This thread is for the discussion of Mac Video chipsets and upgrade options. The upgrade options are only for PowerMacs. You cannot upgrade other models' graphics chipsets. Some models have VRAM upgrade options but must be upgraded as a CTO option. You cannot upgrade those models' VRAM after purchase. I'll add more information when I can. Note: these are listings of 100% Mac compatible cards and not flashed cards. I will not be listing flashed options. I would prefer not discussing flashed options in this thread. If you would like to discuss flashed cards, please start a different topic. I would like to keep this thread about officially supported cards.

Performance note:
World of Warcraft is a game which pushes both the CPU and GPU. Both can be bottlenecks. You can have the fastest card available for your system, but if it cannot be fed fast enough, you may not notice as much of a performance difference. It's often best to pair up a GPU upgrade with a comparable CPU.

v. 1.0 Pulled from the old Mac Troubleshooting thread.
v. 2.0 Added more information about G4 compatible cards and OEM cards
v. 2.1 Added Radeon 9200 (oops!) and some OEM comments for the 9600, GF4MX, and FX 5200
v. 2.2 Added GeForce 6800 GT DDL (oops!)
v. 2.3 Added X850 XT. Updated GeForce 6800 GT/Ultra DDL
v. 2.4 Added info on the upcoming true Retail Radeon 9600 Pro, recommended upgrades, and a few more notes.
v. 2.5 Added info regarding ATI's fall line-up regarding Radeon 9800 Pro consolidation and X800 XT price drop.
v. 2.6 Cleaned up some. Added an addendum to include chipsets released since the iBook summer 05 update.
v. 2.7 Added some information about the Radeon X1900 GT and XT PCI-E cards.
v. 2.8 Added some information about NVIDIA cards in the iMacs and new June '07 MBPs.
v. 2.9 Added some of the newer cards (from early 2008 Mac models).
v. 2.10 Added information about the Radeon HD 3870

Card model (Type Interface VRAM Output) Brief desc
Recommended upgrades: List of cards which are more powerful.


ATI Radeon 7000 (Retail PCI 32|64 VGA|DVI|SVideo)
Dual output support. This came out after the Radeon and was the lowend model. Only available in PCI. It went through a couple of name changes before it was finally released. It is less powerful than the 7200. It has no hardware TCL or shader support. Definitely not recommended.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9200 PCI

ATI Radeon aka Radeon 7200 (OEM|Retail PCI|AGP 32 VGA|DVI|SVideo)
Single output only. This is the original Radeon. It has hardware Transform, Clipping, and Lighting but no vertex/pixel shader support. Not really recommended for WoW.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9000 Pro, Radeon 8500, GeForce 3, GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9800 Pro. If PCI, Radeon 9200 PCI

NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (OEM AGP 32|64 VGA|ADC)
The first NVIDIA based card to ship for Macs. It is roughly equivalent in performance to the Radeon 7200. This model came in multiple versions. The single head version came with 32 MB. The TwinView model (dual head support) came with 64 MB. I know they were introduced standard SDRAM but later models may have had DDR-SDRAM.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9000 Pro, Radeon 8500, GeForce 3, GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9800 Pro.

ATI Radeon 7500 (OEM AGP 32 DVI|ADC)
The same as the Radeon 7200 but clocked higher and dual output support. Also built into certain eMacs. A Mobility version is in certain models of the PowerBook G4s (PowerBook G4 "DVI" models 667|800MHz). Slightly better performance than a 7200 but for WoW it probably wouldn't make that much difference. I think all cards listed below support dual output so I won't listed it as a feature anymore.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9000 Pro, Radeon 8500, GeForce 3, GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9800 Pro.

NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (OEM AGP 32|64 DVI|ADC)
This was rumored to be what was suppose to be a GeForce 3 MX or a clocked up GF2MX. I don't believe it offers any new features over the GF2MX. Performance will be about the same as the Radeon 7500. Model was introduced as a 64 MB part with the Quicksilver G4s. Downgraded to 32 MB with the MDD G4s. Mobile versions were used in the original 12" and 17" PowerBook G4s. Not recommended for WoW but if it's built in... start saving your change for a new machine.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9000 Pro, Radeon 8500, GeForce 3, GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9700 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro.

ATI Radeon 9200 (OEM|Retail 32|128 VGA|DVI|SVideo)
The 9200 is basically the same as the 9000 but with support for AGP 8X. This doesn't really mean much on the Mac side since the only Retail version is a PCI card. It's the fastest Mac compatible PCI card and probably the last. Do not buy this card as an AGP replacement if you have an AGP based system. The OEM versions are built in versions of iBooks and eMacs as well as the Mac mini. May suffer from the same driver issue which plagues Radeon 9000s.
Recommended upgrades: None that are PCI based

ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (OEM|Retail 64|128 DVI|ADC)
Released as a low end version of the Radeon 8500. Roughly equivalent performance to that card. It is missing a texture unit and vertex shader compared to the 8500 but it is clocked higher, offers better memory management, and can apply more textures per pass (6 vs 3 on the 8500), which evens out performance in a number of games. Not too bad for WoW but if you can get a better card, start saving your money. Mobility version used in the final generation Titanium PowerBook G4s (867|1 GHz models). Note: There is an issue which affects some Radeon 9000 Pro cards which can cause system freezes. There's along standing driver issue which can affect other applications as well so it's not just a WoW issue.
Recommended upgrades: GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9700 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro. If AGP 4X motherboard, Radeon 9600 Pro

ATI Radeon 8500 (OEM|Retail 64 VGA|DVI|SVideo)
Radeon's flagship retail card at the time of shipping. An OEM model was available for Xserves. Should offer a bit better performance than the 9000 Pro due to one more texture unit and one more vertex shader. Offers decent WoW performance. Roughly the same as the 9000 Pro.
Recommended upgrades: GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9700 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro. If AGP 4X motherboard, Radeon 9600 Pro

NVIDIA GeForce 3 (OEM 64 DVI|ADC)
This was THE big named NVIDIA card everyone hoped for when rumors first started that Apple was talking to NVIDIA about Mac OS support. It was first introduced to the world in a Mac and was suppose to ship first for Macs but because of delays in the OEM parts (driver issues?), the PC versions shipped first. Roughly equivalent to the Radeon 8500 and 9000 Pro.
Recommended upgrades: GeForce 4Ti, Radeon 9700 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro. If AGP 4X motherboard, Radeon 9600 Pro

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (OEM 64|128 DVI|ADC)
Pretty much the laughing stock of the G5 cards. Let's take last years lowend card and use it! Two years in a row even! This is technically capable of doing more stuff than the GF4Ti but in raw horsepower, there's no comparison. The GF4Ti is a faster card. But the FX5200 supports ARB Fragment Programs in hardware which is required for hardware accelerated CoreImage (note, not a gaming technology, but AFP can be used for gaming). The original G5 iMacs used this chipset. It's also used in the current 12" PowerBook G4.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9600 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro, Radeon X800 XT

NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti (OEM 128 DVI|ADC)
Very powerful card for its time. It was the top of the line Mac card until the introduction of the very brief OEM 9700 Pro. Should run WoW great.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9600 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro

ATI Radeon 9550 (OEM AGP 32)
This video chipset is included in the new iBooks. It's about the same clockspeed as the Radeon 9200 but supports the same features as the 9600 chipsets.
Recommended upgrades: None. Built-in

ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (OEM AGP 64 DVI|ADC)
This the cheapest card you can get through a retailer ($99). It would show the least amount of performance boost, but a boost nonetheless. WoW should be easily playable at lower resolutions (1280x1024 and below). May become more choppy at higher resolutions. The only place seling these cards is Other World Computing (http://www.macsales.com). They are the OEM Radeon 9600 Pro cards used in the first revision of the G5. You won't get any official tech support from ATI, but you will from OWC. Clocked slower than most manufacturers clock their 9600 Pros for PCs. These can be used in G4s with a little modification. OWC sells ones that are already modified for use in G4s. Using these modded cards in a G5 will result in a card which only runs at AGP 4X.
Recommended upgrades: Any Radeon 9800, Radeon X800 XT, any GeForce 6800

ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (Retail AGP 256 DVI)
Because the features are significant than the old Radeon 9600 Pros I split it off into a seperate description. The board is apparently based on the Radeon 9650. It has 256 MB of VRAM and can run one 30 inch Apple Cinema Display. But's going to be AGP 4X only 256 since it's targeted at the G4 market. Interestingly enough, it will also be Windows compatible, a first for ATI. But at $200 some may thing it's a bit much. But it's the first consumer targeted card for both Macs and Windows which can run a 30" ACD. I'm not sure if this means all new ATI products will be Mac and PC compatible.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9800 Pro (G4), any Radeon 9800 (G5 only), Radeon X800 XT (G5 only), any GeForce 6800 (G5 only)

The ATI Radeon 9600 (OEM AGP 128 DVI)
Comes as the standard card in the current G5 systems (dual 2.0|2.3). This and the 9650 are sort of a mystery. Apple doesn't list a Pro or XT designation. On the brief research I've done someone mentioned that their Radeon 9600 was an RV351, which is the same chipset as the 9650. But System Profiler listed it as a 9600 Pro. This chipset is now built into the latest eMacs and iMacs. Until I see clock rates listed for all of the 96xx models I won't know for sure how this compares to the old 9600 Pro. Might be able to modify for G4 use. Two single link DVI ports.
Recommended upgrades: Any Radeon 9800 (G5 only), Radeon X800 XT (G5 only), any GeForce 6800 (G5 only)

The ATI Radeon 9650 (OEM AGP 256 DVI)
Comes as the standard card in the current top end G5 system (dual 2.7). This and the 9600 are sort of a mystery. Apple doesn't list a Pro or XT designation. On the brief research I've done someone mentioned that their Radeon 9600 was an RV351, which is the same chipset as the 9650. If I get more information I'll update this and the 9600. One single link DVI port and one dual link DVI for native resolution support for the 30" Apple Cinema Display. Might be able to modify for G4 use.
Recommended upgrades: Any Radeon 9800 (G5 only), Radeon X800 XT (G5 only), any GeForce 6800 (G5 only)

The ATI Radeon 9600 XT (OEM AGP 128 DVI|ADC)
The most powerful of the 96xx cards. The version in Macs is also clocked slower than most 9600 XTs in PC land. It was clocked to the same level as most PC manufacturers clocked their 9600 Pros. Lots of overclocking potential. There seem to be a rather high number of bad 9600 XTs that shipped. Mine included. Can also be modded to use in G4s.
Recommended upgrades: Any Radeon 9800 (G5 only), Radeon X800 XT (G5 only), any GeForce 6800 (G5 only)

ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (OEM AGP 128 DVI|ADC)
The most powerful ADC native card you can drop in a G4. Extremely rare. When it was first released for PCs it took the gaming world by storm. ATI actually released something that completely owned whatever NVIDIA had to offer. It was the fastest video card out there at the time by a fairly noticeable margin. Should run WoW great.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon 9800 Pro (G4)

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (OEM|Retail AGP 128|256 DVI|ADC VGA|DVI|SVideo)
It comes in two flavors for the G5s. The 128 MB model is backwards compatible with G4s but this means the card only runs at a max of AGP 4x due to some issues with Apple's AGP ports in the G4s. It also has SVideo, VGA, and DVI outputs. It also requires a power cable. The 256 model, aka Mac Special Edition, only works in G5 and gets it's power via the AGP Pro slot so it's much easier to install. It also runs at full AGP 8x (which translates to not much in real world comparisons to AGP 4x) and ADC and DVI outputs. The two cards have a MSRP of $250 and $300 respectively. Street price is typically cheaper. This is THE card to get for G4 owners. If paired with a good CPU (dual 1.2 or higher, or single 1.4 or higher) WoW should run decently. In a G5, the game flies.
edit: ATI is replacing the G4 compatible version with one which has 256 MB of RAM. Good news for G4 owners, more confusion for prospective buyers ;)

Fall 2005 update: ATI is consolidating the Radeon 9800 Pro cards into one Mac version. It is the rumored G4 compatible Radeon 9800 Pro w/ 256 MB of RAM. The G5 only Mac Special Edition is being fazed out.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon X800 XT (G5 only), any GeForce 6800 (G5 only)

ATI Radeon 9800 XT (OEM AGP 256 DVI|ADC)
Same as the 9800 Pros but clocked faster. Only fits in G5s due to the use of an AGP Pro connector. Runs WoW great.
Recommended upgrades: Radeon X800 XT (G5 only), any GeForce 6800 (G5 only)

ATI Radeon X800 XT (Retail AGP 256 DVI|ADC)
Currently the fastest retail ATI card available. It has 256 MB of VRAM, only works in G5s. It has one ADC port and one dual link DVI port which allows you to run a 30" Apple Cinema Display at its native resolution.
Fall update MSRP $400 (was $500).

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL (OEM AGP 256 DVI)
Virtually identical to the 6800 Ultra DDL but clocked slightly slower. New top of the line BTO NVIDIA card. Roughly $500 if it were available separately. $350-$400 as a BTO upgrade.

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL (OEM AGP 256 DVI)
Fastest NVIDIA card available. G5 only. Its cooling system takes up the PCI slot next to the AGP port. Two dual link DVI so it can run two 30" ACDs. MSRP $600. No longer available for BTO.

ATI Radeon X850 XT (OEM AGP 256 DVI|ADC) NEW
Currently the fastest ATI card available for non PCI-E G5s. It has 256 MB of VRAM, only works in G5s. It has one ADC port and one dual link DVI port which allows you to run a 30" Apple Cinema Display at its native resolution. Based on the ports, probably uses the same PCB design as the retail X800 XT. $350-$400 as a BTO upgrade. Hard to get.

Radeon X600 XT (OEM PCI-E 128)
This is basically a PCI-E version of the Radeon 9600 XT. There is not a huge performance difference between the two. This card came with the final generation iMac G5s introduced in October.

ATI Radeon X1600
This chipset is used in the first generation iMac Core Duo and MacBook Pros 15" and 17". On the PC side there's a big difference in terms of performance between the Pro and XT versions. The MBPs use the Mobility version of the chip. It's unclear which version is in the iMac. Apple typical underclocks their video cards so, even when running Windows via BootCamp, many noticed the iMacs and MBPs ran slower than similar PC hardware. When clocked to the 'industry' standards, the performance was roughly on par. Compared to other ATI chipsets, the X1600 falls somewhere in between the 9800 XT and the X800 XT in terms of performance, but it can depend on the clockrates. The Mobility versions will be a bit slower. The MBP 15" is clocked lower than the MBP 17" probably due to heat issues with the smaller enclosure. The speed of the Mobility X1600s will actually vary depending on heat. If the system starts to get too hot, the clockspeeds will lower.

NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE|6600 (OEM PCI-E 128|256 DVI)
The 6600 chipset is used for the default video cards for the first PCI-E based dual-core G5 systems. The slower LE w/ 128 MB VRAM is used in the low end dual-core 2.0 while the 2.3 and Quad 2.5 come standard with the 6600 w/ 256 MB VRAM. Performance wise, the chipset is comparable to the ATI Radeon 9800 chipsets.
Recommended upgrades: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT (PCI-E G5 Only), NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 (PCI-E G5 Only), ATI Radeon X1900 GT (PCI-E G5 Only)

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT (OEM PCI-E 128|256 DVI)
The lowend chipset for the Mac Pros and 24" Intel iMacs. Performance is alright at lower resolutions. But once you start running WoW at anything higher than 1280x1024 you'll see some noticeable performance drops. It's roughly the same as the GeForce 6600 in terms of performance.
Recommended upgrades: ATI Radeon X1900 XT (Mac Pro only)

ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT (OEM PCI-E 128 DVI)
OEM card for early 2008 iMac 20-inch model with 2.4GHz processor. Not a spectacular card for gaming but gets the job done. Should provide okay performance. Easily playable framerates.
Recommened upgrades: None

ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO (OEM PCI-E 256 DVI)
OEM card for early 2008 iMac 20-inch model with 2.66GHz processor as well as the 24-inch model with 2.8GHz or 3.06GHz processors. As a gaming card this isn't that spectacular. It gets the job done but performance really drops at higher resolutions. Should provide okay performance. Easily playable framerates.
Recommened upgrades: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GS (for 24" model only)

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (OEM PCI-E 256 DVI)
Base model video card for the Early 2008 Mac Pros. As a gaming card this isn't that spectacular. It gets the job done but performance really drops at higher resolutions. Slightly slower version of this card is used in iMacs. Should provide okay performance. Easily playable framerates.
Recommened upgrades: ATI Radeon X1900 XT, ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M
This video chipset is the newest mobile chipset from NVIDIA and is availble in the new MacBook Pros. There's a noticeable performance improvement over the X1600s, especially at at 1440x900 and above.

NVIDIA GeForce 7600
The 7600 chipset is a BTO option for the 24" Intel iMacs. Performance compared to the 7300 is significant. A 24" Intel iMac with this is a great WoW machine. It performs very well even at the native resolution of 1920x1200.

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT (OEM PCI-E 256 DVI)
The 7800 GT is the fastest consumer based NVIDIA video card for the G5 Macs. It's only available for the PCI-E G5s. It should run WoW without any issues. It is currently only available as a CTO option for $350 (over a GeForce 6600).

ATI Radeon X1900 GT (Retail PCI-E 512 DVI)
Xlr8yourmac.com was first with the news that ATI would be releasing the Radeon X1900 for the final generation PowerMac G5s with PCI-E boards. It's more powerful than the GeForce 7800 GT.

ATI Radeon X1900 XT (OEM PCI-E 512 DVI)
The X1900 XT is a more powerful version of the GT model offering more pipelines and a slighly faster clock. It is only be available for the new Intel based Mac Pros. WoW performance is great.
Recommened upgrade: ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS (OEM PCI-E 512)
The top end gaming graphics card for early 2008 iMacs. Only available as a CTO option for the 24-inch iMacs. Performance looks to be better than Mac Pros with Radeon X1900 cards. Very nice. Should play WoW flawlessly with some of the eye candy turned up.

ATI Radeon HD 3870 (Retail PCI-E 512 DVI)
The HD 3870 is the current top of the line ATI card. It's almost on par with the GeForce 8800 GT at a cheaper price. It is compatible for the all Mac Pros. WoW performance is excellent. It is not compatible with the ATI Displays utility. :(
Recommened upgrade: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 (OEM PCI-E 512 DVI)
The Quadro FX 4500 is not targeted for the average consumer. It is CTO only. The target audience is the graphics professional and it the cost is prohibitive. It runs for an additional $1650 over the standard GeForce 6600. The card is not designed to be a hardcore gaming cards. It is highly recommended that this not be used for WoW.

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (OEM PCI-E 512 DVI)
Current top of the line gaming card for Macs. Spectacular gaming performance. Significantly better than the X1900 XT Current professional app performance is actually slower than the Radeon HD 2600.

NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 (OEM PCI-E 1.5GB DVI)
Top end professional graphics card for Macs. CTO only. As with other Quadros, this is not targeted for the average consumer. Not the best bang for the buck.

ATI has a utility called ATI Displays which provides some nifty features, like VersaVision (screen rotation), Scaling (reducing the size of the display, useful when outputting to a TV and you're having overscan issues) and the OpenGL Overrides, which allows you to enable FSAA and anisotropic filtering in most OpenGL OS X games, including those which do not have internal support for it. WoW has internal support for FSAA and AF. The ATI Displays FSAA override seems to cause graphical glitches in WoW, so I suggest sticking with the built-in functionality. But ATI Displays is useful for other games. The features you get with ATI Displays vary depending on the chipset and whether or not the card is a retail or OEM model. The OpenGL Overrides are available for all Radeon cards.

Performance FAQ coming soon...

Three biggest performance hits for Macs

Terrain Distance: don't go above half

Full Screen Glow Effect: disable it

VSync: disable it unless you go crazy from screen tearing. This will for screen redraws to only occur when the display refreshes which can lock down framerates at the refresh rate of the display. In certain situations it can limit framerates to even half the refresh rate, particularly when framerates are below the refresh rate.

Other settings which can affect performance greatly. Play with these to see what you're most comfortable using.

Multisampling (aka Full Scene Antialiasing or FSAA): On many Macs don't set it above 2x. I prefer 1x (aka off) for optimium performance

Anisotropic Filtering: Dont' set it above half. There's barely any visual difference between half and full. I actually usually play at 2x (1/4 of the slider bar). The difference between 0 and 2x is very noticeable. Enough so that I don't bother enabling Trilinear Filtering.

Screen Resolution: This setting will vary depending on the video card and the display used. LCDs can't go above their native resolution.

Enable All Shader Effects: If your system can handle this I would highly recommend keeping it checked as it enables a faster rendering path on most cards (except maybe the NVIDIA FX GeForce 5200).

With the new Multi-threaded OpenGL enhancements for Intel Macs running OS X 10.4.8 or higher, enabling FSGE and/or FSAA can negate the performance improvements MT OGL can provide. For optimum performance turn both FSGE and FSAA off.


Eventually, I'd like to have more detailed descriptions of all of the options but I'll have to save that for another time.

There's are new console commands with version 2.1.x which allows one to control the maximum framerate of WoW as both the foreground application and a background application. In a chat window type one of the following:

/console maxfps X

(where X is the maximum foreground framerate. Setting X to a value less than or equal to zero removes the cap)

/console maxfpsbk X

(where X is the maximum background framerate. Setting X to a value less than or equal to zero removes the cap)

Reserving for future post 6

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Q u o t e:
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 (OEM PCI-E 512 DVI)
The Quadro FX 4500 is not targeted for the average consumer. It is CTO only. The target audience is the graphics professional and it the cost is prohibitive. It runs for an additional $1650 over the standard GeForce 6600. The card is not designed to be a hardcore gaming cards. It is highly recommended that this not be used for WoW.

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I have a Quadro Mac Pro machine and I just tested WoW. :) Mac OS 10.4.7, 30 fps in crowded Ironforge and up to 120 fps(!) on simple views. I tended to get around the 50s-70s on average. All in 1920x1200 rez.

I expect the ATI x1900 XT card will be a bit faster.

Is the NVIDIA geForce 7600 GT leaps and bounds better than the ATI Radeon X1600?

Will help me make my decision about whether to spend the extra money and get the 24inch imac vs. the 20inch.

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Q u o t e:


Based purely on Windows gaming benchmarks, the GF 7600 GT is significantly better than the Radeon X1600. But keep in mind that the 7600 will be pushing more pixels than the X1600 at the native resolutions for each model and Apple tends to underclock their video cards. So trying to guess how mch better WoW will performn in a 20" iMac w/ the X1600 vs the 24" iMac with the GF 7600 GT at the native resolutions may not show the performance delta between the two cards. However, running both at a lower, common resolution should produce some interesting results. My guess is that the 24" model would show a noticeable improvement, particularly when the multithreaded OpenGL updates get rolled out.

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Im not very computer savvy.

Is what you are saying is that because of the large screen size of the 24" you actually almost require the faster card to render all the pixals? So if you compared the 20" and the 24" side by side you may not see any difference?