I've used both and they perform for the most part identically, both in Windows and on the Mac. The 9800 core wasn't really powerful enough yet to make use of the extra 128M of VRAM. Save your money and get the 128M version. Truth be told, on any machine you're going to be using a 9800 card in, the machine itself will be more CPU bound than graphics bound anyway. Other than the last generation of PCIe G5 towers, I'm not aware of any G series machines that can even use uncompressed textures without choking anyway, I certainly know my dual 2.0 Ghz G5 can't. VRAM determines how big of "textures" the card can process and display. Translation: Eye candy. The VRAM has nothing to do with how fast the card is, except in newer generation cards that natively handle uncompressed textures and other higher end features. The 9800 isn't one of them. :-)
On Jul 16, 2010, at 5:08 PM, [email protected] wrote: > I have been looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro video cards on Ebay and see some > that are 128MB models and some that are 256MB models. Sellers claim both > with boot OS9.2.2, which I would like to be able to do, just in case. All > claim excellent 3D acceleration (but not in OS 9), core graphics, and what > not. So, how useful is the extra 128MB VRAM on those more expensive cards? > Is it worth another $50-70? > > Broos > > -- > You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for > those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power > Macs. > The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette > guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
