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Best 32MB for G4

davisjw

davisjw

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 28, 2006
128
0
Richmond, Va
Hey, Looking to dual my monitors on my Power Mac G4 and wondering which card is better for it.. The 32 MB GeForce2 MX Dual Monitor PCI Card or the ATI Radeon 7000 32MB PCI Video Card. I'll be doing things such as Photoshop and Flash with the monitors. Thank you for your time and information!
 
first off identify which pm g4 you have, open it up and tell us if the graphics card is in a brown slot or a white slot, if white then it's pci graphics, if brown then it's agp graphics.

thier were no pci geforce 2's, or any pci nvidia graphics card, only AGP versions. unless you count flashed cards.
 
davisjw said:
Hey, Looking to dual my monitors on my Power Mac G4 and wondering which card is better for it.. The 32 MB GeForce2 MX Dual Monitor PCI Card or the ATI Radeon 7000 32MB PCI Video Card. I'll be doing things such as Photoshop and Flash with the monitors. Thank you for your time and information!
Click to expand...

Oh, and I would also recommend a GeForce2 MX, although they are tricky to find these days. I would also seriously recommend considering buying a PC version and flashing it yourself as opposed to buying a Mac version (VERY expensive). p.s. hector, there were ABSOLUTELY mac versions... where do you think the firmware came from?

Look at the following website for instructions and compatible PC retail cards that can be flashed.

http://www.cybercoment.com/macgeforce.htm
 
If you're flashing a PC card, check the compatibility list at Strangedogs (google the name, you'll find it), then check on NewEgg, you'll find lots of compatible cards pretty cheap [NOTE: some flashing requires use of a working PC]. If you're buying a Mac card, the 7000 should be fine for your needs.
 
Thanks

I've never tried flashing a card before, I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the advice! What are the benefits of flashing to a PC card as opposed to a Mac? And as a side note- Whats the best way to clean LCD screens?
 
If you are only doing Photoshop and Flash, the performance is mostly going to be dependant on the speed and amount of video RAM on the card. So most cards will offer similar performance. A GeForce 2MX is probably a better GPU than a Radeon 7000 though.

I recommend going to Strangedogs and looking in their stuff for sale section for a compatible card.

Flashing in a nutshell: PC cards are cheaper than Mac cards and more plentiful. It takes some work (some times a LOT of work, sometimes very little) to flash a card and it is best done with a PC. Read more at Strangedogs, they have many how-tos.
 
Well I'll try and go for the 9700 Pro (if anyone is selling one hit me up).. Thanks for all your help!
 
Hector said:
first off identify which pm g4 you have, open it up and tell us if the graphics card is in a brown slot or a white slot, if white then it's pci graphics, if brown then it's agp graphics.

thier were no pci geforce 2's, or any pci nvidia graphics card, only AGP versions. unless you count flashed cards.
Click to expand...
If you can get geforce4's pci; you can get geforce 2's. Personally I like Nvidia over ATI; I'm thinking of building another pc system with Dual 7600's. (For games!!)
 
Actually checked out my Mac and its AGP graphics not PCI like I thought.. Would the GeForce 2 work wtih AGP? If so I'd be willing to take it off your hands for a reasonable price...
 
yeah it would work, but remember you pay a premium for cards that work in a g4 cube, remember to compare it with the going rate for a radeon 9000 or even a 9800 pro.
 
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