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Best AGP card for Powermac G5 to flash?
- Thread starter California
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Hands down, The Nvidia 7800GS AGP.
I am especially proud of that one.
It is imperative that you find a G70 based 7800GS to make this from.
Only big minus is that it has one DVI port, and the other is VGA.
Good news is that that the DVI port is Dual-Link, ie, it can drive a 30" with no trouble.
You will find Ebay full of these preflashed for Mac $200 or so...tough to find a PC one !!! usually around $80-120(wish I was getting a commission)
You will need 10.4.6 or better to get use from it.
Apple was kind enough to improve drivers for it's device id in Leopard. Little known fact this one. Shows somebody at Apple kept track of our efforts and lent a helping hand.
2nd best option is the 6800GT. Big bonus is that PC ones can be had pretty cheap...neighborhood of $30-50. My old friend Arti wrote the DVI enabled ROM in NYC while I did the testing and register poking in LA. Dual DVI is possible if you look hard enough. Needs to be a GT or Ultra with 256 Megs of RAM. We never wrote a good ROM for 128meg versions. Minus is that they are single link unless you find the Holy Grail....one with the PanelLink TMDS chip on back. 99% don't have them, even the Ultras.
I am especially proud of that one.
It is imperative that you find a G70 based 7800GS to make this from.
Only big minus is that it has one DVI port, and the other is VGA.
Good news is that that the DVI port is Dual-Link, ie, it can drive a 30" with no trouble.
You will find Ebay full of these preflashed for Mac $200 or so...tough to find a PC one !!! usually around $80-120(wish I was getting a commission)
You will need 10.4.6 or better to get use from it.
Apple was kind enough to improve drivers for it's device id in Leopard. Little known fact this one. Shows somebody at Apple kept track of our efforts and lent a helping hand.
2nd best option is the 6800GT. Big bonus is that PC ones can be had pretty cheap...neighborhood of $30-50. My old friend Arti wrote the DVI enabled ROM in NYC while I did the testing and register poking in LA. Dual DVI is possible if you look hard enough. Needs to be a GT or Ultra with 256 Megs of RAM. We never wrote a good ROM for 128meg versions. Minus is that they are single link unless you find the Holy Grail....one with the PanelLink TMDS chip on back. 99% don't have them, even the Ultras.
What Rominator said.
I've been running mine for 1.5 years, and I flashed it from an eBay'd PC version, thanks to themacelite's tools.
Don't ever expect any 7800 GS' TV-Out to work, though, as no
version had one.
Mine had a one-speed fan that sounded like a hairdryer, so I removed the crapfan/cover, spliced in a PC fan to the molex, and placed it down on the heatsink. My 7800GS hovers at 60ºC and is inaudible.
I've been running mine for 1.5 years, and I flashed it from an eBay'd PC version, thanks to themacelite's tools.
Don't ever expect any 7800 GS' TV-Out to work, though, as no
version had one.Mine had a one-speed fan that sounded like a hairdryer, so I removed the crapfan/cover, spliced in a PC fan to the molex, and placed it down on the heatsink. My 7800GS hovers at 60ºC and is inaudible.
If you want dual DVI 7800GS, try to grab this one: http://www.bit-tech.net/custompc/reviews/88847/gainward_bliss_7800gs_agp.html Look at Aquamac's site for proper ROM for this card (these from themacelite will not work with Gainward card). It will show only 256 MB memory, that's the only issue.
The REAL issue is that you will never find one of these.
When I flashed the first one of these for Mac, it was ordered from England and sent to me in the states. I sent Aquamac the original Mac ROM, though he eventually made some improvements. He lived in UK so much easier for him to get them there. The majority of "Gainward Bliss 7800" cards were actually made with a G71 core which isn't flashable with the ROMs we wrote. So, few on the market and of these few with G70 core. A near impossibility to find a good one.
If you need Dual DVI with support for a single 30", the card to get is a FireGl X3 256. Retek has them on EBay for $200.basically flashes into a DUal DVI version of the Mac X800, more useful than the ADC one in today's world. $200 is a bit much, but real Mac X800s still go for more, so not so bad. Also, Retek frequently sell NEW cards.
$50/Offer on ebay 
But... has a water cooling block on it...... and G71.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gainward-7800GS...emQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item20adf284a5
But... has a water cooling block on it...... and G71.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gainward-7800GS...emQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item20adf284a5
Mine worked great but never had a DVI to test but will buy one shortly. Would love both of my DVIs to work so once I get them, I'll try finding the appropriate rom. How would I know if I have the TMDS chip, would there be a chip on it with big bold "TMDS" on it? I'll never use a 30" monitor but would be good to know.
TMDS chip on 6800
Look on back between slot and DVI ports.
99.99% chance you won't see this "Silicon Image" chip there. There WILL be one on front on Dual DVI cards....but this spot on back is where it needs to be for DUal Link support. (30")
G71 will NEVER, EVER work on a Mac. As I said, you will likely never find one. Best to settle for 7800GS or 6800.
BTWm the 6800 and 7800 offer GPU acceleration in CS4, the 9800 and X800 do NOT.
Look on back between slot and DVI ports.
99.99% chance you won't see this "Silicon Image" chip there. There WILL be one on front on Dual DVI cards....but this spot on back is where it needs to be for DUal Link support. (30")
G71 will NEVER, EVER work on a Mac. As I said, you will likely never find one. Best to settle for 7800GS or 6800.
BTWm the 6800 and 7800 offer GPU acceleration in CS4, the 9800 and X800 do NOT.
Attachments
The ultra I just got DOES have this Silicon chip on it. 419 and 2.0 numbers at the bottom of it. Also has another chip more in the middle of the card.
What does this mean?
(Just checked my op thread tonight...)
I just got the nvidia geforce ultra ddl and it does have this chip.
Not sure what it does... It just means I can run two 30" monitors?
Did you get the Mac one or a PC one? Oh and mine(PC 6600 ultra) did NOT have that little chip. Just an empty spot with solder contacts
.
Did you get the Mac one or a PC one? Oh and mine(PC 6600 ultra) did NOT have that little chip. Just an empty spot with solder contacts
Hi, OSVTGUY
I got the Mac Ultra card. Has those little chips. Still don't know what they do, do you?
I really did want you to flash some cards for me, but now I think i'm set, OSVTguy.
California...I am confused whether you mean you have the official Mac 6800 or a PC one.
The Mac one has 3 of these chips, a PC unit will have at most two. If a PC card has this chip ON THE BACK AS PICTURED, then it can be used to run a SINGLE 30". If it does not have this chip on back, it will only run a 24" MAX. The prescence of one of these TMDS chips on front just means you have a DUal DVI card, which is different from being a DUal-Link DVI card.
The Mac one has 3 of these chips, a PC unit will have at most two. If a PC card has this chip ON THE BACK AS PICTURED, then it can be used to run a SINGLE 30". If it does not have this chip on back, it will only run a 24" MAX. The prescence of one of these TMDS chips on front just means you have a DUal DVI card, which is different from being a DUal-Link DVI card.
I have the mac oem ultra ddl card. I thought it could drive two 30" monitors?
Yes, it's able to drive 2x 2560x1600. DDL=Double Dual Link.
On second picture there are visible 2 of those chips: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/mac_6800ultra_review/index.html
On second picture there are visible 2 of those chips: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/mac_6800ultra_review/index.html
Hello, Pardon me to jump into this, but I need some help for my buddy's computer. He bought this Nvidia Geforce 7800 AGP card for his G5 computer and it needs to be flashed. Other words, he bought a PC card. I read this Wikiguide that is posted up there, but its confusing. Can somebody PM me via yahoo? Thanks.
Mike
Mike
Hi Rominator,
I bought one today for equivalent of 100$ on my local aftermarket. Exactly like it should be. I've been looking for this long time... It will replace my BFG OC now.
Respect for you and Aqua for making this Gainward available for Mac users!
If I remember correctly, the real card will power a 2560x1600 monitor with a dual-link DVI cable whereas the flashed card will only do 1920x1200. It's been years since I flashed a 6800 so I can't remember off the top of my head.
If I remember correctly, the real card will power a 2560x1600 monitor with a dual-link DVI cable whereas the flashed card will only do 1920x1200. It's been years since I flashed a 6800 so I can't remember off the top of my head.
Are there any performance differences or is it basically all the same thing except the dual link dvi?
performance will be same.
The Apple OEM ones are much cooler looking, but only work in G5s.
The flashed ones have to have power run from DVD drive so clutter up the look but bring this GPU to G4s, so not such a bad thing there.
I'd go with 7800 if I still had a PPC.
The Apple OEM ones are much cooler looking, but only work in G5s.
The flashed ones have to have power run from DVD drive so clutter up the look but bring this GPU to G4s, so not such a bad thing there.
I'd go with 7800 if I still had a PPC.