graphics card for motion

I need to upgrade the main graphics card in my ageing Quicksilver 2x1GHz G4. Am I right in thinking that the ATI Radeon 9600 will be OK?? Also, do you advise any other upgrades for this machine for optimal FCP/Motion performance? It already has 3 additional ATA SSCI linked internal drives. Thanks, Chris R

I bought the RADEON 9800 Pro mac edition back when Motion first shipped and it only had 128 MB Vram. The later one has 256 MB Vram and I would think would be better than the 9600.

Quicksilver2002 dual 1.0 Ghz - 1.5 GB RAM etc.I also have a two SATA disk softRAID 0 internal setup for capture scratch and two external SATA drives for storing content.

Thanks John, And will the 9800 Pro Mac etc power an Apple 23" Cinema Display - the older one? Chris

Well, not exactly. You will need to spend another $99.00 for an Apple DVI to ADC converter to power the monitor. That is I believe a 22" monitor with plastic bezel and integrated feet on the front?

The newer video cards are only DVI and VGA out, so that powered converter is necessary for the older ADC connected displays. Works fine on my G4!

Thanks, And finally, I have a DVI to ADC adaptor which I was using for my Mac 17" display before it went down, now replaced by a 19" DVI Dell. If I use this adaptor between the 9800 and the older Apple ADC Cinema Panel, will there be any loss of performance for Motion etc?? CR

If your Dell 19" has a DVI input then you wouldn't need that adapter. The adapter is only necessary for the Apple ADC monitor, but any true DVI monitor should already have a power source of some type.

The latest Apple 23" DVI only monitor has an auxillary power supply that is part of the monitor to power the display LCD backlighting.

You are not going to be very happy with the performance of Motion on a Quicksilver regardless of the video card, especially if you are planning on using particles or the Replicator.

You would be better off to save a little more and upgrade the entire system when the next gen of machines is released.

The next generation of machines, I guess, is already with us - the Intels??? iMac, MacBook pro etc. 24" iMac good for Motion??? CR