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Which bootable PCI Sata controller for a QS G4 powermac?

1042686

1042686

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I've seen some cheap $18-25 Sata controllers on the web that say are OSX 10.4.11+ compatible but I'm unsure if that means they are bootable or not.

What do you guys recommend & use with good result in a Quicksilver G4? OS9 bootable isn't req'd as I boot OS9 off an external.

Thanks in advance.
 
eyoungren

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
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bunnspecial said:
Sonnets are the best.

@eyoungren has one of a couple of 4-port cards I picked up a while back, although I don't remember the maker on them.
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Yeah, except for that first card which turned out to be a bum card this one is pretty good.

I don't think any of them at this point are non-bootable except if you get a really old card.

I do not recall what the maker of my card is, but it's got one of those Happy Mac logos with the Made for Mac type on it.
 
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0248294

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I would indeed get a Sonnet card. The flashable SIL cards are known to be troublesome in Quicksilvers, because Quicksilvers are very picky eaters. Mine for example won't boot with a flashed card. I spent hours trying to figure out if it was even flashed, only to find out it worked just fine on the MDD. That was not fun at all.
 
1042686

1042686

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Thanks for the advice. I Noticed that some cards I find state that they are OSX 10.4.11+ compatible and PCI but require a PCI express bus? From my reading, Q4 and earlier PMs don't have PCIe, so I assume this is only good for G5 PMs?

Also, the OWC g4 SSDs look great but are really expensive compared to "normal" ?? SSDs on new egg for example. Considering the lack of TRIM and in the spirit of saving some $$$ on an aging machine do you think it is necessary for long term performance? I do have a 128GB SSD hanging out in my PC gaming box, but would use it if I thought it would last or performance would be good considering the lack of TRIM support.

Thanks for the help.
 
eyoungren

eyoungren

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Aug 31, 2011
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RhianB said:
Thanks for the advice. I Noticed that some cards I find state that they are OSX 10.4.11+ compatible and PCI but require a PCI express bus? From my reading, Q4 and earlier PMs don't have PCIe, so I assume this is only good for G5 PMs?

Also, the OWC g4 SSDs look great but are really expensive compared to "normal" ?? SSDs on new egg for example. Considering the lack of TRIM and in the spirit of saving some $$$ on an aging machine do you think it is necessary for long term performance? I do have a 128GB SSD hanging out in my PC gaming box, but would use it if I thought it would last or performance would be good considering the lack of TRIM support.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
G5's are already SATA so if you're using on of those cards it's just to expand your storage.

But yes, no G4 has PCI-e.

You have to check the listing carefully to see if they are PCI-e. They also tend to be cheaper cards because there is more of them then there are of the older PCI only cards.
 
1042686

1042686

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Yeah I noticed all the cheaper controllers are PCIe and PCIx. I think some are misleading (confusing at best) as they say PCI and at the very bottom it says the card requires a PCIe bus. Just seems like a potential headache with folks buying the wrong card, returns, bad feedback etc. Anyhow, the hunt continues.
 
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0248294

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Are you sure you're not confusing PCI Express and PCI-X? All G4 PowerMacs, as far as I know, have 64-bit PCI-X busses. Which are not at all PCI Express.
 
bunnspecial

bunnspecial

macrumors G3
May 3, 2014
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Daniël Oosterhuis said:
Are you sure you're not confusing PCI Express and PCI-X? All G4 PowerMacs, as far as I know, have 64-bit PCI-X busses. Which are not at all PCI Express.
Click to expand...

PowerMac G4s(with the exception of the Cube) have 64 bit PCI slots. They are longer than a "normal" PCI slot, but still run at the standard PCI frequency(33mhz). They just allow more bandwidth for cards that can use it.

G5s are the only ones in the range to have PCIx. They look superficially similar to a 64 bit PCI slot and in fact are backwards compatible. As long as only PCIx cards are installed, however, they run at 133mhz.

AFAIK, a PCIx card will work in a G4-it just runs at 33mhz. I had one computer that ticked along happily with a PCIx Gig-E card until I installed Leopard...
 
eyoungren

eyoungren

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Aug 31, 2011
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bunnspecial said:
Mine will :) (actually maybe not with the current GPU-not sure)

In any case, when I get "a round tuit" I'm going to install Leopard on a Powerbook G3 and let everyone's jaw drop in amazement at the impossible :) . I won't say too much for now.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't mind getting Leopard running on my Mac IIci. That'd be neat. :D
 
LightBulbFun

LightBulbFun

macrumors 68030
Nov 17, 2013
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eyoungren said:
My Mac Pro at work broke Leopard. :)

It won't run on it. :D :D
Click to expand...

well actually the 2.8Ghz 5,1 Mac Pro has a 45Nm LGA1366 Xeon which is fully supported by Leopard as the 4,1 used those chips which did ship with leo so you might be able to run Leopard on that 5,1 (tho the 5770 will have no Gfx exell under leo) :)
 
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eyoungren

eyoungren

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Aug 31, 2011
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LightBulbFun said:
well actually the 2.8Ghz 5,1 Mac Pro has a 45Nm LGA1366 Xeon which is fully supported by Leopard as the 4,1 used those chips which did ship with leo so you might be able to run Leopard on that 5,1 (tho the 5770 will have no Gfx exell under leo) :)
Click to expand...
8d8f41c1217d3007621ceda397c48ef6.jpg
 
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