Mac Classic

Finding the right graphics card for your Mac can be difficult with limited information available now. Below is a complete (to my knowledge) list of graphics cards available to pre-OSX systems with full driver support.
If you see something missing please get in touch so it can be added.

MakeModelTypeMemorySpeed (Mhz)Bandwidth (GB/s)ReleasedSystem Drivers
NVIDIAQuadro 4 900 XGLAGP128 MB300 Mhz10.4 GB/s2002Mac OS 8.5
NVIDIAGeForce 4 Ti 4600AGP128 MB300 Mhz10.3 GB/s2002Mac OS 8.5
ATIRadeon 8500 Mac EditionAGP64 MB250 Mhz8.0 GB/s2002Mac OS 9.2.1
NVIDIAGeForce 4 MX 440AGP64 MB275 Mhz6.4 GB/s2002Mac OS 8.0
ATIRadeon 9200 Mac EditionAGP128 MB250 Mhz6.4 GB/s2004Mac OS 9.2.1
ATIRadeon 9200 DVI-I Mac EditionAGP128 MB250 Mhz6.4 GB/s2004Mac OS 9.2.1
NVIDIAGeForce FX 5200AGP128 MB250 Mhz6.4 GB/s2003Mac OS 8.5
NVIDIAGeForce 3 Ti 200AGP64 MB175 Mhz6.4 GB/s2001Mac OS 9.2.2
ATIRadeon Mac Edition (R100/7200)PCI32 MB166 Mhz5.3 GB/s2000System 7.6+
ATIRadeon Mac Edition (R100/7200)AGP32 MB166 Mhz5.3 GB/s2000System 7.6+
NVIDIAGeForce 4 Ti 4200-8xAGP64 MB275 Mhz4.0 GB/s2002Mac OS 8.5
NVIDIAQuadro DCCAGP64 MB200 Mhz3.7 GB/s2001Mac OS 8.5
ATIRadeon 9250PCI128 MB240 Mhz3.2 GB/s2003Mac OS 9.2.1
ATIRadeon 7000 Sapphire (PC, requires flashing)PCI64 MB183 Mhz2.9 GB/s2002System 7.6? - Mac OS 9
ATIRadeon 7000 Mac Edition
 
AGP32 MB183 Mhz2.9 GB/s2002System 7.6 - Mac OS 9
ATIRadeon 7000 Mac EditionPCI32 MB166 Mhz2.9 GB/s2002System 7.6 - Mac OS 9
NVIDIAGeForce 2 MXAGP32 MB175 Mhz2.7 GB/s2001Mac OS 8.5
NVIDIAGeForce 4 MX 420AGP32 MB, 64 MB250 Mhz2.6 GB/s2002Mac OS 8.5
ATINexus 128PCI32 MB100 Mhz1.4 GB/s1999Mac OS 8.0
ATIXclaim VR (Rage II/Pro)PCI4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB100 Mhz1.4 GB/s1998Mac OS 8.0
ATIRage OrionPCI16 MB90 Mhz1.4 GB/s1999Mac OS 8.0
ATIXclaim VRPCI16 MB90 Mhz1.4 GB/s1999Mac OS 8.0
ATINexus GAPCI8 MB, 16 MB75 Mhz0.6 GB/s1997Mac OS 8.0
ATIXclaim 3D PlusPCI8 MB75 Mhz0.6 GB/s1997Mac OS 8.0
ATIXclaim 3D (Rage II/Pro)PCI4 MB75 Mhz0.6 GB/s1997Mac OS 8.0
ATIXclaim GAPCI2 MB, 4 MB  1995System 7.5.2

 

Comments

Elosha

Elosha

15 March 2024

My G4 AGP runs pretty well with a Radeon 9000 Pro Mac Edition (RV250) that was sold inside high-end G4 MDDs. I'm using it on OS 9.2 and 10.4.11.

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Miles Raymond

Miles Raymond

17 January 2024

It would be nice to re-sort this table. I think sorted by performance would make the best default sort order, if can't make individual sorting work.

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Greystash

Greystash - Admin

21 January 2024

Done :)

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miles-raymond

Miles Raymond

22 January 2024

Not sure about the other cards, but at least the Radeon 7000 can work in System 7: https://system7today.com/videocards This is the card I use in my Power Macintosh 9500. I'm not sure about the Radeon Mac Edition (7200) with System 7, but since it's older, I'd imagine it would also work. I didn't realize it was more powerful or I'd have bought it instead.

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Greystash

Greystash - Admin

22 January 2024

Thanks I've just added that info, and I believe you're right with the 7200. I've also added the Radeon 7000 Sapphire PC card which can be flashed with a Mac ROM. I've done one of these before but I don't have a System 7 compatible Mac with PCI to test it with.

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