What is the best video card I can get for the G4 PowerMac MDD (2003)?

It has the Radeon 9000 in it now and wanted to get the best card available for this model. What should I get? From my research it looks like a Geforce Ti4600 but that is going on eBay for $100 and don't really want to put that into it. What is the second best card?

Will this work in my G4?

Genuine Apple OEM ATI 9800 XT for PowerMac G5.
PCB: 109-A14400-11, Apple Part: 630-4998, 102A1440310
Supports Dual Analog/Digital displays with independent resolutions and refresh rates.
Supports Core Image Hardware Acceleration, Quartz Extreme and Rotation.
Compatible with Apples "Motion" Software.
ATY,R360 GPU ~ 400mhz, Memory ~ 360mhz (Dual Data Rate Effective Speed 720mhz).
8 parallel pixel pipelines and 4 parallel geometry engines.
256MB VRAM with 256-bit DDR memory interface.
Anti-aliased points and lines or full scene anti-aliasing (2X, 4X, 6X).
32-bit (24+8-bit stencil) Z Buffer, Fast Z and color clears.
SmartShader 2.1, SmoothVision 2.1, HYPER Z III+.
Supports PowerMac G5s w 8X AGP Slots; Does not support Late 2005 G5s
Dual Slot Card with variable speed fan/heatsink unit.

Your model has a 4X AGP slot so you need a 4X card

Power Macintosh G4 1.25 (MDD 2003) Specs (Mirrored Drive Doors 2003, M9145LL/A, PowerMac3,6, M8570, 1914C) @ EveryMac.com

Not that I would disagree with louishen, but an ATI Radeon 9800 Mac Pro will run in your MDD G4. Note the card you refer to the XT is not a Mac card, so it would have to be flashed in a PC which is always a risky business.

Also be aware that flashing that card kills the DVI port stone dead, only VGA will work. You will find the Mac Pro cards much dearer than PC cards but that isn the way the cookie is. Hoild on tom your socks when you check out prices. Here is an article by LowEndMac on the card. Note what is says about a flashed PC card, paragraph 2:-


http://lowendmac.com/video/agp/radeon-9800.html

I'm with louishen on this one - I'm pretty sure you will have to physically modify an 8x card to work on a MDD/4x. Apple messed up by using supposedly reserved pins for the wrong thing.

I really want to tell the OP NOT to bother with this upgrade - you aren't going to get smooth video playback by doing this - the CPU and memory bandwidth keep the G4s from achieving modern video playback.

Used a 9800 Mac Pro in my MDD G4 days no problem and that business messing with the pins is why a flashed PC card will not work DVI in a Mac. Really anything over $50 is not worth spending the money on as PowerPC, particularly G4, days are over. Put it towards a later machine.

If you decide to go this way have a read of this link on the card being the fastest available for a MDD G4:-


9600xt vs 9800 pro in a MDD? - MacRumors Forums

I don't want to play modern games, I want to play games from 2003 and 2004 perfect and be able to edit video and pictures well. Once I master the Mac world then I will probably upgrade to a G5 PowerMac for around $200 (what I am seeing on eBay) and then might splurge on a brand new PowerMac in the future!