Mac OS 8/9 Compatible Graphics Cards
14 August 2022
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.
Make | Model | Type | Memory | Speed (Mhz) | Bandwidth (GB/s) | Released | System Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NVIDIA | AGP | 128 MB | 300 Mhz | 10.4 GB/s | 2002 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
NVIDIA | AGP | 128 MB | 300 Mhz | 10.3 GB/s | 2002 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
ATI | AGP | 64 MB | 275 Mhz | 8.8 GB/s | 2002 | ||
ATI | AGP | 64 MB | 250 Mhz | 8.0 GB/s | 2001 | ||
NVIDIA | AGP | 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB | 275 Mhz | 6.4 GB/s | 2002 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | AGP | 128 MB | 250 Mhz | 6.4 GB/s | 2004 | ||
ATI | AGP | 128 MB | 250 Mhz | 6.4 GB/s | 2004 | ||
NVIDIA | AGP | 128 MB | 250 Mhz | 6.4 GB/s | 2003 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
NVIDIA | AGP | 64 MB | 175 Mhz | 6.4 GB/s | 2001 | Mac OS 9.2.2 | |
ATI | PCI | 32 MB | 166 Mhz | 5.3 GB/s | 2000 | System 7.6+ | |
ATI | AGP | 32 MB | 166 Mhz | 5.3 GB/s | 2000 | System 7.6+ | |
NVIDIA | AGP | 64 MB | 275 Mhz | 4.0 GB/s | 2002 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
NVIDIA | AGP | 64 MB | 200 Mhz | 3.7 GB/s | 2001 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
ATI | PCI | 128 MB | 240 Mhz | 3.2 GB/s | 2003 | ||
ATI | Radeon 7000 Sapphire (PC, requires flashing) | PCI | 64 MB | 183 Mhz | 2.9 GB/s | 2002 | System 7.6? - Mac OS 9 |
ATI | AGP | 32 MB | 183 Mhz | 2.9 GB/s | 2002 | System 7.6 - Mac OS 9 | |
ATI | PCI | 32 MB | 166 Mhz | 2.9 GB/s | 2002 | System 7.6 - Mac OS 9 | |
NVIDIA | AGP | 32 MB | 175 Mhz | 2.7 GB/s | 2001 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
NVIDIA | AGP | 32 MB, 64 MB | 250 Mhz | 2.6 GB/s | 2002 | Mac OS 8.5 | |
ATI | PCI | 32 MB | 100 Mhz | 1.4 GB/s | 1999 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB | 100 Mhz | 1.4 GB/s | 1998 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 16 MB | 90 Mhz | 1.4 GB/s | 1999 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 16 MB | 90 Mhz | 1.4 GB/s | 1999 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 8 MB, 16 MB | 75 Mhz | 0.6 GB/s | 1997 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 8 MB | 75 Mhz | 0.6 GB/s | 1997 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 4 MB | 75 Mhz | 0.6 GB/s | 1997 | Mac OS 8.0 | |
ATI | PCI | 2 MB, 4 MB |
|
| 1995 | System 7.5.2 |
Comments
chrisnova777
29 August 2024
uhhh i dunno where you got your information but the radeon 9000 pro is definately not faster than the radeon 8500, and its not from 2004, its from 2002. the 8500 is from 2001, not 2002. theres alot of incorrect information on this page which makes me beleive that the original author didnt put in as much fact checking or confirming of anything that hes posted here.
PermalinkGreystash - Admin
03 September 2024
The majority of this information comes from the techpowerup website which I thought was reasonably accurate. Otherwise it's accumulated from forum posts and whatever minimal information there still is detailing this vintage hardware. If you have any corrections you'd like to add or better sources please let me know and I'll update this page. Thanks!
PermalinkMSX
27 August 2024
Any idea if there's any 8/9 AGP graphics cards that support 16 colour mode? Would be keen on having one I could downgrade to when I want to play games that specifically require 16 colours like Glider 4.0
PermalinkGreystash - Admin
03 September 2024
I'm not too sure sorry! I have a few AGP cards that I believe don't support 16-color mode, and the rest are PCI cards.
PermalinkIf you do find out which models support 16 colors please let me know, it would be great to add this info to the table.
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.
PermalinkGreystash - Admin
19 April 2024
Thanks Elosha, I've just added the Radeon 9000. I'm surprised I missed that one, it's also the card I'm using right now!
PermalinkMiles 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.
PermalinkGreystash - Admin
21 January 2024
Done :)
PermalinkMiles 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.
PermalinkGreystash - 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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