[cosmic dancer]

Hello,

I wish to connect a 30inches cinema display to my dual g5 2.3 ghw powermac.

I've discovered that the widest Apple display needs a specific card for my computer, that is a dual-link DVI and 256mb Vram capable graphic card.

As my computer isn't PCIe compatible, my video card choices seem radically limited. I've understood that ATI X800xt would be the ideal choice. The ATI X800xt in the UK is outrageously expensive, I hence thought that picking a PC card and flashing it would be a good idea, though I'm puzzled about the right PC card choice. However I wish to discuss about flashing a PC card; would that possibly hurt my dual G5?

[Hanul]

There are still other choices available like the ATI 9600 (the GPU you're G5 already has built-in), which also supports the 30" display, but costs just half of the X800XT. The 9600 is available with different RAM sizes, look for the 256Mb version. This card has the same ROM for PC and Mac, so you can look at any PC store for best prices. Here is a review at Anandtech: Welcome to AnandTech.com [ Article: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Mac & PC Edition: One Card for All]

If you don't want to shell out more than 100 pounds to get the same GPU with only doubled RAM to support Dual-Link-DVI, get the X800XT. It's the best graphics card an AGP-based G5 will ever get. The current X1900 and X2xxx are PCIe only. And don't expect prices to drop. The last (and best) PCI-based graphics cards, the ATI 9200, still sells new for €125. And this is essentially for Macs discontinued in 1999.

Flashing a PC card is a problem as you have to insert the card into the PC's AGP slot and flash it with a Mac ROM while using it. I know of flashing PCI graphics cards, but not AGP cards.