Review: Radeon 8500 Mac Edition

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: June 18, 2002

Product: 3D graphics acceleration card

Developer: ATI Technologies, Inc.

Minimum Requirements: Mac OS 9.2, AGP slot

Mac OS X Compatible: Yes

3D Support: OpenGL, Rave

Retail Price: $299.00

Availability: Out now
Available at the Applelinks Store

I'm always excited when I receive a new graphics card for review. It gives me an excuse to open the computer and poke around the insides a bit. Always a fun time...unless, of course, I'm poking around because my computer won't start, but that's only happened once or twice.

More importantly, I enjoy getting graphics cards for review because it gives me an excuse to revisit great games I put away in order to move on to other reviews. Games I haven't played for months--sometimes even years--suddenly see new life. Inexplicably, always among these games is Bullfrog's Syndicate, which doesn't even require 3D acceleration. I mean, hey, an excuse is an excuse, even if it's not valid.

For a month or two after receiving the Radeon 8500 Mac Edition, I zipped between the games currently installed on my system, and reinstalled some older games from reviews gone by. The trick is remembering how things looked before. Sadly, I'm not equipped here to run similar computer systems against one another to test different video cards. I could have pit the Radeon 8500 against the other ATI cards in the 500MHz iBook or a 333MHz iMac, but that hardly seemed worthwhile. And although it would've been fun to run it against whatever's in the LCII or IIGS, we found that Unreal Tournament and Giants: Citizen Kabuto didn't run too well on either.

And so, I review the Radeon 8500 in much the same way you, the user, would use it (for a more technical review for you serious games and graphics wizards, I'll happily point out to Lucian Fong's excellent dissection at Inside Mac Games). I install it knowing it'll be better than what I have, but the question is always how much better? Will I notice a difference in graphics quality? Will it still be compatible with my games? Will I get any flakiness? Will it be an easy install? As with all users, negative responses to these questions mean hours lost in both gaming and in work. For yes, there is always work to do.

For the most part, I never worry with an ATI upgrade. I've never had a problem with any of their cards, and they've gotten much better at quickly addressing the issues with those who do. Sadly, such issues still pop up. The latest has been an installer problem, one that seems to rear its ugly each time Apple updates Mac OS X. Currently, the ATI installer will not work with Mac OS X v10.1.5, much as the previous installer didn't worth with v10.1.4. Hopefully, this won't become an ongoing issue with ATI and Apple.

When my card arrived, Apple was on OS X v10.1.4 and I'd already downloaded the updated installer. No problem there. As always, installing the card itself was no problem. I was nervous at seeing that the Radeon 8500 has a fan (my previous card, the Nvidia GeForce 2, did not), but it hasn't proven much noisier than before. Another improvement; my GeForce 2 had a nasty habit of occasionally preventing the system from starting up. I hit the power, the light would come on, then nothing. No image on the monitor, no hard drive action. Since I've switched to the Radeon 8500, the system has started up without fail.

Software install was also no problem, although I'd like to see ATI better manage their extensions in OS 9. Do I really need an ATI 3D accelerator, ATI 8500 3D accelerator, ATI Radeon 3D accelerator and an ATI Rage 128 3D accelerator? ATI will tell you "no" and that you shouldn't worry about it since the system will use the appropriate one. Me? I can't help but worry. I want as few extensions and control panels running as possible. Thankfully, this is no longer a concern in OS X (or at least not until I become better educated).

Once installed, the first application upon which I test a new graphics card is a game. Doesn't matter what it is, I just launch whatever I'm currently reviewing. In this case, it happened to be the Max Payne beta. While reconfiguring the game for the Radeon, I notice I was going to lose the Nvidia fog feature. Well, you can't have everything. What I got in return with the Radeon was much faster game play and much smoother graphics. The Radeon 8500 chugged along at a decent speed during even the most intense moments, and it continued to look sweet throughout. Maybe it's just because I was now looking for it, but details started popping out in places I hadn't noticed before.

The quality and performance remained throughout my review of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. A game that great looking needs a card like the Radeon 8500, even if it doesn't take full advantage of its capabilities.

That, depending upon how you look at it, is either good or bad news for Radeon 8500 owners. The card brings to the Mac technologies such as full screen anti-aliasing (FSAA) and ATI's proprietary Truform technology. ATI's Smoothvision FSAA provides much smoother edges, mostly noticeable during movement sequences. With fewer jagged edges shimmering on the screen, it's easier to concentrate on what's going on in the game. I tested FSAA with two recently reviewed games (see what I mean about reinstalls?), Spider-Man and Red Faction, and was pleasantly surprised with both. Spider-Man especially looked much better with the Radeon 8500 than with my previous GeForce 2, mainly because it needed to look better. I almost wish I'd put off reviewing it so I could've gone through the whole game with FSAA.

Truform seems a little more subtle at first. Simply put, Truform increases the number of polygons on screen, thereby producing more rounded objects. This provides more realistic looking body joints, and such. I'd like to see this at work on Lara Croft, who always looked like a marionette to me, but games have to be developed specifically to take advantage of Truform technology. This apparently happens quite often on the PC end, but not so much for us Mac users. One of the games that does embrace Truform is a recent favorite of mine, Otto Matic. Truform gave me the incentive to run through that game again, and it was impressive enough to propel me through every level. Otto and his enemies looked and moved much better, and effects that simply weren't there before were now commanding my attention. It was like watching Attack of the Clones with digital projection vs. standard projection. Otto Matic now looked the way it was supposed to look. Was this mostly attributable to Truform or Smoothvision...or even Smartshader, Charisma Engine or Pixel Tapestry? I don't know. I don't care. I just know it's sweet, and that I really hope more gaming companies take advantage of these technologies soon.

Of course, not everyone plays games. Not even I do all the time, so it's equally important to me that my graphics cards function well across the software spectrum. The Radeon 8500 didn't let me down at all here. First, I should point out that the Radeon 8500 can handle 2D resolutions up to 2048x1536 at 75Hz on CRTs, 1600x1200 at 60Hz on LCDs, and 800x600 on a television. My 17" LCD Studio Display held the card firm at 1280x1024 at 60Hz, and I had no problem with any apps I ran. Heavy Photoshop edits didn't make it sweat, and DVDs played superbly. It's been my experience that ATI cards tend to handle DVD playback better than any other video card out there, and the Radeon 8500 is no exception. Not only is the picture better, but the controls are more responsive.

Dual monitor support is both easy to set up and easier to use. I was able to run my 17" CRT Studio Display with my 17" flat panel, setting them up in a matter of minutes. Both performed well...until my CRT started flaking out again, reminding me why I bought the LCD in the first place. The Radeon 8500 sports DVI, VGA and S-video out on the card, and also ships with S-video to composite video, DVI-I to VGA, and VGA to Apple monitor adapters. That covers pretty much everything, save for ADC support. For that, I'm afraid, you'll have to cough up another $150 or so. Dr. Bott and Gefen offer such adapters, the DVIator and Ex-Tend-It, respectively, both of which are covered in my recent Applelinks review. Each card is well suited for the job, and they're comparably priced. Take your pick. For a more thorough analysis of the Radeon 8500 with various programs, check out Mike Breeden's review at Accelerate Your Mac.

And hey, get this; ATI now offers a HDTV component video adapter for only $29. How sweet would it be to play Max Return to Castle Wolfenstein or Giants: Citizen Kabuto on a widescreen, high definition television? Would that I still had my computer next to the TV in the living room. I'd be pumping all my games into my Samsung EDTV with the 5.1 digital surround system. The HDTV component video adapter apparently works with EDTVs as well, as the control panel software allows you to select between 480i (interlaced) 480p (progressive), 720p and 1080i.

I really only have two complaints with the Radeon 8500. The first is quite petty, I suppose, but I've grown tired of the goofy ATI Displays control panel. It's been around forever, so longtime ATI users are used to it by now. For everyone else, it can be somewhat confusing. Choosing the control panel you want is a matter of moving the mouse over the card image until you hit the "component" you want. Fine. But there's little in there to explain what's what or why you'd want to adjust the setting. A little more detail would be nice so that users won't have to dig up the manual to figure out if they want de-interlacing on or off, for example.

My second complaint comes straight from the pocketbook. At $299, the Radeon 8500 Mac edition is $100 more expensive than its PC counterpart. Worse yet, the $199 PC Radeon packs 128MB DDR of memory versus the Mac version's 64MB. There is a trade-up program that softens the blow a bit, but considering that many will also have to shell out the $150 for the DVI to ADC adapters, it's hardly enough.

I won't file this as a complaint, but as a warning. As mentioned above, the Radeon 8500 requires either Mac OS X or Mac OS 9.2 or higher. That alienates many Mac users, but it's yet another good reason to upgrade OS X. If your machine can't handle OS X, this card is probably overkill anyway.

If you want versatility and power, the Radeon 8500 packs quite a punch. What's more, I can tell it's holding back. Once more games are written to suit the Radeon 8500's fighting style, that punch will break through walls.

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