Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Boochie · Sep 4, 2003, 07:40 AM

I will probably make the jump to a dual CPU G5 machine in the next couple of months. Any thoughts on whether it's worth it to spend the extra $300 or so for the higher end graphics card? I do a moderate amount of 3D gaming (Medal of Honor, JKII, etc.). The reviews of the 9600 on tomshardware.com were somewhat underwhelming, and it makes me wonder if that card might become the bottleneck on the dual configuration.

Thoughts?

nikstar101 · Sep 4, 2003, 08:40 AM

I have just ordered my Dual G5 and have selected the 9800 pro. Since if you are buying a top of a range system why not spend the little more to make it the best you can.

Plus when i comes to games you can never have enough graphics power becuase games just become more and more complicated.

Nik

AssassyN · Sep 4, 2003, 08:43 AM

Definitely try your best to get the 9800 Pro (or whatever is high-end when you purchase). Escp. for gaming, it's best to get the best available so it'll last you the longer. Spending more now means saving later when you don't hafta upgrade as often.

Boochie · Sep 4, 2003, 11:55 AM

That's a good point; each new game always manages to suck up whatever graphics power is available.

Originally posted by nikstar101:
I have just ordered my Dual G5 and have selected the 9800 pro. Since if you are buying a top of a range system why not spend the little more to make it the best you can.

Plus when i comes to games you can never have enough graphics power becuase games just become more and more complicated.

Nik

Hydra · Sep 4, 2003, 12:13 PM

I ordered a BTO dual G5 with the ATI 9800 and was looking forward to playing with the new ATI control panel that lets you override the settings of individual games for thing like 16AA if you like. You can set it up so Quake 3 does one thing and UT2003 has an entirely different set of graphics settings. It seems very cool to be able to use one control panel to manage all your 3D settings.

But alas, ATI looks like they will disable it on an OEM card and it only will work with the retail 9800. The thing I hate is the retail card has no ADC connector and is 4x AGP not 8x AGP Pro like the OEM one. I wish ATI made the control panel shareware at least so I could use it on my new system after spending an additional $300 for the 9800. Maybe I expected too much.

-Jerry C.

k2director · Sep 4, 2003, 04:59 PM

I have a dual G5 on order, and opted for the ATi 9800. I just couldn't stand the idea of having such a great machine, with a so-so graphics card.
Can't wait to play RTCW at 1600x1200, or whatever the highest res that card can manage (a big jump from the 800x600 I currently play via my Ti 1Ghz).

Boochie · Sep 4, 2003, 06:13 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I am convinced. The extra $300 is worth sparing myself the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" I'd go through if I went cheap on the gfx card.

RevEvs · Sep 4, 2003, 07:46 PM

For some reason I choose the 9600 in my Dualy, I regret doing so a bit, but then realise, meh, i use my PC for games. Also the fact that the ATI Utility doesnt work with the OEM card is a bit craptacular.

revs.... waiting for Dualy, my precious...

bradoesch · Sep 5, 2003, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by Hydra:
I ordered a BTO dual G5 with the ATI 9800 and was looking forward to playing with the new ATI control panel that lets you override the settings of individual games for thing like 16AA if you like. You can set it up so Quake 3 does one thing and UT2003 has an entirely different set of graphics settings. It seems very cool to be able to use one control panel to manage all your 3D settings.

But alas, ATI looks like they will disable it on an OEM card and it only will work with the retail 9800. The thing I hate is the retail card has no ADC connector and is 4x AGP not 8x AGP Pro like the OEM one. I wish ATI made the control panel shareware at least so I could use it on my new system after spending an additional $300 for the 9800. Maybe I expected too much.

-Jerry C.

What if you tried installing the retail drivers?

a2daj · Sep 5, 2003, 07:03 PM

Originally posted by bradoesch:
What if you tried installing the retail drivers?

Supposedly it still won't work. I'm guessing the actual drivers will be the same between the retail and the OEM (as they have been for awhile), but the retail version includes the ATITVOut.kext file and the retail ATI Displays app. The ATI Displays app is where you configure the 3D Overrides so you'd have to install the retail drivers anyway to attempt to use them with an OEM card. But the app will probably check the video card firmware to see if it's a retail or OEM card and they display or hide the Overrides accordingly.
However, if the drivers are the same and the ATI Displays app uses hooks in the drivers, then it's possible that a third party app could be written to manipulate those hooks.

Hydra · Sep 5, 2003, 07:36 PM

What are the chances that the utility could be sold as shareware and if so what would it be worth? Who would we contact to see about it? The more I think about it the more it ticks me off. I would completely understand if the retail and OEM card were identical and it was used to add a little extra incentive but the fact that only the OEM has ADC and 8x's AGP make it a sore point. On the other hand the OEM does have the nice feature that allows the DVI port to use the $19 adapter to output composite video to a TV so maybe I'm just over reacting a bit.

-Jerry C.

Cadaver · Sep 11, 2003, 01:59 PM

FYI- the retail ATI 9800 Pro Mac Edition will not work on the G5 according to posts in the xlr8yourmac forums.

So, if you want a high-end graphics card in your G5, for at least the time being, you better BTO it with your G5.

tooki · Sep 11, 2003, 04:13 PM

ATI's retail drivers have never worked with OEM cards, ever (at least on the Mac).

tooki

striker100 · Sep 11, 2003, 04:21 PM

If you're not a gamer it doesn't pay to get the 9800Pro video card.

You won't see any performance increases in programs like Photoshop etc. You would be better off putting the funds towards extra ram.

If you are a gamer thats another story.

a2daj · Sep 13, 2003, 01:50 AM

Originally posted by Cadaver:
FYI- the retail ATI 9800 Pro Mac Edition will not work on the G5 according to posts in the xlr8yourmac forums.

So, if you want a high-end graphics card in your G5, for at least the time being, you better BTO it with your G5.

Wrong. Those posts at Accelerate Your Mac say you can use a retail 9800 Pro in a G5.