[roders]

WHY do the GFX5200U & Radeon9600P have such a crap amount of Vram for pro machines, this seems stupid to me, specially with QE which is bound to only get more demanding in the future (both cards come with 128MB Vram standard on the PC, I'm not sure you can even get them with 64MB of Vram), I guess as a result of having only 64Mb Vram the cards might have only a 64 Bit Bus (they both have 128 Bit on the PC) this is ridiculous on the 9600 Pro considering the processing power/features it has, but will not be able to use due to limited bandwith, if it does use a 64Bit bus; BTW the 9600Pro is the most basic card I'll consider).
I know 64 MB is not minisicule, but with our computers needing to be everfaster to run the latest software, and the, at present, unavailble third party upgrade path for these machines Vid cards (No I DONT think I will EVER be able to afford a Radeon 9800 Pro Mac retail card) a G5 will cost me enough as it is, which is why I think we should get suitable Vid cards (the 9600P's GOT to have 128 Vram and be standard on the 1.8) with maybe the option of a 9800 Pro with 256MB instead of 128MB.

Also I know the Vid cards that come in the new G5's will not fit in older machines, due to them having longer AGP Pro connectors (to supply extra power without the need for a HD power connector I think) well at least the Radeons won't, I'm not so sure about the FX, as it's been taken off the High end as an option, maybe pointing to the fact that it it's a normal 8XAGP length (non pro) card or maybe not, either way this leads me to my question (at last!).
Can older 4XAGP/ normal (shorter than AGP Pro) length AGP cards fit in the G5's AGP Pro slot???

[Commodus]

AGP 8X Pro slots should be backwards compatible with almost any AGP card - though if you're buying a G5 you'll probably be better off getting the video card you want with the system. The GF4 Ti's 128 MB of memory probably won't overcome a 64 MB Radeon 9600 Pro's overall performance advantage... and of course, if you bought a 2003 G4 with a Radeon 9700 Pro in it, you're probably not in a position to buy a whole new desktop again this year.

[DBvader]

cant you get a 9800 with the new powermacs too?

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by DBvader:
cant you get a 9800 with the new powermacs too?

Yes, and the point is, that you can upgrade if you don't want the best gaming Video card in the universe. Seriously, what kind of benefit will the 9800 pro give you over the 9600, unless you're playing UT2k3?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
Yes, and the point is, that you can upgrade if you don't want the best gaming Video card in the universe. Seriously, what kind of benefit will the 9800 pro give you over the 9600, unless you're playing UT2k3?

It will be better for Doom III.

[Ramey Skies]

Now that Apple has a genuine workstation class machine, we need workstation class video cards.

for example ...

http://www.3dlabs.com/product/wildcatvp/vppro/index.htm

this along with 64bit versions of your favorite apps would be nice !

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
It will be better for Doom III.

I think Doom III will bring any card currently on the market to it's knees!

Although I read a review on the making of the game recently... wasn't too impressed. Too much hype. I am praying it won't be a real let down...

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by Ramey Skies:
Now that Apple has a genuine workstation class machine, we need workstation class video cards.

for example ...

http://www.3dlabs.com/product/wildcatvp/vppro/index.htm

this along with 64bit versions of your favorite apps would be nice !

I suspect that's one major reason they revamped the AGP bus this way. Fast, and capable of 70 W. (Not all 8X are 70 W capable are they? I dunno.)

P.S. Welcome to MacNN.