G4 w/NVIDIA GeForce2 MX and 20" ACD at 1680 x 1050 ?

[-js-]

I've done a lot of research about this on the web, including here at this forum (yes, I used the search function ) and I can't find a clear answer to this question:

I have a 733 MHz G4 "quicksilver" which has the NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (non-twin view) graphics card in it. This has a VGA and an ADC output. According to the Power Mac G4: Display Compatibility web page, the 20" ACD will work with an ADC to DVI adaptor. This is not the DVI to ADC adaptor that sells for $85 at the Apple store. This adaptor is no longer sold by Apple, but I did find one at B H photo video, made by Belkin, and it is on the way to me right now.

What concerns me, is that according to the Apple technical specifications page, and what I see in my display settings in system preferences (albeit with a CRT attached to the VGA), I can chose 1600 x 1024, but not 1680 x 1050.

And I really want to drive whatever LCD monitor I get at its native resolution.

So, can anyone (please, please, please) tell me what the story is? Will 1600 x 1024 just get stretched? Or will there just be a bit more black around the edges? (1:1) Or will the 1680 x 1050 option appear to me once I hook up the ACD?

Do the ACD's come with a CD-ROM with drivers or something? Or no?

And, for the record, I updated the firmware to the NVIDIA GPU and I still don't have the 1680 x 1050 setting. The Apple page for this was dated 2005, if I remember correctly. If there is a newer firmware (which I doubt) I haven't been able to find it.

I would really like to get the 20" ACD, but I also would really like to be able to drive it at its native resolution. I know I could upgrade the graphics card, but I'd rather not put any more money into my aging G4 than I have to. A new display I can use with a MacPro, when I buy one, but a 2x/4x AGP graphics card? Eh, I don't think so. I suppose I could look for a used AGP card on ebay or something, but which one?

In any case, I'm really hoping that someone can tell me "No worries! You will have that resolution available to you when you buy the 20 inch ACD", or some other fix to allow me to drive the ACD at 1680 x 1050.

Thank you everyone for any help or information you can give me!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Don't take this is gospel, but you should be just fine.

I have an older (heavily upgraded) dual 533MHz "Digital Audio" G4 that came with a Radeon 7500 in it, which I later updated to a Radeon 9600 Pro and finally a GeForce 6800GT. In the case of each video card, OS X auto-detected my Dell 2005FPW display and I was able to set the display to its native resolution of 1680x1050. Your ACD should be the same experience. The old GeForce you have should drive that display without trouble (Just don't try running 3D games), though you should be able to get your hands on a Core-Image compatible card for cheap these days.

Buying a better video card can be fraught with sketchy choices. Your best bet (though not the cheapest) is to find a real "Mac Edition" video card, preferably the retail Radeon 9800 PRO Mac Edition or OEM-only (and rare) GeForce 4Ti and Radeon 9700 PRO Mac Editions.

The Radeon 9800 PRO is easy to flash to the Mac, and is pretty plentiful on Ebay these days. It also supports Core Image, which is nice.

 

[-js-]

Lord Blackadder,

Excellent! Thank you so much for the information and advice. BTW, I love your user name and location. Also, I noticed you're running Panther (if I'm reading your sigline right). So am I. If I wouldn't lose the ability to use my Griffin iMate adaptor and Apple Extended Keyboard II, I might upgrade to Tiger, and I may still do so if forced, but for now, it's 10.3.9 for me. LOL!

I will post back to this thread this weekend to report on how the 20" ACD works out.

Thank you again!

 

[-js-]

Well,

As was suggested, the 20" ACD with the Belkin ADC to DVI adaptor just simply worked. All I did was shut down the computer, remove the VGA connection and CRT, install the Belkin adaptor, connect the ACD DVI to it, as well as the firewire, USB, and power connection, start up, and !VOILA! it just worked, and came up at the native resolution of 1680 x 1050.

And I was so worried about this! And it just worked. I just love having Apple moments like this. So different from the Windows machines and peripherals I deal with at work.

I'll post my impressions of the ACD in the longer thread currently active in this forum. Short version = I love it, worth every penny.