In the past MacCentral has brought readers news about ATI’s trade-up program, which offered participants a rebate when they purchase a new ATI graphics card and trade in their old one. The terms of the trade-up program have improved since we last reported it, so here’s an update.
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If you live in the United States or Canada and you have any old Mac video card — ATI or non-ATI-manufactured — that you’d like to trade in, ATI will allow you to buy a Radeon 7000 Mac Edition or Radeon 8500 Mac Edition board for US$79 or $149 respectively. That’s significantly less than what the cards cost retail.
Designed as an entry-level solution, the Radeon 7000 Mac Edition is a 32MB PCI card designed for Macs needing inexpensive dual monitor capabilities. It comes equipped with a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) connector suitable for connecting to flat-panel displays, as well as VGA and S-Video interfaces suitable for connecting to analog monitors or TV screens, respectively.
The Radeon 8500 Mac Edition is a 64MB-equipped AGP graphics card designed to provide 3D graphics acceleration suitable for gamers looking to boost their performance capabilities. It too comes equipped with a DVI interface for flat-panel displays, and also features a VGA and S-Video hookup.
A security deposit is applied to your card until the old one is received, and you’re also responsible for picking up freight charges, so make sure to check out ATI’s details carefully before taking advantage of this deal. Still, if you have a video card that’s just gathering dust which you can replace with one that works, here’s your chance to do so.