I recently received a powermac g4 and an adc monitor. I upgraded the hard disk and ram, however I am looking to upgrade the graphics card in it to one that will support core image, probably a geforce 5200. However, people online say that the card will work in G4's, but you need to disable power going to the ADC monitor or else it won't work. I want to upgrade, but I still need to use my ADC Monitor.
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Powermac G4 Quicksilver Graphics Upgrade with ADC monitor?
- Thread starter Csconto
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If you want to upgrade the video card to one that supports CoreImage and ADC, there's only one that works in a G4. It's rare and expensive. It's also that card I always forget the name to as well. If you want CoreImage and still be able to use the ADC screen, you can always upgrade the video card to one with DVI out and just use a DVI-ADC adapter. The adapters are a bit costly at about $80.
Yeah, it was a Radeon 9700 that was available for a short time as a BTO option in MDDs. As said, it's very rare and expensive.
The DVI-ADC adapter route would probably be easier than finding one of these cards.
Thanks Dave H! What I meant earlier was I knew of pins 3 and 11 needing to be taped over or otherwise the G4 wouldn't boot. However, those pins were in use to power the ADC monitor in earlier machines. But in the link dave gave me it shows you can redirect the pins around to still power an ADC monitor!! Now I don't have to buy one of the most overpriced adapters in history just to use my monitor. I just bought a 5200 fx from a G5 last night for $9.95 with free shipping on ebay. Is there a way to solder those wires to the ADC connector directley? I know pins 1 and 2 are power on the actual connector, and pin 11 on the connector (not the agp, but the actual monitor connection) is ground. Has anyone else had success with this mod?
Judging by the comments, success with ADC power on this mod seem to be very mixed. For $9.95, I obviously wouldn't worry about ruining the graphics card. I would be worried, however, about ruining other components, such as that nice ADC monitor you have or worse, your G4.
The good news with the adaptor is that if you buy it, you know it will probably hold its value for awhile.
Also I know you didn't bring this up, but why not use a nice DVI monitor?
The good news with the adaptor is that if you buy it, you know it will probably hold its value for awhile.
Also I know you didn't bring this up, but why not use a nice DVI monitor?
Because the person I received this whole G4 setup from had and adc monitor to go with it. It is pretty cool being able to start your computer from the monitor and only having one cable for everything. What I am asking though is would I be able to power the monitor from a laptop power supply (24v @ 3 amps) if I connected the power supply to the actual connector for adc output? I know pin 1 is positive and pin 11 is ground.
Okay Guys, I was really dumb. Tried to mod the 5200 fx, but it turns out that it had a agp PRO connector, and that basically was the end of it. Tried sanding, covering pins, soldering, but nothing would make it work right. So, in the end I bought a radeon 9000 pro from a mdd, and I am going to try that. Hopefully I didn't fry my monitor!