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Ken_F2 · Jul 18, 2002, 01:39 PM

Here's the <a href="http://www.atitech.com/products/mac/radeon9000prome/index.html" target="_blank">product info on ATI's web site</a>. And here's the press release: <blockquote>quote:<hr />ATI's RADEON 9000 PRO and RADEON 9700 Unveiled

ATI's RADEON(tm) 9000 PRO and RADEON(tm) 9700 unveiled at Macworld, bringing unprecedented graphics power to the Macintosh platform
MACWORLD, NEW YORK - July 18, 2002 - ATI Technologies Inc. today announced that its groundbreaking new RADEON(tm) 9000 PRO and RADEON(tm) 9700 visual processors will be coming to Macintosh in the late summer and early fall. The revolutionary RADEON chips will astound Mac users with twice the graphics power and performance than any other chip on the market.

"As with all RADEON products, the RADEON 9000 PRO and RADEON 9700 were developed with the Mac in mind," said Rick Bergman, Senior Vice President, Marketing and General Manager, Desktop, ATI Technologies Inc. "When combined with the latest versions of Mac OS X and Power Mac hardware, these graphics boards will be a strong draw for Apple users looking to increase their 3D performance, extend their creative potential and enhance their overall visual experience in virtually all applications."

A RADEON 9000 PRO Mac Edition board, featuring 64MB of DDR memory and dual-digital display capabilities, will be available through Apple resellers and other distribution channels. With its combination of ADC (Apple Display Connector) and DVI-I (Digital Visual Interface) ports, the RADEON 9000 PRO Mac Edition will allow users to attach one or two traditional flat panels, Apple flat panels or CRT monitors with ultimate convenience.

The RADEON 9000 PRO is packed with impressive features including a quad-pipeline 3D architecture capable of handling the most demanding applications with amazing speed. The chip also harnesses SMARTSHADER(tm) technology to deliver complex, movie-quality effects and SMOOTHVISION(tm) technology that enhances image quality without compromising performance.

"Now users who want a faster graphics card can connect an Apple Cinema Display to their system without having to use a costly adapter," said Stan Ossias, Senior Product Manager, ATI Technologies Inc. "They can even have two full size Cinema Displays running simultaneously, which will make users more productive."

The RADEON 9700 visual processor represents the highest achievement in semiconductor technology, delivering a quantum leap in graphics capability. It doubles the capacity of the previous generation high-end graphics accelerators to deliver breathtaking performance, amazing visual quality and lifelike animation at all resolutions. It includes a long list of groundbreaking technologies, such as eight parallel rendering pipelines and floating-point color precision, into a chip with over 100 million transistors - more than twice as many as today's leading CPU's. The RADEON 9700 Mac Edition board will feature 128MB of high speed DDR memory and a dual display support for CRT and flat panel monitors.

"This fall, Mac users will also be witness to the raw power of ATI's RADEON 9700, the world's fastest and most technically advanced chip," said Bergman. "The RADEON 9700 will drive graphics technology to new heights, totally outperforming every graphics chip currently on the market."<hr /></blockquote>So uhm...when will I be able to download the Mac firmware?

Commodus · Jul 18, 2002, 02:37 PM

To me this announcement just screams "new PowerMac options!" The timing couldn't be better, if August 13th is when the new PowerMacs arrive. I can see Apple going with a return to an ATI-heavy strategy where the Radeon 9000 takes the low-end, the GeForce 4 Ti 4600 takes the mid-range (assuming the costs dip to compete with ATI), and the Radeon 9700 takes the high-end.

One interesting thing I saw in a preview at <a href="http://www.anandtech.com" target="_blank">Anandtech</a> is that the flexibility and power of the 9700 actually let it run the rendering code generated by 3D Studio Max or Renderman (probably also programs such as Maya) rather than making the much less efficient CPU handle the job. If Apple is going after the creative professional, I'm sure they'd like to advertise the viability of a PowerMac as a 3D workstation.

The ultimate in performance for both gamers and professionals, systems shipping in two weeks to coincide with the release of Jaguar... I'd really like the sound of that.

Dan Szwarc · Jul 18, 2002, 07:33 PM

OK. Now somebody figure out if the firmware from a PC version can be flashed to be mac and HERE I COME!!

mr. natural · Jul 18, 2002, 07:40 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Commodus:
The ultimate in performance for both gamers and professionals, systems shipping in two weeks to coincide with the release of Jaguar... I'd really like the sound of that. [Smile] <hr /></blockquote>I'll second that. This would be so sweeeeeet.

::Knocks on wood and crosses all my fingers & toes too.::