Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Sakino · Nov 19, 2004, 08:25 PM

What vid card came with the first 1.25 al powerbooks? I cannot figure out how to see what one I got with my powerbook?

Can anyone tell me how to go about doing this?

ibook_steve · Nov 19, 2004, 08:30 PM

Apple Menu -> About this Mac -> More info opens System Profiler. Click on PCI/AGP cards (though it's not actually a card in a Powerbook, just a graphics chip) and you'll get the info.

Steve

Sakino · Nov 19, 2004, 08:32 PM

Type: display
Bus: AGP
VRAM (Total): 64 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x4e50
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-117

That's all it tells me... I thought I had 128mb

ibook_steve · Nov 19, 2004, 08:48 PM

Guess you do. Doesn't it say the name of the chip above this or in the blue and white lines near the top of the window? My 12" PB tells me:

GeForce FX Go5200:

Type: display
Bus: AGP
VRAM (Total): 64 MB
Vendor: nVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0329
Revision ID: 0x00a3
ROM Revision: 2086

Display:

Type: display
Display Type: LCD
VRAM (In Use): 64 MB
Resolution: 1024 x 768
Depth: 32-bit Color
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes

NVDA,Display-B:

Status: No display connected

Sakino · Nov 19, 2004, 09:06 PM

No that's all it stated.

GSixZero · Nov 19, 2004, 09:17 PM

Radeon 9600 AGP 4x

MrForgetable · Nov 19, 2004, 10:00 PM

Radeon 9600

benwhanlee · Nov 20, 2004, 09:18 AM

the 1.25 powerbooks shipped with the radeon 9600, as stated above. that means 64 mb of vram. i don't think it was until the revision b powerbooks (1.3 & 1.5) that there was the option to upgrade to 128 mb vram.

you could probably get a newer card installed to get 128 but i don't know what that would do to your warranty if you're still under applecare.

siflippant · Nov 20, 2004, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by benwhanlee:
you could probably get a newer card installed to get 128 but i don't know what that would do to your warranty if you're still under applecare.

No m8, it's soldered to the motherboard so that won't be possible...

tooki · Nov 20, 2004, 11:14 AM

For the 10 billionth time: laptops do NOT use graphics cards. They have the graphics chip right on the motherboard.

tooki

P.S. Video card: card for inputting video into a computer. Graphics card: card for outputting graphics to a computer display.

iBorg · Nov 20, 2004, 12:37 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
For the 10 billionth time: laptops do NOT use graphics cards. They have the graphics chip right on the motherboard.

Yeah - as ibook_steve stated in the 2nd post .....

BTW, Mactracker is a good freeware download for checking stats, speeds, production dates, etc. for all things Macintosh.

iBorg

benwhanlee · Nov 20, 2004, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
For the 10 billionth time: laptops do NOT use graphics cards. They have the graphics chip right on the motherboard.

tooki

P.S. Video card: card for inputting video into a computer. Graphics card: card for outputting graphics to a computer display.

sorry, my mistake. that's good to know.

RonnieoftheRose · Nov 20, 2004, 05:04 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
For the 10 billionth time: laptops do NOT use graphics cards. They have the graphics chip right on the motherboard.

tooki

P.S. Video card: card for inputting video into a computer. Graphics card: card for outputting graphics to a computer display.

And for the trillionth time cards are made of cardboard. Honestly, making such an issue of symantics! The chip might be on the mobo in some laptops like the PowerBook G4 but that isn't always the case. Many Wintel laptops use daughtercards. The PowerBook G3 had a daughtercard. Many new Wintel laptops have upgradable graphics cards that slot into an AGP and now mini PCI-E slot.

Conclusion. Laptops do use graphic cards. PowerBook G4s do not.