new graphics card reccomendation for an old G4 733 DA

zo

Doesnt look like I can request a new Mac this year *sigh* but at least I can probably get away with a new graphics card.



This old thing is still going strong, but the graphics card department (GeForce MX 32MB) is just making me cry.



On the Apple store I see that basically the only card I can get is the ATI 9000 PRO 128MB... for 199euros (270usd). Thats INSANE and the card is almost as old as this computer.



What else can I possibly get?



It has an AGP x2 port.



Thanks



ZO

thereubster

The Digital Audio G4 had a 4x AGP I'm sure, In which case you could get the Radeon 9800 Mac edition which is 4/8x AGP. Check on XLR8 your mac

zo

yeah, could be a possibility too. seems a bit overkill for a computer like that... and I dunno if company will foot the bill. Bah, we make 700million euros a year, they shouldnt complain too much



Do you know if you can put the card in a PC as well? Or do I have to flash it for PC or something? What about flashing a PC card to Mac? That could be a "fun" experiment.

luca

You can get a PC-compatible Radeon 9800 Pro and flash it to work in a Mac. These cards are $180-$230 depending on where you look, but you have to make sure you get the right card. Look for a full Radeon 9800 Pro with 128 MB of RAM and 256-bit memory bus. AVOID the Radeon 9800 Pro EZ like the plague! It won't work and it's a sucky card anyway, with a 128-bit memory bus. You might be able to find one from NewEgg, but they're out of stock right now. You can get one from Outpost for pretty cheap ($180), but they run out of stock quickly. They'll come back, just place an order or wait for it to come back. Outpost's 9800 Pro is here.



Then you have to flash the card. This is the hard part because I'm not really sure how to do it. This guy called "Amacapart" buys PC cards, flashes them, and sells them on eBay, and he also posts directions for how to flash them yourself. Unfortunately he's never given any really in-depth directions for how to flash it, other than to say that there is a reduced ROM available at CubeOwner.com that lets you fit the entire Mac ROM (normally 128k) into the 64k ROM chip normally found on the 9800 Pro. Apparently, all you have to do is install the video card, run the flasher, and it'll work. I've done it with a Radeon 8500 myself and it was pretty simple, I just booted into OS 9 using a PCI video card and ran the utility. Assuming you can find the smaller 64k Mac ROM file, you should be able to do the same with a 9800 Pro. Otherwise you'd have to remove the 64k ROM chip from the card and solder on a new 128k one.