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Came crawling back to my PowerMac G5

WalnutSpice

WalnutSpice

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 21, 2015
456
92
Canton, Oh
I recently built a very nice i3 based PC, nice video card, 8GB RAM, Raid 0. All the stuffs. Now here I am with that computer sitting in the corner and my G5 back on the desk. I notice there is nearly nothing that I do that doesn't work on that works on the i3. Of course, it's faster in a lot of places. But I've fallen way towards the Mac side of things recently because of my MacBook and G5. Only problem with my G5 is the video.

I have the original 5200FX 64mb card. Decent, does the job with smooth animations and 480p youtube in a constant 30fps. I've also got a DVI to HDMI convertor to use it on my Playstation TV that I use as my display now and it looks incredible. But I'd really like to upgrade the card to allow 720p video playback (on youtube), light games (of the time of course), and possibly a slightly better web browsing experience as a slightly more beefy card should help with all the gifs / flash etc. Any suggestions on that?

Also, I plan on selling the PC for a MacBook Pro 15' or 17'. Used 2011 model would be nice. And in place of my PC I'll build a simple Core 2 Quad computer out of parts I have laying around.
 
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A Radeon 9600 or 9650 is the typical next-step upgrade for AGP G5s. The main functional difference between the two cards is that the G5 OEM 9600 is ADC/DVI while the 9650 is dual DVI.

Beyond that, I REALLY like the GEForce 6800 and currently have them in two G5s(although I'm going to be replacing one soon). I think this was the only OEM card that had two dual link ports so it could drive dual 30" Cinemas. This is a big, full length, dual height card.

The Radeon X800 and X850 are steps up from this. These cards are sort of hard to find, but do turn up(I bought an X800 not too long ago). Both of these are ADC/DVI.

Depending on how much experimenting you want to do, there are alternatives. At one time, ATI FireGL X3s were plentiful and cheap on Ebay. These flash nicely into X800s, although someone bought up all the ones and then ripped off the Strangedogs' ROMs to turn them into X800s. I won't buy the pre-flashed cards for this reason. Not too long ago, @LightBulbFun pointed out a Radeon X850XT Sapphire to me on Ebay that should flash nicely, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Most high end flashed cards will require you to tap into optical drive power supply, which isn't a huge deal. If the Mac edition cards need more power than the slot can supply, they draw it from the ADC power socket.
 
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bunnspecial said:
A Radeon 9600 or 9650 is the typical next-step upgrade for AGP G5s. The main functional difference between the two cards is that the G5 OEM 9600 is ADC/DVI while the 9650 is dual DVI.

Beyond that, I REALLY like the GEForce 6800 and currently have them in two G5s(although I'm going to be replacing one soon). I think this was the only OEM card that had two dual link ports so it could drive dual 30" Cinemas. This is a big, full length, dual height card.

The Radeon X800 and X850 are steps up from this. These cards are sort of hard to find, but do turn up(I bought an X800 not too long ago). Both of these are ADC/DVI.

Depending on how much experimenting you want to do, there are alternatives. At one time, ATI FireGL X3s were plentiful and cheap on Ebay. These flash nicely into X800s, although someone bought up all the ones and then ripped off the Strangedogs' ROMs to turn them into X800s. I won't buy the pre-flashed cards for this reason. Not too long ago, @LightBulbFun pointed out a Radeon X850XT Sapphire to me on Ebay that should flash nicely, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Most high end flashed cards will require you to tap into optical drive power supply, which isn't a huge deal. If the Mac edition cards need more power than the slot can supply, they draw it from the ADC power socket.
Click to expand...
Thanks, thats all really good to know. Do you know if the 9600 supports the transparent menu bar? I know some Apple cards are picky about that
 
WalnutSpice said:
Thanks, thats all really good to know. Do you know if the 9600 supports the transparent menu bar? I know some Apple cards are picky about that
Click to expand...
Yes, Core Image and Quartz Extreme are supported by the 9600. I have a retail Radeon 9600 Pro in my MDD dual 1.25 (the main differences from the G5 version are 256 MB VRAM and 2x DVI). It's a good GPU for use in Mac OS X Leopard, although there are better.
 
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Dronecatcher said:
There's no reason why your G5 shouldn't already play 720P - my Powerbooks play h264 720P 30 FPS files with VLC, MPlayer and XBMC and my G5s play 1080P.
Click to expand...
It does play 720, I forgot to put 720p YouTube, which it can play but it is choppy.
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redheeler said:
Yes, Core Image and Quartz Extreme are supported by the 9600. I have a retail Radeon 9600 Pro in my MDD dual 1.25 (the main differences from the G5 version are 256 MB VRAM and 2x DVI). It's a good GPU for use in Mac OS X Leopard, although there are better.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I just a very small budget. I'll max my G5 out one of these days.
 
redheeler said:
Yes, Core Image and Quartz Extreme are supported by the 9600. I have a retail Radeon 9600 Pro in my MDD dual 1.25 (the main differences from the G5 version are 256 MB VRAM and 2x DVI). It's a good GPU for use in Mac OS X Leopard, although there are better.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, the FX5200 supports Core Image(and Quartz Extreme by extension) but does not support the translucent menu bar. This was actually a pretty widely used GPU-the later 12" Powerbooks, later iMac G4s and early iMac G5s used it.

You need a minimum of a Radeon 9600 or GEForce 6200 to get the translucent menu bar.
 
WalnutSpice said:
It does play 720, I forgot to put 720p YouTube, which it can play but it is choppy.
Click to expand...
Don't play videos using HTML5 or Flash in the browser. Use TenFourFox Quicktime Enabler or YouView if possible.
bunnspecial said:
Just to be clear, the FX5200 supports Core Image(and Quartz Extreme by extension) but does not support the translucent menu bar. This was actually a pretty widely used GPU-the later 12" Powerbooks, later iMac G4s and early iMac G5s used it.

You need a minimum of a Radeon 9600 or GEForce 6200 to get the translucent menu bar.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I thought the translucent menu bar is related to Core Image support. In any case, the Radeon 9600 Pro does support it (typing this from the dual 1.25 MDD now, in fact).
 
redheeler said:
Don't play videos using HTML5 or Flash in the browser. Use TenFourFox Quicktime Enabler or YouView if possible.

Hmm, I thought the translucent menu bar is related to Core Image support. In any case, the Radeon 9600 Pro does support it (typing this from the dual 1.25 MDD now, in fact).
Click to expand...
I honestly never got QuickTime enabler to work for me. So I've always just used flash in Safari for 480 video and it's worked just fine.
Also, the 5200 supports Core Image 100% but Apple decided to stop it from being able to use the transparent menu bar for some reason
 
WalnutSpice said:
I honestly never got QuickTime enabler to work for me. So I've always just used flash in Safari for 480 video and it's worked just fine.
Also, the 5200 supports Core Image 100% but Apple decided to stop it from being able to use the transparent menu bar for some reason
Click to expand...
Try installing ClickToFlash in Safari and changing the default player to QuickTime Player in ClickToFlash preferences.
 
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redheeler said:
Try installing ClickToFlash in Safari and changing the default player to QuickTime Player in ClickToFlash preferences.
Click to expand...
I can't find the default player selection in the preferences
 

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bunnspecial said:
A Radeon 9600 or 9650 is the typical next-step upgrade for AGP G5s. The main functional difference between the two cards is that the G5 OEM 9600 is ADC/DVI while the 9650 is dual DVI.
Click to expand...

Actually, my stock OEM 9600 from my G5 is dual DVI and 128MB of VRAM. I love the card since it works well for YouTube. Dual monitors with a demanding screensaver makes it lag, and I'd love a more powerful GPU just because, but it's not too high on the priority list since this one works well.

EDIT: wait, I realized now that because this is an early 05 with PCI-X vs AGP, that explains why it's dual DVI. Also, now that I was looking it over on MacTracker, I have the weakest card, LOL. I guess I really do need a better GPU!
 
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Can anyone provide any real world examples of the benefits of a higher specified GPU. Obviously I know it's better to have stronger card but what about functionality it delivers that was previously unattainable?
 
Dronecatcher said:
Can anyone provide any real world examples of the benefits of a higher specified GPU. Obviously I know it's better to have stronger card but what about functionality it delivers that was previously unattainable?
Click to expand...
I just want to make some things smoother around the edges honestly. Maybe some some play room with video editing, smoother window animations etc. A couple more frames in youtube and maybe play Minecraft with a nice 20 - 30FPS.
 
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