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NeilCharter · May 8, 2004, 11:46 AM

I want to upgrade the video card in my G4 Sawtooth.

I would prefer to use the AGP slot, but there are limited options using Mac retail cards.

PC cards are plentiful and much cheaper than the Mac ones.

Has anyone installed a PC crad and got them to work in a Mac.

Thanks

Neil

rag on a muffin · May 8, 2004, 12:39 PM

im not relly sure about this. my dad put one in my 8500 that used VGA when i was in 4th grade, but im not sure if that card was for mac or PC.

Peter · May 8, 2004, 05:48 PM

Originally posted by rag on a muffin:
im not relly sure about this. my dad put one in my 8500 that used VGA when i was in 4th grade, but im not sure if that card was for mac or PC.

helpful that.

Lateralus · May 8, 2004, 10:36 PM

No, you cannot use a PC card in a Mac.

There is a reason people call Macs 'proprietary'.

LeeG · May 9, 2004, 11:13 AM

Incorrect. You can use a PC card in a mac, I have.

I have a sawtooth G4/500 that I put a OEM PC Radeon 8500 card in.

See this thread:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...highlight=8500

I may have the files to flash the ROM still lying around if you want to try... worked without a hitch for me...

L

LeeG · May 9, 2004, 11:18 AM

Oh here's a asummarlized instruction sheet if you don't want to read through 14 pages of forum posts:

http://www.coffeehaus.com/radeon8500.html

Make sure you unplug your monitor (read the last few pages of the thread)...

Lee

Lateralus · May 9, 2004, 11:51 AM

1) You can't do that with very many cards and it is very risky to do it even with cards that can be flashed.
2) IT IS ILLEGAL.
3) Any discussion of flashing on the forums has been banned, for the reasons stated above.

Get a clue.

traktimino · May 9, 2004, 01:08 PM

1) There are plenty of cards that can be flashed and tthe success rate is very high
2) who cares ?
3) only a couple of threads have been banned, no big deal.

I recommend flashing a radeon 8500, they're cheap ( $50 bucks on ebay) very easy to flash, and are a good graphics card for anybody who isnt a hardcore gamer. just read this thread for more information: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...p;pagenumber=1

Peter · May 9, 2004, 01:42 PM

I dont think you can flash cards and discuss it here...

Waragainstsleep · May 9, 2004, 06:04 PM

You can flash a whole bunch of GeForce 2s and some 3s.

NeilCharter · May 9, 2004, 06:09 PM

Any links on flashing the Nvidia cards?

Waragainstsleep · May 10, 2004, 02:02 PM

http://www.cybercoment.com/macgeforce.htm

LeeG · May 11, 2004, 03:18 PM

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
1) You can't do that with very many cards and it is very risky to do it even with cards that can be flashed.
2) IT IS ILLEGAL.
3) Any discussion of flashing on the forums has been banned, for the reasons stated above.

Get a clue.

No, you cannot use a PC card in a Mac.

Rather than get a clue, I guess its better to just give others misinformation.

1) There are a number of good cards to flash for a sawtooth g4

2) I did not know this was illegal, but I speed also, so add flashing a graphics card to my list of transgressions.

3) I just spent some time looking for discussion on banned topics (ie flashing), and couldn't find any. In addition, the above mentioned thread was locked without any moderator explanation at the the end of the thread as to why it was shut down.

I thought I was just helping out a fellow mac user and sharing my experience, I didn't realize that I was breaking so many rules/laws, no need to be hostile, consider me to have a clue...

Lee

Lateralus · May 11, 2004, 03:43 PM

Alright, I apologize for getting all 14-year-old on you. It really wasn't necessary. No offense intended.

Anyways, while flashing may be safe for the most part, it is risky when you own a 2x AGP machine like a Sawtooth. My friend has purchased two flashed cards from eBay in the past week in an attempt to replace his original Radeon, one a GeForce 3 and the other a Radeon 8500. Both display graphical glitches and crash a few games, such as Command & Conquer. Yet they both work fine in his brother 4x AGP QuickSilver.

And as far as the Moderators cracking down, they don't do it as much anymore. There was a period there last year where even mentioning the word 'Flashing' got you a Moderator warning you not to discuss it. They have since backed off since most regulars know the stance of the staff on flashing.

I probably should have just said that in my previous post.

lenox · Jun 1, 2004, 10:24 AM

I have successfully flashed a pc radeon 8500 and have used it in my mdd ever since.

as for the banning of threads talking about it...i would have never been able to do what i did, had it not been for the threads here on the subject...

as for what's illegal....

charching $150 for a mac radeon 8500 is more criminal, if you ask me

Will C · Jun 1, 2004, 12:52 PM

Why is flashing a video card illegal?

I ask in pure ignorance - I really don't know.

Thanks

Dr Reducto · Jun 1, 2004, 04:24 PM

Originally posted by Will C:
Why is flashing a video card illegal?

I ask in pure ignorance - I really don't know.

Thanks

I think it has to do with the copyright issues involved in having someone distribute the ROM included with the Mac version of the card, and not the actual flashing.

Lateralus · Jun 1, 2004, 07:33 PM

Well, now that I am a Moderator, and now that I have discussed this with the other Moderators, I can officially say that I was wrong in my statement above.

As long as ATI continues to offer their firmware and drivers on their site as freely downloadable, with no 'Agreement' that has to be agreed to before using them... It is not illegal. You bought the card and the firmware is freely available without any written constraints. You are fully within your right to do with each as you wish.

There was controversey over this fact a year or so ago, when an ATI representative had posted on another Mac message board and warned of retaliation from ATI for websites that supported flashing. Word of it quickly floated in MacNN's direction. But frankly, because of the above, he had to have been bluffing since ATI would have no right to take any actions.

So, from this moment on, feel free to discuss flashing.

I may even make a sticky FAQ about this for the Mac Modification forum so that it is clear.

So, again, discuss freely.

NeilCharter · Jun 1, 2004, 08:37 PM

Thank you sir, we shall do exactly that.

Having looked into all the pros and cons, I actually ended up buying a Mac Radeon 32 mb card on ebay.

The main reason for this was that since the Sawtooth only has 1xAGP, I saw little advantage in spending more money on faster card that would be limited by the slot.

Plus I only wanted to spend ~50-70 bucks. Most 8500's seem to sell on ebay around 150. and then having to go through the risk of flashing the card.

But the question still remains - why are PC cards so cheap and many versions are available, whereas for the mac you can only buy the radeon 7500 and 9500 from ATI and nothing from Nvidia?

Neil

Lateralus · Jun 1, 2004, 09:19 PM

The one and only thing, as far as I see it, that is keeping the price of Mac video cards from being on par with PC video cards is the relucatance of nVidia-based card manufacturers to support the Mac.

If ASUS, PNY, Leadtek and the other major nVidia-based board manufacturers were to do a 180 and start supporting the Mac by developing Apple firmware for their cards, you can bet that prices for Mac cards would drop across the board. But as it is now, ATI knows they have a stranglehold on the retail Mac video card market, so they feel no threat and no reason to be generous with their pricing. Same goes for ATI's slowness when it comes to releasing Mac versions of their latest products: no competition from nVidia on the retail front, no reason to work hard to keep buyers.

Anyways, I don't see why ASUS and the other board manufacturers are reluctant to hop on board the Mac ship. Only they can say. But I doubt it has much to do with increased costs.