Best video card for legacy Mac

Stephen C. wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:11:42 -0800, pat wrote
> (in article
> ):
>
> > I would like to know which is the best video card ever made for legacy
> > Mac?
> >
> > The Radeon 9200 PCI or the Radeon 7000 PCI, or something else?
> >
> > In the connection area (somebody call it teeth, somebody call it
> > legs), there are two notches, but the PCI cards that I have only have
> > one notch. Are these two Radeon PCI cards compatible with the old
> > legacy mac? (for now, don't worry about OS)
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Pat
>
> Pat,
>
> The best video card depends on what Mac you are putting the card into, and
> what you are going to do with Mac.
>
> If you want a usable answer, let's start with what Mac you have. Please post
> the model name/number.
>
> StephenC

The legacy Macs are 73/75/76/85/86/95/96xx
I would like to have the best 2D/3D graphics.

Thanks!
Pat
 >> Stay informed about: Best video card for legacy Mac 

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:28:37 -0800, pat wrote
(in article
):

>
>
> Stephen C. wrote:
>> On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:11:42 -0800, pat wrote
>> (in article
>> ):
>>
>>> I would like to know which is the best video card ever made for legacy
>>> Mac?
>>>
>>> The Radeon 9200 PCI or the Radeon 7000 PCI, or something else?
>>>
>>> In the connection area (somebody call it teeth, somebody call it
>>> legs), there are two notches, but the PCI cards that I have only have
>>> one notch. Are these two Radeon PCI cards compatible with the old
>>> legacy mac? (for now, don't worry about OS)
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> Pat
>>
>> Pat,
>>
>> The best video card depends on what Mac you are putting the card into, and
>> what you are going to do with Mac.
>>
>> If you want a usable answer, let's start with what Mac you have. Please post
>> the model name/number.
>>
>> StephenC
>
> The legacy Macs are 73/75/76/85/86/95/96xx
> I would like to have the best 2D/3D graphics.
>
> Thanks!
> Pat

On spec, the 9200 is superior to the 7000 due to more RAM. The question
becomes, can you install the 9200 in all these machines, and do you need the
extra RAM.

The 9200 specs say the lowest Mac OS supported is 9.2.2. Which Apple says is
not supported on even the fastest Mac you list. This doesn't mean that a 9200
card wouldn't run with OS 7.5, just that you would have to verify for
yourself to be sure.

Whether you need the added RAM of the 9200 depends on what you are doing with
the Macs. For an application like Photoshop (an old version) the main
difference would be the time it takes to perform a processor intensive task.
What might take 90 seconds with the 7000 card might only take 30 seconds with
the 9200 card.

If you are talking gaming, you always want to go with the fastest and most
RAM. It can't hurt to have too much for gaming. As I said, it is mostly a
matter of whether that particular card will run with whatever OS you are
going to use.

If you are planning on outfitting a bunch of machines, you could buy one of
each card, and test, test, test.

Good luck,
StephenC
 >> Stay informed about: Best video card for legacy Mac 

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:28:37 -0800, pat wrote
(in article
):

>
>
> Stephen C. wrote:
>> On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:11:42 -0800, pat wrote
>> (in article
>> ):
>>
>>> I would like to know which is the best video card ever made for legacy
>>> Mac?
>>>
>>> The Radeon 9200 PCI or the Radeon 7000 PCI, or something else?
>>>
>>> In the connection area (somebody call it teeth, somebody call it
>>> legs), there are two notches, but the PCI cards that I have only have
>>> one notch. Are these two Radeon PCI cards compatible with the old
>>> legacy mac? (for now, don't worry about OS)
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> Pat
>>
>> Pat,
>>
>> The best video card depends on what Mac you are putting the card into, and
>> what you are going to do with Mac.
>>
>> If you want a usable answer, let's start with what Mac you have. Please post
>> the model name/number.
>>
>> StephenC
>
> The legacy Macs are 73/75/76/85/86/95/96xx
> I would like to have the best 2D/3D graphics.
>
> Thanks!
> Pat

p.s.

Here are a couple of links for info on older Macs.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac/index.html

http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/index.shtml
 >> Stay informed about: Best video card for legacy Mac 

In the connection area (somebody call it teeth, somebody call it
legs), there are two notches, but the PCI cards that I have only have
one notch. Can these two Radeon PCI cards be put on the old legacy
mac?
 >> Stay informed about: Best video card for legacy Mac 

On Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:52:52 -0800, pat wrote
(in article
):

> In the connection area (somebody call it teeth, somebody call it
> legs), there are two notches, but the PCI cards that I have only have
> one notch. Can these two Radeon PCI cards be put on the old legacy
> mac?

If the socket length on the motherboard is the same as the card's pin length,
but the socket has two notches and the cards have only one, then no, they
will not fit, any more than the round peg fits the square hole.

Most of the models you listed were spec'ed with PCI expansion slots. The
radeon 7000 and the 9200 should've both been available in either PCI or AGP
configuration. So if the cards are PCI cards, they should fit into one of the
PCI expansions slots of the Macs.

Do you know if the cards are Mac specific?

StephenC
 >> Stay informed about: Best video card for legacy Mac