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 | 2004 | ||
ATI | AGP | 64 MB | 250 Mhz | 8.0 GB/s | 2002 | ||
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
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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