Do you own a Power Macintosh G4 system? Do you want to be able to play games with the "eye candy" detail turned up to the max? Your existing video card probably doesn't make the cut with the latest games when it comes to power... Want to upgrade it but don't want to spend a ton on the ATI RADEON 9800 Pro Special Edition card? You're not alone, many people don't want to put that much money into a video card! Some do... but not all!
But what am I supposed to do... I want to use those "special shaders" for maximum detail that ATI and nVidia's top cards offer in some games, like Halo. But I don't want to spend nearly $350!
Well, until last week, you were stuck between a rock and a hard places, but we here at OWC just received a shipment of brand spanking new Apple OEM ATI RADEON 9600 video cards! Yes, that's right - the middle of the road video card for the G4 desktop is here! Upgrade your video performance on your G4 system today with this fantastic bargain!
These cards were originally shipped with some of the G5 Tower systems and were designed specifically for that platform. However, some industrious individuals discovered exactly how to modify these cards to work in some older systems, like Digital Audio, QuickSilver (2001 and 2002 models), and the Mirrored Drive Door Family. As long as your G4 has a 4x AGP slot, you can use this card! These cards are offered with the modifications already performed and a full 1 year OWC warranty. What could be better!
Unless you're a totally hardcore gamer and really need the RADEON 9800 Pro, this video card will give you years of service without breaking the bank! This card is one fantastic performer, especially if you have a really fast processor upgrade installed! Check out these performance tests to see just how well your system can perform with the addition of this fantastic video card! Just remember, if your processor is too slow, it's not going to be able to get the information to the video card fast enough for it to process and your gameplay will definitely suffer. It's truly a combined effort!
And one other big note - only the Radeon 9600 Pro and the Radeon 9800 Pro offer this special shading technology hardware built in. The Radeon 9000 Pro card does NOT. that's right, ATI wants you to pony up top dollar for the Radeon 9800 Pro card if you want to get the maximum in detail out of your games. At least till now they did!
Testing Paramaters:
All testing performed using the same base machine configurations.
- Systems: The 133MHz bus system was a Digital Audio G4 with an OWC Mercury G4 1.467GHz processor upgrade installed, and the 167MHz bus system was a Dual 1.25GHz "Mirrored Drive Door".
- Memory used: 1GB PC3200DDR (2 512MB matched chips) or 1GB PC-133 SDRAM (2 512MB matched chips)
- Hard Drive: 80GB Hitachi Deskstar SATA drive hooked up using a SIIG SATA PCI Controller Card.
- Display: Both machines were hooked up to an Apple Studio Display 17" LCD running at 1280x1024 native resolution.
Programs tested:
- Unreal Tournament - Testing was performed using the SantaDuck timedemo utility, Botmatch, Asbestos Map, 1024x768, Maximum detail.
- Call of Duty - Testing was performed at 1024x768 resolution, no FSAA, default detail levels. There is no built in timedemo, you have to bring up the console and type "Timedemo 1", and then "demo Timedemo1.dm_2 - this executes the timedemo level shipped with the game.
- Quake 3 - Performing a timedemo is fairly straightforward. Set "Max details", resolution to 1024x768, bring up the console, type "timedemo 1", close the console and run the FOUR.DM_68 demo that comes with the game.
- Halo - Halo testing was far more involved as I utilized this game to show exactly what the benefits of having either a Radeon 9600 or a Radeon 9800 Pro are. There are 5 different performance and detail levels tested, showing where the added features & "eye candy" come into play, allowing gameplay to continue without the framerates dropping below acceptable levels. Trust me, with the detail and antialiasing turned on with this game, it's truly a stunning game just to look at, let alone play!
Power Macintosh G4 "Digital Audio" - W/ OWC Mercury G4 1.467GHz
|
-Test Performed-
|
ATI RADEON 9000 Pro
|
ATI RADEON 9600 Pro
|
ATI RADEON 9800 Pro
|
Unreal Tournament |
24.451
|
23.432
|
23.488
|
Call Of Duty |
28.2
|
33.1
|
39.5
|
Quake 3 |
108.5
|
106.2
|
107.5
|
Halo - No Shaders |
32.94
|
33.16
|
33.88
|
Halo - Shaders (ATI or Vertex) |
25.57
|
28.47
|
38.09
|
Halo - Shaders & 2x AA |
21.52
|
26.58
|
37
|
Halo - Shaders & 4x AA |
13.69
|
24.36
|
34.85
|
Halo - Shaders, 4x AA, FULL Detail |
0*
(does not meet minimum)
|
23.432
|
29.07
|
|
---Higher scores are better---
|
* The Radeon 9000 cannot display using ATI's shader technology, only is able to use Vertex shading |
Power Macintosh G4 "FireWire 800/Mirrored Drive Door" - Dual 1.25GHz
|
-Test Performed-
|
ATI RADEON 9000 Pro
|
ATI RADEON 9600 Pro
|
ATI RADEON 9800 Pro
|
Unreal Tournament |
25.38
|
25.545
|
25.672
|
Call Of Duty |
29.8
|
35.5
|
43.5
|
Quake 3 |
106.7
|
103.4
|
104.4
|
Halo - No Shaders |
34.24
|
35.83
|
36.69
|
Halo - Shaders (ATI or Vertex) |
28.79
|
28.27
|
39.09
|
Halo - Shaders & 2x AA |
22.47
|
27.03
|
37.91
|
Halo - Shaders & 4x AA |
13.92
|
24.86
|
35.63
|
Halo - Shaders, 4x AA, FULL Detail |
0*
(does not meet minimum)
|
13.41
|
21.33
|
|
---Higher scores are better---
|
* The Radeon 9000 cannot display using ATI's shader technology, only is able to use Vertex shading |
|