G4 Graphics Card

[Shawn F.]

I use Final Cut Studio 2 for video editing doing short films and commercials. I am in need of a new graphics card for a G4 computer that I am temporarily using. I know that the Studio 2 version asks for a minimum requirement of an AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card. Does anyone here have any recommendation on which graphics card would be best to use with a G4 and the Final Cut Studio 2 software?
Any information would be greatly appreciated! Also if you need any info from me to further assist me here then let me know.
Thanks in advance!

 

[RGunner]

Mac G4 card

A 9800 Pro AGP Mac card is / was about the best you can get.. there are exotics (flashed PC cards, etc..), faster than the 9800 card, but they are probably not worth the extra effort to find / or flash one.

Not sure how well you will like the performance...

 

[Shawn F.]

A 9800 Pro AGP Mac card is / was about the best you can get.. there are exotics (flashed PC cards, etc..), faster than the 9800 card, but they are probably not worth the extra effort to find / or flash one.

Not sure how well you will like the performance...

Pretty much we are wanting something fairly well for video editing, no gaming or anything else, strictly video editing. We want to meet the minimum requirement to run the Final Cut Studio 2 thats it. If there is something a little better than the minimum for not much more then that will be fine as well.
Thanks!

 

[bigbossbmb]

total waste of money to upgrade the GPU of a G4.... a new mac mini will run circles around it (even with the upgrade). look for a used Mac Pro (if you need the PCIe slots) or an iMac/mini if you don't.

I had the x800 in my G5, which was still AGP but I dont know if that ever worked in the G4's... you may be stuck with the nVidia 5200/ATi 9600/9800 stuff. None of these cards will run Motion3 or Color worth a darn though.

 

[Shawn F.]

Thanks for the info! I guess we need to just go ahead and upgrade to a Mac Book Pro or G5. Either way, if anyone else has any information or suggestions on this, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks again!

 

[bigbossbmb]

I wouldn't consider a G5 if I were you... Snow Leopard will be intel only and a lot of people (including me) think the next version of FCS will be Snow Leopard dependent (making it intel only).

A used/refurb MBP would be a good option.

 

[Shawn F.]

Ok great, thanks for the warning on that. The guy I am working with I know is wanting a Mac Book Pro already and plans to get one here in the next few months so a MBP is a for sure on the list. The G5 was a consideration but now with what you said I think we will have to look into it. Now have you ever heard of anyone running the Final Cut Studio 2 off of a G4 and it working?

 

[Shawn F.]

Well to update this thread. We finally bought a new MacBook Pro today to take advantage of Tax Free weekend. Also bought the new Final Cut Studio 2+ or 7 (whatever you want to call it) and will test it out tonight or tomorrow.
This will be a HUGE improvement and I can't wait to get started.