3 monitors on a powermac G5?

[r34per]

Currently I have 2 monitors hooked up to my 1.8ghz powermac g5 with an AGP radeon 9600, and i've been wanting to add a 3rd one. Would any pci(i know not a pci-e) video card work for this purpose, or do only certain ones work with a mac? I'm not doing anything too crazy with it so it doesn't have be a high tier card, at most just email and web browsing.

 

[eyoungren]

LOL, yes. You can do three displays.

I had six attached to my old Quicksilver. When I got my G5 Quad I migrated those six to it and then on to my Mac Pro. I also have four displays attached to my 2.3DC.

For the Quad I used a Radeon X1900 XT and two of the stock NVIDIA cards.

Below is my Mac Pro, but these displays were previously attached to my Quad and as I mentioned, my QS before that.

 

[r6mile]

The difference is the OP has an AGP, not a PCI-e Mac Pro. So the only way to add a secondary graphics card is to use the PCI slot. You cannot just use any PCI card for a PC, it has to be a Mac version or a flashed one. I currently use a PCI Radeon 7000 Mac Edition, which is relatively easy to find, in my G4 - I guess this card would work fine on a G5, can others confirm? The PCI Radeon 9200 is the best Mac PCI card you can find, but it's a lot rarer.

 

[eyoungren]

The difference is the OP has an AGP, not a PCI-e Mac Pro. So the only way to add a secondary graphics card is to use the PCI slot. You cannot just use any PCI card for a PC, it has to be a Mac version or a flashed one. I currently use a PCI Radeon 7000 Mac Edition, which is relatively easy to find, in my G4 - I guess this card would work fine on a G5, can others confirm? The PCI Radeon 9200 is the best Mac PCI card you can find, but it's a lot rarer.

In my QS, I had a Radeon 9800 and then an NVIDIA GeForce 68000 GT. My two PCI cards were a Radeon 9200 and a Radeon 7000 (flashed).

There is also the ATI FireGL X3 (these need to be flashed). I have one of those in my 2.7Ghz G5. Originally it was purchased for my QS, but wouldn't you know, that's the one model of G4 that card doesn't work with.

As for the other PCI slots, I don't believe the stock GeForce 5200 or 6800 is a bad choice. Like I said, I have two of those in my Quad (and one in my 2.3DC).

Quicksilver: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/quicksilver-beautification-project.1953562/



EDIT: Quad G5 with six displays and 2.3DC G5. This is an older pic, the two monitors between the Studio Displays and the Cinema Display have changed over time.

 

[r34per]

DAM, that's a bitchin setup you got there! I looked into the firegl x3 back when i was looking to replace the fx5200, and realized those have become pretty scarce. The radeon 7000's are right up my price range though! If i went that route and flashed one, would any radeon 7000 do, or does it have to be specific one?

 

[timidpimpin]

The radeon 7000's are right up my price range though! If i went that route and flashed one, would any radeon 7000 do, or does it have to be specific one?

Not sure, but Saphire 7000's are always a safe bet.