Core Image on PMG4 w/126W power aupply?

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Aloha everyone,

I recently bought an nVidia GeForce 6200 w/256MB VRAM on eBay, but when the card arrived, I never got any video. I made the assumption that I had a 220W power supply installed, which is the maximum for my PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet. I recently upgraded the CD-RW drive to a DVD-RW DL drive and decided to check the max wattage of my power supply. I was rather surprised to find that it is only 126W maximum output.

I never considered that my power supply may not be able to power my two internal hard drives, my optical drive and the new video card. For those PowerMac owners out there with 64MB, 128MB, or 256MB video cards, what is the max wattage on your power supply? What video card can I reasonably expect to drive with only a 126W power supply?

Mahalo in advance for your responses,

HawaiiMacAddict

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Aloha everyone,

I apparently got an answer this morning, just not the one I wanted to receive. My power supply apparently died. I looked over from my iMac and noticed that the power button on my PowerMac G4 was no longer illuminated. I checked that the power cable was properly seated in both the computer and the power strip and that the power strip was actually turned on (duh!), then pressed the power button again, but no joy. I will either have to replace the power supply or put the PowerMac G4 on the trash heap. As we just replaced the optical drive, I'm going for replacement of the power supply, but I'll have to fight my wife on that one. She doesn't want to spend any additional money on the "old freaking computer." Oh well, I guess 7.5 years is a long time for any stock power supply to last, right? That was the original power supply, so a replacement is not such a strange request.

HawaiiMacAddict

 

[product26]

if you are ok with a little tinkering, some of the older G4 towers can actually run using a standart PC power supply. you just have to rearrange the pins on the plug.

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Update!

Aloha everyone,

I probably paid too much for it, but my wife really didn't want me to pick up a new power supply from eBay, so I got this one from Mac Pro. I only had to pay $20 for shipping, so I don't really know when it's going to get here hehehe It seems to take an inordinate time for anything to get shipped here to Hawaii, unless you really pay through the nose for shipping. I wanted to get at least a 300W power supply, just in case I wanted to still get the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition video card upgrade from OWC (my wife has this thing about only buying from online stores now). This should be a pretty painless upgrade. After all, there's an official Apple webpage with both PDFs and videos showing how to replace the power supply, among others, for my PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet.

I called up an official Apple reseller in my area, but they told me that the power supply wasn't a user-replaceable part and as such, that they couldn't sell one to me. I told them about Apple's page, but they feigned ignorance. I naturally assumed that if the replacement procedure was detailed on the referenced webpage that Apple considered it a user-replaceable part. Oh well, all I really have to do is disconnect all of the power cables and unscrew a couple of screws, then do everything in reverse with the new power supply. It should be a walk in the park.

HawaiiMacAddict