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WOPR · Aug 21, 2004, 10:19 AM

I won't bore you with the full story of why I might do this, but my 400mhz Sawtooth G4 has a Radeon 9000 AGP card in it (I replaced the standard card with it). My friends Quicksilver 733mhz has the standard GeForce 2 MX in it. I'm sure the 9000 would work fine in his QS Mac, but would the GeForce 2 work OK in my 400mhz Mac? I'm assuming it would but I'd like to find out for sure before doing the swap.

I'm doing a bit of swapping around as the G4 400 is to be sold when I get my Dual 2 G5 in a couple of weeks. Do you think I'll notice much difference in speed?

bbales · Aug 23, 2004, 09:46 AM

While I don't know the specifics of your card, I would recommend checking that the card will work with your monitor. I tried upgrading the card in my 400 MZ G4 a while back and couldn't do it because of my Studio Display monitor. And it looked like to get it to work I would have to spend way more money that I wanted on a nearly 4-year-old monitor.

So check that part out, as well.

Luca Rescigno · Aug 24, 2004, 02:22 AM

Either video card should work in either computer.

Turnpike · Aug 24, 2004, 02:46 AM

as far as a difference in speed... not totally sure, but I'd expect the GF2MX would not be as strong with QE as the R9000. Neither one is particularly great for games, and the 400MHz CPU is really a limiting factor, as well.

You may see a performance hit (especially if using OS X), but not too serious of a hit if you are only putting up with it for a few weeks.

If you are doing this for pure monetary value, you might consider putting the original Rage 128 (or Rage 128 Pro -- these have a DVI connector) back in and selling it and the card separately... assuming you would be willing to go through that trouble and you haven't promised upgraded graphics. Then again, if you are eBaying, I know very little about the eBay economy...

Luca Rescigno · Aug 24, 2004, 09:26 AM

I'd say sell the G4/400 with the Rage 128 in it and sell the GeForce 2MX separately. Since they're fanless and fit in a Cube without mods, OEM Mac versions of the card tend to rake in the cash on eBay.

The Radeon 9000 is not a super high performance card, but it's still way better than the GeForce 2MX, which I believe is somewhere between a Radeon 7000 and the original Radeon.

WOPR · Aug 24, 2004, 09:33 AM

Thanks for all the help. Basically my firm supply my Mac as I work at home and are buying me a G5 soon. I want to buy the G4 off them so I can sell it on to a mate.

Another mate has the QSilver Mac and I'd like to up his graphics a bit with the 9000 as he plays games a fair bit. The GeForce from his would then go in the G4 I wish to sell and would still be better than the Rage card that came with it as it does at least support Quartz Extreme.

I hope that all made sense!

typoon · Aug 24, 2004, 10:35 AM

Originally posted by WOPR:
Thanks for all the help. Basically my firm supply my Mac as I work at home and are buying me a G5 soon. I want to buy the G4 off them so I can sell it on to a mate.

Another mate has the QSilver Mac and I'd like to up his graphics a bit with the 9000 as he plays games a fair bit. The GeForce from his would then go in the G4 I wish to sell and would still be better than the Rage card that came with it as it does at least support Quartz Extreme.

I hope that all made sense!

Yes it would work. I took my Radeon 9000 from my upgraded Sawtooth and put it in my new/used QuickSilver Dual 800. I then took the GEForce MX/Twinview card from my Quicksilver and stuck it in my Sawtooth. Works with not problems

WOPR · Aug 24, 2004, 11:12 AM

Excellent! That's just what I wanted to hear.