AMD Ships Graphics Card For Older Macs

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said Monday it was rolling out the ATI Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition, a graphics card aimed at workstation-class desktops and optimized for 3D gaming. The chip was priced at $349. It can be deployed as a graphics upgrade card for Power Mac G5 Quad and Power Mac G5 Dual systems, AMD said in its announcement. Among other things, the card has two DVI ports that can support two, 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays, AMD said.

Apple's share of the desktop segment has been growing significantly this year. In January, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple began switching over its entire product line from PowerPC-based processors for its computers to processors made by AMD rival Intel, Santa Clara, Calif. In the third quarter, Apple's PC market share in the U.S. grew to 6.1 percent, compared to 4.6 percent for the same quarter a year earlier, according to research firm Gartner Group.