Korin Hasegawa-John
- 2001.08.20
A graphics (or video) card is a very important part of your Mac.
It controls the screen, updating and changing the information
constantly. If you have a lousy graphics card, images will load
slowly, and scrolling documents or viewing multimedia won't be as
pleasant. All of these cards are PCI, allowing them to be used in
anything from a Power Mac 7200 to the
newest Quicksilver G4s. None of
these cards are new, with the exception of the ATI Radeon and the
ProFormance3 (both of which you can get used). I would check
eBay and local university surplus auctions.
Ratings go from • to •••••, with
one being worst and five being best.
Gaming Cards
These cards are for gamers. They support GLIDE or OpenGL, two 3D
standards, or both. Generally, they have 16 MB to 32 MB of VRAM
(Except the Voodoo5 5000, 64 MB).
Cards with GLIDE support
Glide is a graphics protocol used to display 3D images,
developed by 3dfx Interactive. It's mostly used in games. No longer
supported by new cards, since 3dfx got bought out. Basically, any
card in the Voodoo series supports Glide. These cards are pretty
cheap, ranging from the under-$50 Voodoo3 3000 to the $100-150
Voodoo5 5500. They run games such as Unreal, Quake III et al pretty
well.
Pros
- 3dfx cards support OpenGL as well, a newer 3D standard.
- They're really good for games.
- They're also pretty inexpensive.
Cons
- No RAVE support. RAVE is QuickDraw3D's graphics protocol. These
cards won't accelerate your QuickDraw3D based games or 3D
scenes.
- No Mac OS X support. Possibly, 3rd party drivers will come out,
but to the best of my knowledge there's no planned OS X
support.
- Voodoo5 5500 (12" PCI) won't work with Performas.
- Voodoo3 has to be Mac-Rom flashed. (a pain)
Ratings
- Voodoo3 3000: •••• - It's an OK card at a
great price, but ROM is a pain.
- Voodoo5 4500: •••• - A good card, and a
decent price. Hard to find.
- Voodoo5 5500: ••••• - Very good, and
loads of VRAM.
Cards with OpenGL
Any ATI 128 card supports OpenGL. These cards range from the
$100 Rage 128 Orion (16 MB) to the Radeon Mac PCI ($160). They have
support from Apple and ATI, and are good for OpenGL games and RAVE
acceleration.
Pros
- OS X support.
- RAVE support, so will accelerate QuickDraw3D.
- Good OpenGL support
Cons
- Radeon 2D acceleration sub-par
- No GLIDE support.
- ATI's Mac support is lousy.
Ratings
- Rage 128 Orion: ••• - It works, but performance
isn't great for the money.
- Radeon PCI: ••••• - Can't be beat for
OpenGL or RAVE, but pricey.
Formac ProFormance3
I've never actually used this card, but have heard good things
about it. It costs $100 and up on the used market, but can be hard
to find. I am unsure about OS X support.
Pros
- OpenGL support
- 3D glasses, supposedly work very well
- RAVE support
- Good 2D acceleration for when you aren't playing games.
Cons
- No GLIDE support
- Relatively hard to find
- Somewhat pricey for what the card is.
Rating
- Never used it, but from what I've heard:
•••• - 3D glasses nice touch, decent
performance.
Non-Gaming Cards
If you don't use 3D intensive games, or use non-RAVE 3D, the
following cards might be for you. They are much cheaper.
ATI XClaim 3D PLUS
This card is based on the Rage Pro chip from ATI. It has
8 MB VRAM and supports RAVE. That's it. No OpenGL or Glide.
However, it's good for scrolling those Excel spreadsheets or that
Word doc. Has OS X support. $50 or thereabouts.
Pros
- Supports RAVE
- OS X support
- Cheap
Cons
- Lousy 3D performance, but will accelerate RAVE games.
- No GLIDE support
- No OpenGL support
Rating: •••• - It supports some games, and
it's cheap.
ixMicro Pro Rez 3D
This card was made by ixMicro, based on their TwinTurbo 128
chip. It has 8 MB of VRAM, and accelerates RAVE very well. It
doesn't support GLIDE or OpenGL, but does have good 2D performance.
OS X support. $40.
Pros
- Supports RAVE, good performance
- OS X support
- Cheap
- Good 2D performance
Cons
- No RAVE gaming support
- No GLIDE support
- No OpenGL support
- 12" PCI, won't work with Performas
Rating: ••• - Hey, it's cheap, but no games
support.
There are many other cheap older graphics cards which I won't
get into now, like the Radius Thunder series. However, this is a
guide to some of the better cards that are currently available for
PCI Macs. If you are considering a second video card or a
replacement, this is a helpful starter's guide.
