.
IMHO, it is NOT worth an extra $70.
See my Graphics Benchmarks pages and decide for yourself:
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/All_Things_PPC.html
If a G4 is a Digital Audio, Quicksilver or MDD, the 7800 GS is worth the money for use in Tiger.
For Leopard, a Geforce 6800 GT may be better due to better driver support and OpenGL performance.
The 6800 GT, sadly, cannot be used in a MDD.
Still, the 7800 GS does perform very well in Leopard, and is the best choice for a MDD.
If a G4 is a Sawtooth or Gigabit Ethernet machine, the 7800 GS (or the 6800 GT) cannot be used.

Similar Messages

Can I replace an ATI RADEON 9800 PRO-(256MB)-MAC EDITION with Mac ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb Video Card For G4/G5

Hi,
I am trying to help a friend whose graphics card has bust.
The old one was an ATI RADEON 9800 PRO-(256MB)-MAC EDITION.
I've been looking on ebay and it seems a lot cheaper to get a Mac ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb Video Card For G4/G5.
Can I just swap them over? The connectors are not identical according to the photographs.
Thanks.

I'd like to thank everyone for all the really useful information in this thread. It helped me solve a similar problem, which I'll describe here briefly in case it helps someone else.
I have a 2004/5 dual 2 Ghz PowerPC G5 and an Apple Cinema HD display linked, as I later found out, with the now defunct ADC connector. The display suddenly started to look like that scene in The Matrix, when code falls like rain down the screen, and I worked out I needed to replace my Radeon 9800 pro video card (I discovered the board was blue when I removed a thick layer of dust).
I took japamac's excellent advice and bought a Geforce 6800 Ultra from the linked eBay seller in Hong Kong, who delivered it extremely quickly, along with the cables to plug it into the DVD drive power source and a CD with installation instructions. It was only then that I realised the card had two DVI connectors and my display needed ADC (I hadn't understood the difference).
eBay came to the rescue again with a seller who had a secondhand DVI to ADC adapter, which Apple produced when it phased out ADC about six years ago but no longer sells. It has its own power supply and looks like a large version of the Mac laptop power cables - and has added signifcantly to the pile of spaghetti under my desk.
Installing the Geforce 6800 Ultra is fiddly, and a bit scary if you're not used to delving into the insides of a Mac, but the instructions were clear and illustrated with useful photos. The video cable has four connectors. Two fit into the end of the card, the other two (linked in a Y shape) form a bridge between the DVD/superdrive and its power cable. You have to remove the DVD drive, unplug it, and then plug one of the two Y video card connectors into the DVD power cable and the other into the DVD drive itself. Then you replace the DVD drive, plug the two remaining cable connectors to the video card and ease it into the old card's AGP slot.
Finally, with the G5 reassembled, plug the adapter's DVI connection into the back of the card, plug the Cinema Display ADC cable into the adapter block, plug the adapter's USB cable into the G5 (this enables the the USB ports on the back of the display to work), and power up.
At the time of writing, the display has been up and running for a couple of hours and all seems fine.
Thanks again everyone for all your help and advice. If it wasn't for communities like this, it would be virtually impossible to solve problems with old but still serviceable Macs.

Will the following ATI Radeon 9800 Pro work on a G4 MDD?

I have an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, 128MB DDR, and I'm wondering if anyone can verify if it will work on a G4 MDD. It was bought for a G5, but that G5 doesn't exist.
Embossed on the front of the card it says:
PN: 109-a14400-01
On the back there are 3 stickers:
1) J53480YRQ74B 603-4070
2) SN + PN: 102A1440103 000009
3) J53480YRQDMA 630-4908
On the metal back-plane it has etched: 805-5422-A
The card has 1 ADC connector with 25V/4A Max written beside it, and one DVI.
Google brings up some hits, but nothing definitive concerning G4 vs G5.
Thanks in advance!

If it looks exactly like this one, including the "teeth" along the bottom, it won't work in any G4.
This card has an "AGP Pro" connector, which gets all of its power through the slot (it has no molex connector).
Even if the card was cut to physically fit in a G4, the AGP slot in a G4 (any model) can not provide enough power for a 9800. It would fry the G4, the card, or both.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and kt4 ultra

Hello
i was curious to know of any problems with the Kt4 ultra motherboard and the Radeon 9800 pro??
my system constantly crashes back to the desktop, or completely locks when i play Command & Conquer Renegade.
there are also some "misdrawn?" walls in the game also,...
i have all the latest drivers for the motherboard and the card,(including the released today catalyst drivers from ati.com)
i have also tried the drivers from driverheaven.net, but same thing happens,...
this is truly aggreviating...
some system specs:
kt4 ultra
antec 380 true ps
2500+ barton running at 11.5*173 @ 30c idle, 33c full load
corsair 2*256 3200LL
built by ati radeon 9800 pro 128mb
ive read where you can increase the agp voltage to try and fix the problem...and i also saw where one guy was just going to buy another motherboard b/c of the issues...
any help is truly appreciated
thx

FWIW, in case anybody is reading this thread in future and has problems with this Board and this card, I can report that I have now(at my second attempt) successfully installed a Radeon 9800 Pro on MY kt4 uLTRA motherboard.
As noted above, I purchased a new Antec True Power unit, prior to installing for a 2nd time. I am not sure whether that was necessary, but it certainly didn't hurt. The successful installation process was as follows:
1) Download the latest catalyst drivers from ATI
2) Set monitor to lowest possible standard (640 x 480, 16 colours if possible - in my case my digital monitor could not be set lower than 800 x 600)
3) Uninstall drivers for existing video card
4) Replace video card
5) Install ATI drivers
6) restore settings on monitor to maximum.
At that point, after restarting the computer, I had a CLI.exe error. After Googling for this problem, I discovered that I needed to download Net 1.1 from Microsoft. After downloading and installing that additional program, Radeon 9800 Pro is now working perfectly.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro - anyone using one?

Is anyone out there using a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb graphics card in their 1st generation G5 1.8mhz Dual-Processor tower? If so, is it running OK or have you had problems with it crashing?
Perhaps there's some tweaks I need to make in the ATI control panel? Mine seems to spontaneously hang doing all but the simplest of tasks. I've run Apple Hardware Test, but that says card is OK.
Waiting for an XT800 to arrive, but tempted to buy an Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL - now. Can anyone help me decide please.
Any advice appreciated,
Thanks
KHP

while not the 9800, i used to have the 9650 (128mb vram) in my dualie ... quickly got rid of it and got an x800xt soon after aperture 1.0 ...
the difference was startling ... night and day ... with the 9650 every adjustment took forever ... it was workable but i always had a second task going on to keep me occupied ...
according to some profiles, yes there are people that still use the 9800 ... yours may have gone bad sooner than others ... regardless, your life will be better (imho) with a newer/better/faster/ stronger video card - whether you go ati or nvidia ... although i know little about the 6800 ...
do a full forum search of the 9800 6800 and x800xt ... see what is in the archives ...
here's a start ...
http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?threadID=&q=ati+9800&objID=c184&dateRan ge=all&userID=&numResults=15&rankBy=10001
Message was edited by: tidysteve

What is the correct installation sequence for my ATI Radeon 9800 PRO MAC AGP 128MB into my Quicksilver 867 G4?

Hi.
I just got my used ATI Radeon 9800 PRO MAC AGP 128MB card.
What is the correct installation sequence into my Quicksilver 867 G4 running 10.4.11 on one drive 10.5 on another?
The original NVIDIA GeForce2 MX - 32MB SDRAM went bust.
Is the driver build in 10.4?
Do I remove the old driver?
If I need to install the driver that came with it, (10.3.6) should the card be installed first?
What about firmware updates?
Thank you for all your time and patience.
W.W.

I think it's the card, but here are some files that may affect it...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/ByHost /com.apple.preference.displays.<12digitHex#>.plist
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.<12digitHe x#>.plist
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/ByHost/.GlobalPreferences.<12digitHex#>. plist

What would you replace an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (256MB) with?

Hi,
I started a thread before asking whether I could replace a 256MB card with a 128MB card, even though the interface was a different shape.
But, as I know so little about Macs and graphics card, it seems wiser to ask
What would you replace an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (256MB) with?
The computer is user for photo editing and normal internet/email use. The photo editing is done on Adobe Photoshop for professional treatment of photographs.
The computer is a Power Mac G5 (1.6GHz) and budge is £80 / $120.
Thanks in advance, Franc.

Hi-
Please check my recommendations in your other thread.
Better options for the 9800 Pro are the Radeon 9800 XT, Geforce 6800 GT, Geforce 6800 Ultra, or if one has the money or finds a good deal, a Radeon X800 XT.
For your budget and uses, the Geforce cards are a performance value buy.
BTW, I have owned all of the cards, used all of the cards, and tested all of the cards.
Graphics Cards- ATI and Nvidia
See my testing pages starting here:
Page 1: Open GL

Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600 or ATI Radeon 9800 Pro for G4 "Sawtooth"?

Which video card would be the best 2x AGP upgrade for a G4 "Sawtooth" that sometimes uses Photoshop 6 in OS 9 Classic mode, an Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600 or an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (or something else)?
Sincerely,
John

Hi-
Boot to OS 9 and the Geforce is better.
In OS X Classic mode, the 9800 is better.

Aperture and ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition

I have noticed a few people on this board have the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition (256MB- G5 only) listed on thier specs on the bottom of posts
so I was wondering what your experience using this card is like with Aperture, even-though it I realize that it is not the current top of the line card ?
How about a rating from 0 to 5 stars where 5 would be the best currently available.
Robert
P.S lets not get into a p**** match over what IS the best video card for Aperture; I am just looking for subjective views on THIS card!

I have noticed a few people on this board have the
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition (256MB- G5
only) listed on thier specs on the bottom of posts
so I was wondering what your experience using this
card is like with Aperture, even-though it I realize
that it is not the current top of the line card ?
How about a rating from 0 to 5 stars where 5 would be
the best currently available.
I have just the card you mentioned.
I think how happy you'd be with it depends on what kinds of files you are using. I work with TIFF files because my camera is not supported, and performance with those is better than with true RAW files.
I generally do not see much delay but a few adjustmnet tools (Shadows & Highlights & Spot/Patch) can get a bit pokey.
Honestly if I were upgrading my card all over again I would bit the bullet and get the x800XT, which I am mulling over even now... I was hoping it might drop a bit more in price but it does not seem to be doing so.
If you want an absolute rating I guess I'd give it three stars, though again that is with the files that I use. For other larger RAW formats like D2H files and such, I think it's more of a two.
One last thing to note is that I have not tired other raw formats since the update, so it might be upgraded from a two... I was waiting to see what kind of speedup Aperture 1.1 offered in addition to just the system update. I'll report back when that update comes out.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro screen issue Powermac G4 MDD?

So I bought a new ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB and it seems to work fine, but when I restart I get this screen:
http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j149/ralphiedee/?action=view&current=monitor2. jpg
But only when I restart it seems. Please any help would be appreciated.
I have dual 1Ghz processors
2 gigs of ram
plenty of hard drive space.

Hi Quarrypoint, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Hmmmm, doesn't look good, One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, does it do that in Safe Mode ever...
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive
Reboot, test again.
If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport in 10.4 & below.
I'm not certain what temps are reported on your G4, but Get Temperature Monitor to see if it's heat related...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor
And/or iStat Pro...
http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/
If you have any temps in the 70°C/160°F range, that's likely it.
Does it do that if it's cooled off on restart?

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and Apple Cinema Display compatibility

I'd like to buy an Apple Cinema Display for my 5-year-old Power Mac G5 with an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, but I'm having trouble understanding what I can and can't hook up to my system.
I was thinking of getting a 30" display, but the Apple Store says I need a Dual-Link DVI, which I don't think my graphics card supports, but the Store also says I need an ATI Radeon 9650 or better, which I imagine the 9800 Pro is.
I've looked at the ATI site for data on the graphics card, but their online manual shows a completely different set of connections on the card. They show VGA and S-Video out ports that mine doesn't have.
Does my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro have dual-link? If so, can I use the 30" display? If not, can I still use the 30" display?
If I can't use the 30" display, are there any compatibility problems with the 23" Apple Cinema Display?

The 9800 is faster than the 9650, but it doesn't have a dual-link DVI port.
Make sure you were looking at the Mac section of ATI's site. PC and Mac versions of the same card may have different port configurations.
AGP cards with dual-link DVI, starting with the fastest:
ATI Radeon X800 XT 256MB (ADC, dual-link DVI) (Some reports of problems with Leopard)
<http://www.welovemacs.com/0831xeghr.html>
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra 256 MB (Two dual-link DVI)
<http://www.welovemacs.com/6613332.html>
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256 MB (Two dual-link DVI)
<http://www.welovemacs.com/6613441.html>
ATI Radeon 9650 XT (Single-link, dual-link DVI)
<http://www.mac-pro.com/ATI-Radeon-9650-256MB-for-G5-661-3593?sc=2&category=42>
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro PC & MAC Edition RoHS 256MB AGP (Single-link, dual-link DVI)
<http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=3170809>
A 23" will work with any G5 card.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB good upgrade from stock?

Hi,
I currently have an ATI Radeon 9650 in my Dual 2.0Ghz PowerMac G5.
I have found a good deal for an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB card.
Do you think it is a worthwhile purchase?
Specs on the 9800: http://www.superwarehouse.com/ATIRadeon_9800_Pro_Mac_Edition_128MB_VideoCard/100-435050/ps/333809

No, what you want is this.
http://www.ati.com/products/radeonx800/radeonX800xtme/index.html
buy page is here
http://www.ati.com/buy/pricesmacusa.html
It has a Dual Link and a ADC port on the back, so you can hook up anything from a 30" Apple (Dual Link) to any regular DVI (hooks up to Dual Link) to any legacy ADC (plastic) Apple display.
It's also the fastest current card on the market for your machine.
Check out the ATI upgrade program, you might qualify for a discount.
They send you the new card, you send them the old. But it may be wise to have two video cards, one for backup as they are getting scarce.
3D gaming is always pushing the video card envelope, so it's actually best to get the best right away to prolong your 3D gaming experience.
If you "half-step" it, then when you use a new game, it's crippled.
3D gaming performance is almost entirely video card performance dependent.
See Barefeats comparison here
http://www.barefeats.com/radx800.html
I have the new Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, which 3D animates all the rides. I've created a park that's only 1/4 of the available space and I'm getting dropped frames on my 6800GT and that's more powerful that the 128MB ATI card you mentioned.
Quake 4 runs great on my card, Doom 3 is fine, just a few stutters.
UT2004 runs great. Nanosaur 2 is very smooth.
So spend your money wisely, get the powerful card. Trust me.

S-Video not working on ATI Radeon 9800 Pro????

I've had this ATI Radeon 9800 Pro in my MDD dual 1.25 G4 for a little while with two VGA monitors. I recently got rid of the secondary monitor and moved a 27" flat screen tube TV next to the computer. As I always do, I've got to start tinkering. I remembered that my Radeon has both VGA, DVI, and an S-Video outputs. I simply ran an S-Video from the card to the TV. I can't seem to get it to work. I had never used the ATI control panels so I went ahead and downloaded and installed it. It won't "detect" the TV in the Mac2TV control. What the heck am I doing wrong???? I emailed ATI and they just sent me a form reply to a dead link saying that my system is unstable. UGH!
Any tips would be great.
Thanks much,
Robert

Well, I figured out that if I reboot and only have the s-video attached and no monitors to the VGA or DVI it will work. It dedicates the TV as the primary screen. However, not the best picture. I can't find any information if both the s-video and VGA or DVI can operate at the same time. I'm also doing a little more research with ATI to see if they actually have a true component output from either the VGA or DVI. I had bought a DVI to what I thought was supposed to be component but it was actually RGB component and just gave a distorted image. If I can get that to work, I think it would be a better image along with being able to run both the monitor and the TV as the secondary.
Robert

ATI/Radeon 9800 Pro 128 AGP 4x/2x in Gigabit Ethernet dual 450 PMac G4

Hi,
This is my first time posting to these discussion group... I've been going through related threads and have not found an answer to my problem...
I have a Gigabit Ethernet dual 450 G4. Awhile ago I upgraded the processor to a Sonnet 1.8ghz so I could run Leopard.
I just bough the ATI/Radeon 9800 Pro 128 AGP 4x/2x video card. I researched around and that seemed to be a card that would work in my machine. I even read a review on Amazon where someone had also upgraded to the 1.8 processor used this card with no issues.
I do have an older monitor - Apple Studio Display CRT with the ADC connector. So I also bought the Apple DVI to ADC adapter kit.
I installed the card and do not get any picture at all - I believe I have installed everything correctly. I'm pretty sure I can hear the fan on the video card in the machine. The monitor is getting power from the adapter since the button lights up when I press it - but it does not stay lit -- the monitor never turns on. Using my old graphics card the monitor makes a little "beep" when it turns on.
In reading the other topics I am wondering if it might be a power issue? According to Other World Computing's profile my machine has a max of 220 watts. Although they suggest this video card as one the will work in my machine.
I have disabled the hard drive that came with the machine (too small) and am using two Maxtor hard drives that I added - one ATA (120gb) and one SATA (500gb) that is connected to an SATA pci card. I also have two additional pci cards with usb 2.0/firewire ports.
In looking at the topics here I came across the link about taping the 3 and 11 pins on the video card. Even though the card I have is 4x/2x not 8x I thought I'd give it a shot. That did not work either.
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

I don't wish to sound redundant here, but I've been reviewing the vendor's page:
It's OK- I don't mind beating this dead horse....
The maker says such to protect themselves from possible claims that may arise due to over loaded systems and power problems when their card is installed in said system.
Of course, 300w would be nice, but they didn't even specify the PSU rating a couple years ago. The Sawtooth, with it's 237w PSU, used to be listed as a compatible machine for the 9800...... They just didn't consider how far a Sawtooth might be modded.
Within reason, the early G4's (Sawtooths) are capable of using the Radeon 9800 Pro. The GE has the same 338w PSU as the DA (they are interchangeable), so there is plenty of power for the 9800.
One thing to remember, the requirements of the ADC port of the AGP slot are removed by using a non ADC card. This really changes the calculations of the power available.
It's kinda' a long post, but, if you care to get ALL the details, check the following:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7065653&#7065653
I think you'll be satisfied with the explanation.......
Which leaves your second, and very appropriate, point.
The main enemy of all, though, isn't power. Heat is the biggest concern.
Reducing heat/increasing cooling by using a third party fan on the 9800 is highly recommended. The 9800 is a hot card, and the stock fan is prone to early failure.
Adding additional cooling to remove the extra heat produced by the 9800, by using an exausting PCI fan, will also help the PSU provide adequate voltage to the system, by reducing the amount of hot air moving out of the PSU.
Super heated air moving through the PSU reduces the cooling ability of the PSU. A hot PSU doesn't produce reliable power.
So, add the 9800, add some cooling, and enjoy!

Having trouble with my G4 MDD 867MHz DP and ATi Radeon 9800 Pro video card.

I just recently purchased the ATi Radeon 9800 Pro Mac edition card on ebay. I installed the card on my G4 and turned it on thinking everything would work with no problems, but when I turned it on the grey apple screen came up fine and then it changed to a sky-blue screen with nothing on it and remained on that screen. My desktop or any of my apps did not load up at all. I reset the PRAM and the NVRAM as the seller I bought the card from instructed me to and still I get the same result. Is anyone familiar with this problem? I was wondering if my monitor was the problem because I'm using a Dell LCD monitor as the display for right now? I need help! I'm trying to get this up and running so I can start editing. Whatever information anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated!

Sometimes display cards that support multiple displays (or a second display card in the same Mac) can cause the display you are using to be the SECOND display in a multiple-display "extended desktop".
When this happens, the MenuBar and cursor may be drawn perfectly, but be on the "other" screen, and it is very difficult to determine what has happened. \[This problem is sometimes caused by inadvertently leaving an adapter or cable on an unused display port.]
Try moving the mouse many times to the right to see if the cursor suddenly transitions onto your screen, then try the same experiment to the left.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb or 256mb for PowerMac G4 MDD

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