Which AGP 4X video card will make the biggest difference for my Quicksilver

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Level 1

10 points

Which AGP 4X video card will make the biggest difference for my Quicksilver

I am currently running OS 10.4.11 on my Quicksilver 867, to which I added a Quicksilver 2002 Radeon 7500 video card (I believe this supports Quartz Extreme). Would adding either a Radeon 9600, 9700, 9800, or Ge Force 6200 make a significant performance boost in general applications (internet, streaming videos, etc,...) oer the 7500 or is the difference between the Radeon 7500 and these newer cards not that significant in most general applications running in OS 10.4.

I know in my Digital Audio running 10.4 I saw almost no difference between the lower end GeForce 2MX, 4MX, and Radeon 9000 AGP cards.

G3 iMac DV+ 450 (Ruby), Quicksilver 867, Mac OS X (10.4.11), G3 iMac DV+ 450 (Ruby), Quicksilver 867 RAM

Posted on Apr 17, 2009 10:38 AM

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Answer 1

kmac1036

Level 4

2,370 points

Apr 17, 2009 11:31 AM in response to Stevo F

japamac has mentioned before that the best AGP card is the NIVIDIA 7800.

Quartz extreme is mostly supported. Tower wise, the early G4s didn't, but just about the rest since 2001 or so do.

It's core image you want to support: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1582

I have the 6200 in my sawtooth & it works fine. Didn't help video playback much tho.

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Answer 2

Stevo F Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 17, 2009 12:42 PM in response to kmac1036

Thanks- The 7800 is too rich for my blood, as is the 6800 (I'm trying to stay under $100 if possible, as this is more a hobby machine than a daily workhorse).

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Answer 3

kmac1036

Level 4

2,370 points

Apr 17, 2009 12:51 PM in response to Stevo F

check out applemacanix on ebay. good seller & has lots of options.

mine was $94 shipped with insurance, ready to install. He even tapes the pins for you, you can barely see it. Plug n play!

for 10.5, you will want to delete the AppleHWsensor.kext from /Library/extensions as this extension hangs the boot process up to 2-3 mins longer than normal.

http://www.applemacanix.com

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Answer 4

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Apr 17, 2009 6:30 PM in response to Stevo F

Hi-

The best thing that you can do is to get a card that supports Core Image (Quartz Extreme is a given).

For your processor speed, the Radeon 9800 Pro will give you the most bang for the buck.
You can get a flashed 9800 Pro for around $100 on eBay.
I highly recommend This seller.
Compare prices. The US sellers are trying to get rich.

No need to get the 256MB version. Too expensive, and the performance difference will be minimal at best.

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Answer 5

Stevo F Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 19, 2009 5:32 PM in response to japamac

Japamac,

Thank you for your usual good advice. Can you tell me how the Radeon 9700 or the GeForce 6200 compare to the Radeon 9800 Pro. I believe they both support Core Image & Quartz Extreme as well, but seem to be cheaper.

Thanks, Steve

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Answer 6

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Apr 19, 2009 6:00 PM in response to Stevo F

Hi-

Yes, they do support Core Image.
The 9700 is a better card than the 6200.
The 9700 R300 core is slower than the 9800s R350 core, and as compared to the 9800 Pro, lacks in the advanced pixel shaders of the 9800.
This means that game play will only be slightly slower, fps wise, but higher quality settings may not be supported as well, of course, dependent on the application.

http://www.barefeats.com/rad9800.html
The price for the performance is very good though.

The 6200 being fanless makes it desirable to many, as does the 256MB VRAM.
The performance isn't bad, but the 9700 and the ATI drivers are better.

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