[chichow]

So I can get this card now for $200 all in.

My current setup is
24" Widescreen LCD Dell - DVI
Radeon 9000 64Mb
2Gb RAM

I just play some Halo, Jedi Knight, etc.
Standard Word Processing, Internet, etc.
I don't venture beyond light PS and iPhoto.

--

Will I notice a difference? Will tiger and Leopard run better?

I currently have another 17" monitor, but would end up adding another larger flat panel if I get this card.

[angelmb]

Is that a Mac/PC Edition, right?. What is good for:
- core image support
- you can use the Apple Cinema 30 inches to your MDD

your current Radeon 9000 doesn't give you any of those commodities so to speak…

While it is going to be better than your current 9000, it is not like a speed demon, I guess the 9800 would be way better (faster) aimed to games, but it doesn't give you the privilege to be able to drive a Cinema 30"… so if you have on mind to get such huge display I would go for the 9600, but if that is out of the equation maybe the 9800 would be a smart choice…

Link to two reviews… sadly they only compare the 9600 versus faster cards, so you can't get an idea how much faster it would be than the 9000.

Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB 4X AGP Dual Link DVI

Welcome to AnandTech.com [ Article: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Mac & PC Edition: One Card for All]

IMHO, - I am not a computer gamer - I would only get it aimed to drive the Apple 30 inches, it seems that talking about games, the 9800 easily twice as fast to say the least…

[Kenneth]

I purchased a 256MB ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (Mac+PC edition) last year. It replaced my stock ATI Radeon 9000 Pro on the MDD 1.25 DP. It runs well. I had it connected to a Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP via DVI and Apple 17-inch Studio Display via Apple DVI to ADC Adapter. The setup is fine, but I don't do gaming on my Mac.

XLR8yourmac did a couple comparison.
ATI's OEM Radeon 9700 Pro AGP Graphics Card

Dual G5 2GHz with Radeon 9600 vs 9800 compared to MDD G4 Dual 1.25GHz w/9800

[BigBadBiologist]

For $200, it is not worth upgrading. You can find 9800pros for well under $100 that will give you much better performance than the 9600.

[chichow]

I too have the Dell 2407WFP connected via DVI.

Where can I get a 9800 Pro for 100 dollars now?

[BigBadBiologist]

Look around on eBay. Quite a few people sell PC cards that are flashed to work on Macs. If you're adventurous, you can flash your own PC card. It's really easy. I've done a few of them (if you need one really bad, I'm going to be selling the one from my sawtooth which is being parted out). There are instructions posted on forums called themacelite.

I should mention, that they are only a DVI/VGA/TV out cards, so if you need dual DVI ports, a 9800 pro isn't your best option. (although I think some of the flashed nVidia 6600GT cards work with dual DVI- I haven't been keeping up with the flashing scene lately)

[chichow]

I saw this, but at $245 that is not a price premium I am willing to pay.
Single DVI is ok for me, as long as there is another decent PCI card that I can use to drive a second monitor.

Any suggestions on that?

[BigBadBiologist]

Well, the easiest solution would be a PCI ATI 7000, unfortunately, that doesn't support Core Image.

But if you don't mind your 2nd monitor being run on a VGA port, the 9800 is good.