was the radeon 9800 pro good for windows xp? how many diff versions were there? i seem to have the 128m verson here it looks like its a pc card it doesnt say mac edition
Gemini said
The Radeon 9800 Pro was essentially the "gold standard" for high-end Windows XP gaming in 2003 and 2004. If you are building or maintaining a period-accurate XP machine (like your work with legacy workstations), this card is a fantastic choice, though it does have some "hot-headed" quirks you should be aware of.
Performance on Windows XP
In its prime, the 9800 Pro was famous for its ability to handle DirectX 9.0 titles with ease. It was the card everyone wanted for Half-Life 2, Doom 3, and Far Cry.
The Good: It features 8 pixel pipelines and a 256-bit memory bus, which made it significantly faster than the mid-range cards of that era (like the 9600 series).
The Bad: These cards are notorious for running extremely hot. The stock fans are small and prone to failure, often leading to the card "cooking" itself over time. Given your interest in hardware preservation, I'd highly recommend checking the fan and potentially reapplying thermal paste before a long session.
How to Identify Your Version
Since you have a 128MB version that looks like a "PC card," you likely have the most common retail variant. Here is how the versions were split:
Version Memory Memory Bus Notes
Standard Pro (Your version) 128MB DDR 256-bit The classic high-performer.
"Lite" Pro 128MB DDR 128-bit Often called the "9800 Pro EZ." Significantly slower; identified by having all 4 RAM chips in a straight row rather than an "L" shape.
256MB Pro 256MB GDDR2 256-bit Rare and ran even hotter than the 128MB version.
All-In-Wonder 128MB 256-bit Includes a purple breakout cable for TV tuning/video capture.
PC vs. Mac Identification:
Ports: The retail PC version has VGA, DVI, and S-Video. The Apple OEM version (for the G5) usually has DVI and ADC (Apple Display Connector).
+1
The "Mac Edition" Retail: There was a retail Mac version that looked identical to the PC card (VGA/DVI), but it had a different BIOS. If yours doesn't say "Mac Edition" on the sticker and came from a PC environment, it’s almost certainly the standard PC BIOS.
Flashing: Since you're familiar with Hackintosh and legacy Mac setups, note that the PC 128MB 9800 Pro is a very popular candidate for flashing to a Mac BIOS for use in Power Mac G4s.
Compatibility Note
If you're planning to use this with your Asus P5PE-VM project, it should work perfectly as that board has a Universal AGP slot. Just make sure your power supply has a spare 4-pin Molex connector, as the 9800 Pro requires dedicated power to boot.
You said
i have a 9800 pro inside my MDD 1.25ghz aswell as one inside my poewrmac g5 1.8ghz they are both "mac" 9800 pros i think they both have 256mb ram?
Gemini said
Given your collection of Power Macs, it's very likely you have two distinct "official" versions of the Mac 9800 Pro. ATI released a specific high-end variant for the G5 that differs from the one you'd typically find in a G4 MDD.
1. The Power Mac G5 Card: "The Special Edition"
If the card in your G5 1.8GHz has 256MB of RAM, it is likely the Radeon 9800 Pro "Special Mac Edition."
VRAM: 256MB DDR.
Ports: Usually ADC and DVI.
The Catch: This specific 256MB card was designed for the 8X AGP slot of the G5. While it's the "ultimate" 9800 for that machine, it generally will not work in a G4 MDD because of the different AGP voltage and physical signaling requirements of the G5's "AGP Pro" slot.
2. The Power Mac G4 MDD Card: "The Retail Mac Edition"
The card in your MDD 1.25GHz is likely the Retail Mac Edition (or a flashed PC card).
VRAM: Most official Retail Mac Edition cards actually only had 128MB.
Ports: Usually DVI, VGA, and S-Video.
Compatibility: This is the "Universal" card. It works in the G4 MDD (2X/4X AGP) and can also work in a G5.
Why yours might be 256MB: If your MDD card definitely has 256MB, it is almost certainly a flashed PC card. Enthusiasts often took high-end 256MB PC versions and flashed them with a "Reduced ROM" to make them work in G4s.
How to verify for sure
You don't need to pull the cards out to check the VRAM. On both machines:
Go to the Apple Menu () -> About This Mac.
Click More Info... (System Profiler).
Under Hardware, select Graphics/Displays.
Look for VRAM (Total).
A Note on your MDD setup
Since you're running a Dual 1.25GHz MDD, that machine is the last of the "Official OS 9" booting Macs.
OS 9 vs OS X: The Radeon 9800 Pro is a beast in OS X Tiger, but it has no 2D/3D hardware acceleration in OS 9. Everything will feel a bit "laggy" in the classic OS because there were never official drivers written for the 9800 series for OS 9.
If you ever find that the MDD feels slow while you're working on your music software in OS 9, you might actually prefer a Radeon 9000 Pro or GeForce 4 Ti, as those have full OS 9 driver support!
