[Knightrider]

Hi,

I want to upgrade my G5 Quad video card to an ATI RADEON X1900 but there is range to choose from.

Which one of these is the most suitable for a Quad.

Advice please - because I don't know which would be best.

K.

[Leonard]

You realize those are all PC cards and NOT Mac cards, right. You would need to flash the firmware in those and NO-ONE has flashed the firmware in a PC Radeon X1900XT with a Mac firmware yet, because no-one has access to a Mac firmwar for thise yet. Currently there is no Mac version of the Radeon X1900XT, except for the one that was created and is sold by Apple for the Mac Pro. And no-one knows if that one works in a G5. Then there is the question of drivers for the Radeon X1900XT...

[Knightrider]

Originally Posted by Leonard

You realize those are all PC cards and NOT Mac cards, right.

Er........ no..... er....

It said they were PCI Express.... I thought that would be alright.

K.

[ghporter]

PCI Express is quite different from a PC card. PCI express is a new bus that goes beyond PCI, and is fast enough for really, REALLY fast video (displacing AGP for video cards). A PC card is something that used to be called a "PCMCIA" card. Quite different. And PC cards are obsolescent now too-they've been displaced by Express cards. The slot on a MacBook Pro is for an Express card-the smaller format variety.

[mduell]

Knightrider: None of those cards, nor the X1900XT sold in the Apple Store, will work in your G5. The only options are the 7800GT or FX4500 that were sold with the G5s.

Originally Posted by ghporter

PCI Express is quite different from a PC card. PCI express is a new bus that goes beyond PCI, and is fast enough for really, REALLY fast video (displacing AGP for video cards). A PC card is something that used to be called a "PCMCIA" card. Quite different. And PC cards are obsolescent now too-they've been displaced by Express cards. The slot on a MacBook Pro is for an Express card-the smaller format variety.

ghporter: If you read Leonard's comment more closely, he's using the phrase "PC card" meaning a video card for Windows/Linux PCs, not in the laptop expansion card context.

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by Knightrider

Er........ no..... er....

It said they were PCI Express.... I thought that would be alright.

K.

Nope you need a PCI-Express card that is Mac compatible. Unfortunately there aren't too many and they are OEM, you can only get them from Apple or used. Unfortunately the only card near a Radeon X1900XT's class is the Geforce 7800GT which Apple never sold as a separate item, only BTO.

[jebjeb]

The aftermarket, Mac compatable PCI-E 7800 kit that was always predicted never came to market as far as I know. I really don't know what the answer is for those people with G5 PCI-E Powermacs who want to upgrade their graphics card.

I know it doesn't help but I am glad I waited for my Quad to get the OEM 7800. I was very close to just getting one with the 6600 and then buying a 7800 later on when they came available. Hmmm, 8 months and counting.

It is supposedly possible to get some Apple dealers/stockists to order a 7800GT as a spare part but the cost is large.

Have a read of this which might give you some options. http://www.barefeats.com/mutant4.html

It is pretty disappointing that there are no easy and fast aftermarket options. I would also guess that there won't be any in the future for us G5 PCI-E machine owners either as the new cards in the Mac Pro's are not compatable with the G5 Powermacs even though both are PCI-E. It looks like our short lived range of machines will be forgotten.

[Knightrider]

Originally Posted by jebjeb

Have a read of this which might give you some options. http://www.barefeats.com/mutant4.html

This is very interesting.

It is pretty disappointing that there are no easy and fast aftermarket options.

Absolutely right, and I suppose its not a viable 'profit center' to support old kit.

Thanks everyone, for your comments and help.

K.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by mduell

ghporter: If you read Leonard's comment more closely, he's using the phrase "PC card" meaning a video card for Windows/Linux PCs, not in the laptop expansion card context.

So he was. That's the problem with using terms that are accepted throughout the industry, but not intending the industry-standard meaning. I guess I reacted without reading the rest of it.

Lenoard, I think it would have been more direct to say "you realize none of those cards are supported on Macs, right?" I certainly would have gotten the meaning right on the first reading...

Maybe I'm just not enough of a Mac person to pick these things up automatically...

[reader50]

There are graphics expansion options for the G5 PCIe PowerMacs. The strangedogs people are currently modding PC 7800GT's and selling them for $450 each.

Perhaps more interestingly, ATi is going to release a retail X1900XT for the PCIe G5s. I don't know when, but Rob at BareFeats has mentioned it, and he is friends with the ATi Mac development team.

[Knightrider]

Originally Posted by reader50

Perhaps more interestingly, ATi is going to release a retail X1900XT for the PCIe G5s. I don't know when, but Rob at BareFeats has mentioned it, and he is friends with the ATi Mac development team.

R50, Thanks - this was the one I would like to have.

K.


.

[a2daj]

Originally Posted by reader50

There are graphics expansion options for the G5 PCIe PowerMacs. The strangedogs people are currently modding PC 7800GT's and selling them for $450 each.

Perhaps more interestingly, ATi is going to release a retail X1900XT for the PCIe G5s. I don't know when, but Rob at BareFeats has mentioned it, and he is friends with the ATi Mac development team.

I think you may mean Mike at Accelerate Your Mac, not Rob at BareFeats. Mike mentioned the retail X1900 GT (not XT) for the PCI-E G5s the day the Mac Pros were announced.

[reader50]

I think I meant Rob, in his Performance Preview of Mac Pro article. About halfway down the page.

Originally Posted by Rob at BareFeats

For those of you with Dual-Core or Quad-Core G5 Power Macs, you might want to know that ATI is planning a Radeon X1900 for the G5 towers with PCIe slots.

I did misremember the XT part.

[mduell]

FYI, ATi uses the "GT" monkier as a derate, i.e. slower than the base product, while nVidia uses it as an upgrade, i.e. faster than the base product.