Various video cards tested (Mac OS X 10.5.9 & Mac OS 9)

[Ncc74656]

Going through a series of video cards using cinebench. PCI and AGP. All testing done on a dual 1.12 GHz G4 with 1 gig of RAM and 150 MHz bus.  SSD via IDE adapter.



The lineup; https://i.imgur.com/xsMAT62.jpeg

Starting off with a 9200 Radeon. This is a Mac edition radeon
https://i.imgur.com/f2gvyPq.jpeg

Next we have a 64 meg 8500 Radeon. It's a PC version that was bio swapped to Mac.
https://i.imgur.com/k8jRf3D.jpeg

Now we have the 64 Meg Radeon Mac edition
https://i.imgur.com/QaubCwx.jpeg

Here is the default G4 card, GeForce 2 MX. 32 meg. On a side note this was the original video card I used, although PCI version, back when I was just getting into gaming. Playing SWAT 3 on a 400 MHz gateway that I had overclocked to to 550 megahertz.
https://i.imgur.com/3DE8ja6.jpeg

Here is the Radeon 7000. This is a PC card flashed over to Mac. PCI
https://i.imgur.com/XH6QeNW.jpeg

Finally last but not least
We have the Nvidia TI-4600 Mac edition
https://i.imgur.com/RCgYeIc.jpeg

Rage 128, PCI.
https://i.imgur.com/6417lQE.jpeg

There is additional testing I need to do in games but for a synthetic, this is what I have for now.

[Ncc74656]

testing of video cards in  macos 9.2.2.  test system same as above. 150mhz bus, dual 1.12ghz

strangely the PCI cards had strange lag hiccups at times. mostly in the menu of the game.  here is the full photo list   https://imgur.com/gallery/XklMDlE

9200 radeon 128meg mac edition. this is running the DVI driver pack - strangely the OS9 update driver pack had instability.

macbench 3.0 @ 851
https://i.imgur.com/FiQSNps.jpeg
Quake III
800x600 72fps  https://i.imgur.com/DvrMI8u.jpeg
1024x768 60.1  https://i.imgur.com/OfOsBeS.jpeg

Radeon 8500 using the os9 update driver pack. mac edition
bench 3.0 2332      https://i.imgur.com/jm9b2Cd.jpeg
Quake III
800x600 115.9fps     https://i.imgur.com/C0Sg1T5.jpeg
1024X768 98.7fps     https://i.imgur.com/IeoyFA2.jpeg
1280x1024  71fps     https://i.imgur.com/ayvRaxZ.jpeg

Radeon 8500 PC edition moded
bench 3.0  2124   https://i.imgur.com/Ch5AyN7.jpeg
Quake III
800x600 115fps      https://i.imgur.com/AE3yycI.jpeg
1024x768 96fps      https://i.imgur.com/aGOQiLh.jpeg
1280x1024 69fps    https://i.imgur.com/lGyIobE.jpeg

Radeon 7000 PC moded to mac  PCI
bench 3.0 792   https://i.imgur.com/06avGXY.jpeg
Quake III
800x600 37.9fps     https://i.imgur.com/ZJTvGNB.jpeg
1024x768 26.9fps   https://i.imgur.com/2lm2K5B.jpeg
128x1024 18.5fps   https://i.imgur.com/Lsjuth0.jpeg

Rage 128 mac edition PCI
bench 3.0 915     https://i.imgur.com/3Bs19ST.jpeg
Quake III
800x600 8.6fps   https://i.imgur.com/j1qxQJf.jpeg
1024x768 4fps    https://i.imgur.com/lZ0bBy1.jpeg
1280x1024  DNF

Geforce 2 32meg AGP (factory mac card)
bench 3.0 2434     https://i.imgur.com/SJH7dg1.jpeg
Quake III
800x600 67.9fps    https://i.imgur.com/1NMM28P.jpeg
1024x768  45.5fps  https://i.imgur.com/3xcSveK.jpeg
1280x1024 29fps    https://i.imgur.com/YJ9CwM4.jpeg

Nvidia TI4600 mac edition
bench 3.0 3636       https://i.imgur.com/kt4MgzX.jpeg
800x600 130.3fps   https://i.imgur.com/LePKGso.jpeg
1024x768 128.3fps  https://i.imgur.com/a6qOTWC.jpeg
1280x1024 120.9    https://i.imgur.com/75SMYcT.jpeg

[teroyk]

Those PCI cards would be good starting point for Mac OS 9 G5 booting tests:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,5531.0.html

[DieHard]

Those PCI cards would be good starting point for Mac OS 9 G5 booting tests:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,5531.0.html

You are like a dog on a bone with getting a G5 OS 9 Machine

[Ncc74656]

Those PCI cards would be good starting point for Mac OS 9 G5 booting tests:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,5531.0.html

i didnt know this was a thing. people trying to run os9 on G5's?   maybe ill have to pickup a G5 to try it o.O

there was one for sale last year at my pawn shop for 15.00 but i passed on it.

[Ncc74656]

Going through a series of video cards using cinebench. PCI and AGP. All testing done on a dual 1.12 GHz G4 with 1 gig of RAM and 150 MHz bus.  SSD via IDE adapter.



The lineup; https://i.imgur.com/xsMAT62.jpeg

Starting off with a 9200 Radeon. This is a Mac edition radeon
shading tests
C4D: 132
SW: 399
HW: 455
https://i.imgur.com/f2gvyPq.jpeg

Next we have a 64 meg 8500 Radeon. It's a PC version that was bio swapped to Mac.
shading tests
C4D: 134
SW: 402
HW: 671
https://i.imgur.com/k8jRf3D.jpeg

Now we have the 64 Meg Radeon Mac edition
shading tests
C4D: 132
SW: 402
HW: 659
https://i.imgur.com/QaubCwx.jpeg

Here is the default G4 card, GeForce 2 MX. 32 meg. On a side note this was the original video card I used, although PCI version, back when I was just getting into gaming. Playing SWAT 3 on a 400 MHz gateway that I had overclocked to to 550 megahertz.
shading tests
C4D: 133
SW: 394
HW: 328
https://i.imgur.com/3DE8ja6.jpeg

Here is the Radeon 7000. This is a PC card flashed over to Mac. PCI
shading tests
C4D: 133
SW: 345
HW: 372
https://i.imgur.com/XH6QeNW.jpeg

Finally last but not least
We have the Nvidia TI-4600 Mac edition
shading tests
C4D: 134
SW: 378
HW: 808
https://i.imgur.com/RCgYeIc.jpeg

Rage 128, PCI. literally slower than the CPU
shading tests
C4D: 131
SW: 131
HW: 120
https://i.imgur.com/6417lQE.jpeg

There is additional testing I need to do in games but for a synthetic, this is what I have for now.

[Ncc74656]

more testing: same system - 150mhz bus with dual 1.12Ghz G4 on SSD to IDE.

X800 PC card that i got off ebay.
https://i.imgur.com/SKv0mEy.jpeg

loaded in 10.5.12
https://i.imgur.com/Fj209Tf.jpeg

 in my searching i could not find good info on what would or would not work. i hunted for a VIVO edition (video in/video out) as i had one of these as a kid. ATI binned their GPU dies and on all their cards except the XTPE and Vivo - the dies were known defective or poor performing compared to the XTPE (top of the line). on the LE/pro/and XT non vivo; 90% of those cards had a small laser cut on the die itself, physically disabling 4 pipelines. in their testing im assuming they found some bad lines and this was their ewaste work around.  the SE's did NOT have this done BUT their clock speeds were 50% of the XTPE so pipelines were good but the cards just could not hold voltage or clocks needed for top end models (or maybe they just needed to fill a void in teh market but i kind of doubt that given the price?)

i Physically removed the resistors on pins 3/11
https://i.imgur.com/e5dTFhr.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/BdG2S8p.jpeg

I chose to grab a rom off http://themacelite.wikidot.com/wikidownloads2 for the X800 retail.  Now its worth noting here that the PC version of the PRO is missing 4 pixel pipelines rops and shaders as well as slower clocks where as the mac edition has all 16 pipes enabled. i do not know what would happen if you flash the mac rom to a non vivo card that has the laser cut? errors id assume as its missing links on the die.  the only difference from the X800XT and the X850 is the clock speeds.

The mac edition card has slower clocks than the PC version. the mac version is also an AGP pro that will not work in a G4 QS so its a non starter anyway.

I removed the factory rom chip as a safe backup as well as dumped it to the PC.
https://i.imgur.com/ud6gqNi.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/yLER2V7.jpeg
the factory ROM chip on this asus card was 512kb which is more than enough for factory roms, so im not sure why there is so much talk on reduced roms for the later cards. a 7000 i get but ive never seen a card in the X and newer generation with such a small rom chip.

either way i loaded a 1mb rom from digikey (i keep a sleeve on hand) after flashing it via usb.  total time is less than 3 minutes to flash/solder/up and running. i much prefer the rom swap and external flash os oppsoed to using a PC or dos or what ever flashing program.

first booted into OS9.2.2, obviously no drivers.
graphics mix is 962% faster with 9200DVI drivers
https://i.imgur.com/sDHK1Tx.jpeg

here is the card in cinebench 10.5.12
C4D:134
SW:413
HW:1015
https://i.imgur.com/CBxIqz2.jpeg

I intend to overclock this card to XTPE and then to X850XTPE clock speeds as i test the limits here.  i will also try this in 10.4.9 and i need to look into driver dates/versions.

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/2nFYC2W.jpeg"
     width="400"
     height="500" >img

[Ncc74656]

i wish i could modify old posts for longer periods of time.

the X800 took X850XTPE clock speeds and then some. no cooling mods were needed.  external memory temps at 60c and back side core temps of 65c with cooler temps of 50c while running doom 3.

I found greater performance with 2 sticks of ram, as opposed to 3. im still flushing this out but a noticeable reduction in lag when loading textures during new arena entry in 3d games (doom3, Halo CE). low stutter of 12fps with 3 sticks and 28fps with 2.  this card is really pushing the limits of this system and bus so, maybe its simply a fill rate vs power issue? im not sure.  i have more ram on order to test more things out. its not bad ram tho, it all tests good with "remember"

starting FPS in doom of around 24fps average with X800 rom and 133 bus on 3 sticks.  after 150 bus (this includes some cpu over clocking by default), two sticks of ram and
Core clock: 535Mhz
Memory: 610Mhz
FSB: 150

i am at 41 fps average with spikes to 60 and lows of 29.

resolution tested for all of this is 1024x768, high settings, shaders on, shadows on, 4X AA.

one thing to know when flashing the X800 series is that digital DVI will not work. its a failure in the ROM coding. im not sure what the work around is. people claim you can get the fireXL working on DVI BUT, and this is a big BUT - firexl's do not all have binned cores like the X800XT's and vivo cards did. so there is a greater than zero chance that you will get a fireXL that will NOT take the mac ROM due to 4 pipelines being faulty on the GPU die itself.  i for one would rather deal with VGA only output than a paperweight card.

I intend to try some voltage mods to the SD ram to see if i cant get better performance out of 3 sticks, may also need a FSB voltage bump? idk.   id also like to try overclocking the AGP bus. given this card is an 8X i should not have any issue with the GPU itself hitting a clock limit. we will see.