[BTP]

I am updating a desktop Mac and need to decide on a PCI graphics card. I wouldn't mind a fast card for gaming, so can any of you suggest one card over another? i.e. Voodoo5, Radeon, GeForce2

Any opinions?

[rambo47]

I had a Voodoo 5500 PCI for my Power Mac G3 (Blue & White)and for games it was the best. No question. Quake2/Quake3/Unreal Tournament played smooth as silk, no skipping or jerkiness. Unfortunately 3DFX is gone, bought out by nVidia and seemingly discarded, no pun intended. There is no support, no new drivers, and lots of compatibility issues. The biggest incompatibility issue is Mac OS X. It simply won't work with the Voodoo 5500. The computer will fail to boot. I saw a new Voodoo 5500 at J&R Computer last week for the bargain price of $170. I still have mine and it's available for the even better bargain price of $90. You could probably get one on eBay for about $75.

I replaced it with a Radeon PCI and I'm very happy with my new card. The big thing for me was OS X. If you don't plan to run X, then maybe the Voodoo is for you. One advantage with the Radeon I found is in redrawing pictures. If I get a picture in email from, say my sister in Singapore, it draws much faster with the Radeon. WAY faster. For me. like 400% faster! Damn. I did sacrafice a bit of the smoothness in gaming in moving from Voodoo to Radeon, but not too much. Only slightly noticable. games are not a big part of my computing experience.

I have no information at all about the GForce cards. Reviews are mixed and lots of folks claim the drivers suck. I wouldn't know. I just love my Radeon.

[-Q-]

I agree with Rambo. The Radeon has been a great card in my Beige G3. Screen redraws are wicked fast and the 3D performance has been admirable (if not awesome; depends on the game).

And depending on what type of Mac you're upgrading, the Nvidia cards may not even be a choice (I believe they only make an AGP card that's compatible with a Mac).

I'd say at this point, considering future compatiblitity with Mac OS X, a Radeon card would be the safest bet.

Q

[BTP]

Thanks to both of you.

I'll probably go with the Voodoo 5, since it is an old Power Tower. Though I'd like to run OS X on it, it is likely that won't be the case. I would rather buy a card that has a future, but at $75, I'll take a shot.

[spicyjeff]

I have been using a Radeon since they came out as well and don't even compare to the Voodoo5 card I had before. I seriously recommend getting the Radeon since it has a future where the Voodoo5 will just be downhill from here in terms of supported software.