Choosing a good GPU for my Quicksilver

[Haemoglobin]

I haven't much in the way of experience when it comes to AGP cards and the Powermacs, so I was wondering if anyone might be kind enough to offer an opinion on what is good video card for the system. I've watched a youtube video where someone fitted a Geforce 7800, however I don't much like the idea of replacing the power supply just get. Given the extra draw from the card might cause the stock PSU to pop. I mean don't get me wrong, I would like to replace the PSU as some point as I've heard most of the noise from these systems is the PSU. But for now, I'd just like to pick a decent video card that will allow me to run some early 2000 era games, one's that just don't run well on my B&W

 

[Amethyst1]

Maybe an ATI Radeon 9600 or 9650 (from a G5). 2003-era mid-range cards. Fanless, no extra power connection necessary, Core Image support, (one) dual-link DVI in case of the (retail) 9600 Mac & PC Edition and 9650.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Thanks for that, I will take a look on yee old fleabay. I'm guessing, a 9600 will perform better than a 7800GS

 

[Amethyst1]

I'm guessing, a 9600 will perform better than a 7800GS

The 7800 GS will run circles around the 9600.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Is it possible to get that sort of performance without the level of hackery that is needed to get the 7800gs to work? I can flash an AGP card that isn't so much a problem. It's just the whole over loading the PSU replacement + having the modify the card before you can slot it in. I think you have to short two of the pins on the card, before it can even be installed in a QS.

 

[Amethyst1]

Is it possible to get that sort of performance without the level of hackery that is needed to get the 7800gs to work?

The GeForce 7800 GS is (one of?) the fastest AGP card(s) that, crucially, is supported by OS X on PPC. Another option is the Radeon X850. Both are high-end cards and use quite a bit of power. It's always a trade-off between peformance and power consumption.

(Newer cards provide equal or better performance at lower power consumption but aren't supported by OS X on PPC.)

I think you have to short two of the pins on the card, before it can even be installed in a QS.

AGP pins 3 and 11 have to be “taped” (or disabled in some other way) for any AGP 8× card to work in an ADC-equipped G4.

 

[eyoungren]

I had this card in my Quicksilver…NVIDIA GeForce 68000 GT.

The "Mutant" GeForce 6600 GT AGP for a PowerMac G4?

I don't have any advice to offer you, but I did want to mention that for some time before retirement I had an NVIDIA GeForce 68000 GT fully functional in my Quicksilver. It was donated to me by a member here who was kind enough to ship it all the way from the UK to Phoenix. The story I have...

forums.macrumors.com

It does require Molex support, but considering I had my QS crammed with three video cards, a Sonnet 1.8Ghz Duet and a bunch of other cards and SATA drives, AND multiple fans - I don't think the power draw is going to tax a basic QS system.

 

[Amethyst1]

I had my QS crammed with three video cards, a Sonnet 1.8Ghz Duet and a bunch of other cards and SATA drives, AND multiple fans […]

Multiple fans? That poor PSU’s gonna blow up

 

[eyoungren]

Multiple fans? That poor PSU’s gonna blow up

Well, it started eating cards at some point yeah. Usually the PCI-SATA card. I learned a lot with that Mac, particularly that Apple designed things to look pretty but not necessarily to function well.

Ultimately there was enough power for what I did, but the thermal design inside the G4s sucks. Apple didn't fix it until the MDD. Hence all the extra fans. @bunnspecial has the Mac now, he can attest to the fans. With all I had in there you couldn't run the Mac with the door closed without it overheating.

What I learned though is one reason I treated the G3 B&W I got and the later G4/500 lightly.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Thanks for the info guys, I was talking to a friend and one thing he pointed out was the lack of OS9 support if I go past a certain point when it comes to GPU's. If I'm being honest, part of me does want to keep OS9 support, but I realised I can do that by installing classic through OSX.
The QS currently has a Geforce2 MX, I'm sure I watched a YT vid recently with someone who had a Geforce4 mx in their system.

 

[Amethyst1]

The most powerful graphics card for OS 9 is the GeForce4 Titanium... and it might as well be called GeForce4 Unobtanium these days.
Here's a list of ADC-equipped GPUs I compiled that includes OS 9 compatibility.
Keep in mind that Classic in OS X isn't a fully functional replacement for a native OS 9 setup. It sucks for playing games.

 

[Haemoglobin]

I've honestly never used an ADC connector, my first B&W back in 2006 was hooked up to my then brand new 17" Digitmate flat screen, my first ever LCD display. I've pretty much used VGA ever since. Pity about the Geforce4 Titanium, the more I look in to Mac's and video cards, the more I realise how spoiled PC users are. You would have thought after bringing out a computer with PCI/AGP slots, Apple would have at least brought out some decent video cards or encouraged companies. I'm not that informed on the matter, but GPU pickings for the Mac seem might limited.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I run an Apple 9000 pro 64mb in my QS. As far as Apple gpus go, they are os9 compatible if I want that (generally prefer OSX) and they have ADC and DVI which is convenient for my setup. I picked mine up off a throw away MDD someone was dumping so deals can be found but if you have to buy one, expect ebay to be around $100 usd which isnt exactly cheap anymore. Last one I actually bought IIRC was around $40 usd, so prices definitely went up for that card.

 

[DearthnVader]

I've honestly never used an ADC connector, my first B&W back in 2006 was hooked up to my then brand new 17" Digitmate flat screen, my first ever LCD display. I've pretty much used VGA ever since. Pity about the Geforce4 Titanium, the more I look in to Mac's and video cards, the more I realise how spoiled PC users are. You would have thought after bringing out a computer with PCI/AGP slots, Apple would have at least brought out some decent video cards or encouraged companies. I'm not that informed on the matter, but GPU pickings for the Mac seem might limited.

Well I mean we pretty much figured out how to flash every PC Card that had drivers to the Mac OS, but it wasn't a retail box experience like PC users got.

nVidia didn't care, ATI didn't care, they got to sell cards they didn't have to support to Mac users.

The 9600 PC/Mac is a very good card, with no need for pin taping in 4x AGP systems, but no OS 9 support.

If you have a CoreImage compatible card for OS X, you just won't have any 3D or 2D acceleration under OS 9, but you can have basic desktop resolution switching with cards like the 9600.