Which Radeon?

[Kay]

Seems the Matrox G550 will not be supported by OS4 initially. That leaves me with two possibilities:
1.Strip my current setup of its Voodoo3.
2.Get a reasonably cheap Radeon while I am waiting for the Matrox driver.

I must say I like number 2 best. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the Radeon series is very limited. So I was hoping someone could help me choosing. Basically, I'm looking for a Radeon which:
*Is supported in OS4.
*Has better performance than the Voodoo3.
*Is cheaper/lower-end than the G550, or is overall better in 2d and 3d.
*Uses AGP (obviously).
Any suggestions? Oh, and also, I am noticing that there are a lot of cards using the Radeon chips while apparently being made by another manufacturer than ATI (like Hercules and Sapphire). Does anybody know if I can use these?

Kay

[Kay]

Thanks for the input folks! As for waiting for the drivers, my patience is very limited these days. I want an AmigaOne NOW :-). I had my eyes on the Matox card because of its excellent 2d capabilities. I know the Radeons are generally better on 3d, but I'm not sure how many Amiga games really would benefit much from anything faster than the G550. Anyway, seing that Eyetech put an 8500 on one of their systems, I guess it is fair to assume that it will be supported, so I might go for that instead (after reading some reviews to determine the 2d capabilities). Do you know how backwards compatible Radeon cards are, btw?

2d is really what matters most, I think. The excisting Amiga 3d games aren't really that demanding, and most of the time, it is the 2D capabilities I will be looking at. Additionally I have a very good monitor (Sony Trinitron 19"), so good 2d is essential.

Okay, off to read some reviews...:-)

Kay

[Kay]

Okay, I'm back from reading reviews. Turns out Radeons are popular for a reason. Both the 7500 and the 8500 are apparently very good cards. So, the Matrox is off the list (I might consider a high-end Parhelia later on), and I'm now probably going for a Radeon 7500 or 8500, depending on price.

Kay

[Kay]

> Well, I've put in an order for Anything Amiga's M system!

Nice! My Norwegian dealer hasn't replied to my email yet, so I still haven't got around to ordering...:-/ Unless they get moving, I might end up ordering directly from Eyetech.

Kay

[Kay]

@SlimJim:

Well, I don't know if it is as good as the G550 in 2d, but apparently, it is very good indeed, and a LOT better than the Matrox in 3d. I checked out the reviews on hardware.no. You can go there and read yourself (du forstår vel norsk?). Anyway, the Radeon 7500 got a 6/6 and the 8500 a 5/6 (price is taken into consideration), and good 2d quality was mentioned as one of the pros for both cards.

Kay

[Kay]

> Ok, Jag kollar det nar jag far tid!

Du finn det under Tester->Skjermkort.

Kay

[Kay]

@SlimJim:
> It sounds so... cute. :-D

CUTE!!! :-x
Vel, eg ser ikkje vekk ifrå at bokmål kan sjå søtt ut. Nynorsk, derimot, som eg brukar, er svært maskulint. :-D

@hnl_dk:
Yup. I find it fun to confuse the poor sods who can't even understand Norwegian. ;-)

Kay