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OperaMan · Feb 20, 2005, 01:48 PM

I'm thinking about taking the GeForce 4MX out of my G4 and putting it in another computer, so what are my options to replace the AGP card. I don't want to spend much more than 50 dollars and I'm not afraid to flash a card given that people have had success with it. I've considered a radeon 8500 but I'm not sure what the reqiurements are in the PC version to make it flashable.

Lateralus · Feb 20, 2005, 03:44 PM

A Radeon 8500 isn't going to be measurably faster than a GeForce 4MX.

And frankly, the only viable option is to stick with what you've got now. Your budget is unreasonably low to garner you something faster.

italiano · Feb 20, 2005, 10:21 PM

yeah - for $50 you're pretty limited. $50 isn't going to get you much - I doubt you'll find an 8500 to flash for that kinda coin.

MORT A POTTY · Feb 21, 2005, 02:06 AM

you can't do anything for 50 bucks. you'll need to tripple it to get anything worth putting in over that GeForce 4 MX. and really the only thing that'll make anoticeable difference is a GeForce 4 Ti, Radeon 9700, or Radeon 9800 Pro.

JRSTRONG · Feb 23, 2005, 10:24 AM

Sort of on-topic?

Jeff

Amacapart · Mar 17, 2005, 07:14 PM

Actually, for $50 he could get:

1. A GeForce 3 and flash it. They are MUCH faster than a MX AND they have Pixel Shaders. Has VGA, some even have DVI which will run an ADC monitor through an adaptor he can't afford.

2. Even better, he could get a FX5200 Ultra and flash it. This would give him 128 Megs of RAM, and full support for Core Image. Downside is flashed cards are VGA only. But, you can run 2 VGA monitors at once. About same speed as GF3 until you overclock it.

sine -''-..- · Mar 18, 2005, 09:34 PM

changing video cards isnt really modding... its upgrading n' stuff. so ima gonna move this thread.

see you in powermac.

Cadaver · Mar 19, 2005, 09:37 AM

Originally posted by Amacapart:
2. Even better, he could get a FX5200 Ultra and flash it. This would give him 128 Megs of RAM, and full support for Core Image. Downside is flashed cards are VGA only. But, you can run 2 VGA monitors at once. About same speed as GF3 until you overclock it.

Where have you seen flashed FX5200's?
Would such a beast work in a GigE-based G4??

Hmmm... (as the cogs of thought start churning...) this might be a cheaper way for my 'spare' machine to get Core Image support without coughing up for a R9800Pro. Hmmm...

Amacapart · 03:29 PM

Go read up at [...] about 5200.

They work GREAT except for DVI issue.

Lateralus · Mar 20, 2005, 03:28 PM

Stop spamming your site. Post the directions here if you want people to read them.

Amacapart · Mar 20, 2005, 06:51 PM

You are absolutely right.

I was out of town for awhile and hadn't realized the First Amendment had been repealed.

That George W, what a HOOT !!!

Anyhow, I can't possibly tell the whole 5200FX flashing procedure here.

And since I can't tell anyone WHERE the procedure is written about, I'm afraid it will remain a mystery.

Google, folks, best I can offer. Got a GAG order to contend with.

Lateralus · Mar 20, 2005, 06:53 PM

Don't be a smart ass. Almost every post you make includes little to no information and a link to the dead messsage board that you moderate at.

Amacapart · Mar 20, 2005, 07:27 PM

In the last month, we have figured out how to mod the clock speeds on the GeForce 3 AND the FX5200. The author of ATIccelerator, the ATI overclocking program is one of our members. As a result of our work, there will soon be support for ALL Nvidia cards in his programs as well.

And in the last week, we figured out how to get an X800 running on a G4, allowing G4 owners the chance to run Doom 3 on a 30" monitor.

All this and more on our "dead message board".

I'm sorry, I thought your members might be interested. But obviously you have better stuff you work on here. Forgive me.

Lateralus · Mar 20, 2005, 07:51 PM

Oh, you're right. Many peoplee here are intersted. Hell, as a person who doesn't like having an original Apple part in his machine other than the motherboard, I'm interested. But I'm not interested in being referred to another message board to have the discussion.

If you're not willing to have a discussion here, then don't post here. It is that simple.

Amacapart · 10:55 PM

OK, your site, your rules.

We have found FX5200 Ultras to be flashable to Mac. They must be true Ultras with BGA RAM (square, no pins showing). One of the big benefits to them is that they arrive as a Mac card with 128 Megs of RAM, better than the OEM card which Apple has hobbled with 64 Megs.

In fact, there are people working on ROM mods to adjust RAM timing so that non-ultra cards can be flashed. This will put Core Image cards in the $50 range. There have been a couple successful cards already, this is not an "if" but a "when".

There is some confusion about whether they work in Sawtooth & Cube models, but tests have been done in Gigabit Ethernet and they worked fine.

Biggest stumbling block so far has been that the Mac card uses external TMDS, PC cards rely on internal (GPU based) one. The end result of this has been that digital portion of DVI is not working yet. The VGA component is fine, meaning that it is possible to run 2@ VGA monitors with extended desktop.

I have tried the cards out with Tiger, the widget splash is not as smooth as with a Radeon 96/97/9800 but it does splash. The much faster Ti4600 won't even try, due to lacking "support".

We have also found the portions of ROM which control clock speed on this and GF3. By running up the clocks, we have found FX5200 to gain nearly 20% in Q3 fps. Again, Apple has hobbled the card to make up-selling easier. Also, the PC cards can likely take a higher Core CLock since they have a fan instead of a heatsink. There is a Beta of Aticcelerator with GF3 support and Thomas promises to implement the FX5200 clocks soon. This should be of interest to G5 owners who would like to gain a few fps here and there.

There is a chance we will find DVI fix soon as well, making these a PERFECT choice for older G4s. There is very little reason to buy one flashed since anyone with access to a PC can do it.

It is necessary to tape pins 3 & 11 (like on Radeon 9600 & 9800) before putting it in a Mac G4.

The cards run well, but even overclocked quite a bit, they are barely faster than a GF3, kind of sad, I think.

The GF3 came to market with very little headroom for overclocking, while the FX5200 has LOTS of headroom, much like the 9600.

The FX5200 is a great update for people running one or two VGA monitors currently using anything shy of the 9600 on up Radeons. It is my personal opinion that when (not "if") the Tiger "Core-Hack" comes out, it will require a pixel shader card. This means it is likely that GF3 and Ti4600 will get "supported" but Radeon 9200 and down, will be left out. Same bad ending for Nvidia GF4 MX, a sad warm-over of the GF2.

Amacapart · Mar 29, 2005, 02:15 PM

OK, new update.

A member of our group has a PCI FX5200 working in OS X and OS 9. Fully accelerated where applicable.

Who's gonna write the "Core Graphics PCI" hack?

So, we have successfully gotten the TSOP memory timings from PC ROM and put them in Mac ROM. (Mac ROM contained BGA RAM timings)

We are still working on DVI, hopefully there will be progress soon.

At the very least, by making non-ultra 5200's flashable, we have made Tiger/Core/Motion available for VGA Macs. On a $40 video card.

New version of ATIccelerator with Nvidia support will be out soon. (according to Author) Will have 5200FX, GF3 and Ti4600 support. We are still working on GF2 & GF4 MX for future support. Can always use help from Nvidia owners willing to test.

villalobos · Mar 30, 2005, 12:28 PM

Originally posted by Lateralus:
Stop spamming your site. Post the directions here if you want people to read them.

What's the point in rewriting stuff which has already been posted elsewhere? I for one would like to know where I can see these directions and would like to have the link to it......

Lateralus · Mar 30, 2005, 05:28 PM

Originally posted by villalobos:
What's the point in rewriting stuff which has already been posted elsewhere? I for one would like to know where I can see these directions and would like to have the link to it......

Did you not read my posts above?

villalobos · Mar 30, 2005, 08:59 PM

Originally posted by Lateralus:
Did you not read my posts above?

Not sure what you mean. I don;t understand why you do not let him post a link. That's it.

Amacapart · Mar 31, 2005, 03:35 PM

It's called "NIH" or "Not Invented Here" syndrome.

Did wonders for US car manufacturers in the past.

Actually, most of my posts have been deleted here.

Kinda sad, really. Internet was meant to SHARE info, I thought.

PM me if you want the "Secret" and "Banned" website address.

Lateralus · Mar 31, 2005, 04:28 PM

You're way too much of a drama queen. IMO, you should get off your high horse and get a life. Nothing about sitting around all day with a soldering iron in your parent's basement makes you better than anybody else here.

I really don't see what you contribute to this community other than an extrordinarly bad attitude for somebody of your skill level and age.

If you don't feel like 180'ing, I suggest you move on to another forum because I really don't feel like dealing with you and I'm not alone.