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GodOD · Mar 18, 2004, 08:22 PM

I have a G4 Dual Processor 800mhz with an Nvidia 2mx Twinview card in it (4x AGP slot). If I want some incredible gaming graphics on this machine, what card do you guys think I can upgrade to?

Lateralus · Mar 18, 2004, 09:00 PM

Your machine can take any retail card. The Radeon 9800 Pro included, which is the king right now.

rhogue islander · Mar 18, 2004, 09:03 PM

I agree with the previous poster. I think an nvidia geforce4 ti would be your best choice in terms of bang for the buck.

GodOD · Mar 18, 2004, 10:39 PM

Now is the AGP slot to accept that card the same one in my Quicksilver? The new G5s use a different size AGP card slot. Does this matter for eiher card that the two of you mentioned? I was actually going to try out the card that came with my 1.8 G5 at work to see if it would work in my Quick silver, but that's when I found out that the AGP slots were different sizes.

rhogue islander · Mar 18, 2004, 11:21 PM

The retail 9800 Pro has no ADC connector, so it works in AGP G4's and G5's. The geforce4 ti will only work in AGP G4 powermacs.

The Placid Casual · Mar 19, 2004, 06:38 AM

Originally posted by GodOD:
I have a G4 Dual Processor 800mhz with an Nvidia 2mx Twinview card in it (4x AGP slot). If I want some incredible gaming graphics on this machine, what card do you guys think I can upgrade to?

Is the GF 2 MX Quartz Extreme compatible? if so, if you want to sell it, give me a shout as I would take it off your hands...

GodOD · Mar 19, 2004, 11:48 AM

i have a 17" apple flat panel, so i guess i kinda want the card to have an ADC connector. so the 9800 doesn't have one? will i lose any quality with an adapter? it looks like i'm leaning towards the nvidia 4 TI card i guess. i don't know a lot of serious mac gamers, so i'm relying on your guys' opinion. thanks!

Luca Rescigno · Mar 19, 2004, 12:35 PM

The GeForce 4Ti is the second best card that will work in your PowerMac (behind the retail Radeon 9800), and the best one that includes ADC. You should be able to find one on eBay for a bit over $200. It's a pretty good deal, and it has 128 MB of VRAM.

GodOD · Mar 19, 2004, 12:53 PM

second best, huh? i can't have second, but if i want the ADC then i guess that's the one. does it really matter that i have that ADC connector then if i want the best card (radeon)? also, do either cards have dual outputs like the twinview? i guess i can just do the footwork for myself, but you all seem pretty helpful.

Cadaver · Mar 19, 2004, 01:42 PM

Originally posted by GodOD:
will i lose any quality with an adapter? it looks like i'm leaning towards the nvidia 4 TI card i guess.

No, you wont loose any image quality with the Apple DVI -> ADC adapter. The digital video signal passes through without any alteration.

I use one to power an Apple 17" LCD on my blue & white G3 w/ a Radeon card, and to power a second Apple 17" LCD as a second display on my G5.

Luca Rescigno · Mar 19, 2004, 02:13 PM

Originally posted by GodOD:
second best, huh? i can't have second, but if i want the ADC then i guess that's the one. does it really matter that i have that ADC connector then if i want the best card (radeon)? also, do either cards have dual outputs like the twinview? i guess i can just do the footwork for myself, but you all seem pretty helpful.

Technically, you could also buy a $100 adapter to use your ADC display on the Radeon 9800's DVI port. However, I'm curious - why are you apprehensive about getting the "second best" GeForce 4Ti? What are you doing that is so demanding that it requires the absolute best graphics card? If what you're doing is really that demanding, then perhaps you need a G5 as well.

GodOD · Mar 19, 2004, 02:38 PM

You're probably right, Luca. Why should I put the top-o-the-line card in a not-so top-o-the-line computer? It's mainly for better gameplay. I do a lot of heavy Photoshop work and some web design, but my computer right now handles that just fine. I'm just sick of seeing games look and play better on a PC that I want the best experience for my Mac. You gotta understand, I'm a game freak. I own every gaming platform except for PC. It took a lot out of me to even get an Xbox.

Luca Rescigno · Mar 19, 2004, 02:48 PM

Well, I'm not saying you NEED to buy a G5 just to play games. However, I don't think you'll see a huge difference if you get a Radeon 9800 instead of a GeForce 4 Titanium. Certainly not worth the $150 difference ($250 if you buy the DVI-ADC adapter). But either one will be a huge improvement over the GeForce 2MX, which is a real slouch as far as performance is concerned. My brother has a single 1.47 GHz G4 upgrade in his PowerMac, as well as a GeForce 4 Titanium, and it runs everything really well including Halo and UT 2004, which are perhaps the two most demanding games for the Mac.

GodOD · Mar 19, 2004, 05:45 PM

From looking at ebay and around the net, that Radeon card ain't cheap. New, it's around $350-$380! And that's without the DVI-ADC adapter. That's insane. It'll be almost twice the price of the nvidia card. It looks more and more like nvidia is the one. If it's about as good as the Radeon then that's fine by me. That price difference is way too big. If anyone knows of any deals going on right now other than ebay, please let me know.

jcadam · Mar 20, 2004, 04:34 AM

Don't worry, that 800MHz CPU will be holding back your gaming performance more than the GeForce 4 Ti will.

Lateralus · Mar 20, 2004, 04:39 AM

Originally posted by jcadam:
Don't worry, that 800MHz CPU will be holding back your gaming performance more than the GeForce 4 Ti will.

Dual 800.

jcadam · Mar 20, 2004, 04:50 AM

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
Dual 800.

The vast majority of games out there are not multi-threaded (they are all ports from the Wintel side, where dual processor machines are rare). My dual 867Mhz with Radeon 8500 is fine in general use but really starts sucking when I fire up UT 2004. I'm sure a single 1Ghz G4 would outperform it (for gaming).

Lateralus · Mar 20, 2004, 04:52 AM

Originally posted by jcadam:
The vast majority of games out there are not multi-threaded (they are all ports from the Wintel side, where dual processor machines are rare). My dual 867Mhz with Radeon 8500 is fine in general use but really starts sucking when I fire up UT 2004. I'm sure a single 1Ghz G4 would outperform it (for gaming).

UT 2004 is one of a number of upcoming games with dual processor optimization.

GodOD · Mar 20, 2004, 06:52 PM

yeah, i kinda don't want to get to the point where my card is better than the computer i'm putting it in. I'm hoping that the newer games like UT2K4 will take advantage of dual processors, but I also have over a gig of RAM in my dual 800, so i think that should count for some thing, right?

diehlr · Mar 22, 2004, 09:23 AM

Originally posted by GodOD:
yeah, i kinda don't want to get to the point where my card is better than the computer i'm putting it in. I'm hoping that the newer games like UT2K4 will take advantage of dual processors, but I also have over a gig of RAM in my dual 800, so i think that should count for some thing, right?

Not unless you spend a lot of time waiting on your hard drives.

ARK · Mar 22, 2004, 09:31 AM

I have a Quicksilver Dual 1Ghz that I recently upgraded the video card in. I went from a GeForce4 MX to a GeForce4 Ti. So far the card has been great. I looked on ebay, found one, and bid on it. It was finally shipped to me. I took the old out. Plugged the new in and viola. It works great!

I only spent $185 plus shipping.

hotani · 03:47 AM

hmmm - my upgrade was utterly useless. No perceivable performance increase. Went from MX to Ti - seems like the only thing that changed was the name and size of the card. crap.

UT 2003 demo plays about like it did before... SLOW. window moving in the finder is the same. Actually the only thing I can see that IS different is the genie effect seems faster.

EDIT: I don't know what is going on, but I came back later and everything is hunky AND dory. movement in finder is smoother, iPhoto is faster, and UT2003 was quite playable. maybe my machine just had to rest for a while after the new card was installed.

DBvader · Mar 31, 2004, 02:41 AM

I actually think that the Radeon 9600 is the best bang for the buck. You can get one from ebay off G5 users who upgraded to the 9800. Tape up the 3rd and 11th pin and it will work perfectly in your G4. I have a 9600 running on my Dual 867/1 GB machine and it runs games quite well. Halo with vertex shaders and most options on high runs @ 1024x768 at a clean 30 FPS.