Graphic Card upgrade for 2004 DP 1.8Ghz Power Mac G5

[Sporty G]

Hey guys,

I have a June 2004 revision Power Mac G5 (DP 1.8Ghz) with an AGP slow that is dying for a more powerful graphics card.

I have had the machine since new and have it paired with a 23" Cinema Display, Magic Mouse, BT Apple keyboard, 4GB of Kingston RAM, a pair of 500gb internal HDs, several TBs of external storage, Logitech Z2300 speakers, etc. We also have a new 15" Mac Book Pro, a 13" Mac Book, an Apple TV, Airport Extreme, etc. The desktop doesn't get a TON of use but it is still snappy enough for a lot of what I use it for.

However, since I installed Leopard on it, the OS is nowhere near as fast as it was before (with respect to UI graphics, etc).... I should have expected the newer OS would take more of a toil on the system (especially the graphics card) then did Tiger.... the system has only the factory-installed 64mb GeForce card.... I'm assuming that Leopard, probably more than Tiger, can draw from the GPU for graphic-needs/UI work and I'm assuming that a new graphics card would make a difference....

I just need help deciphering the cards that are available.... 9800XT?? X800??? Any advice on compatible 8x AGP cards would be AMAZING.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[GyroFX]

your best bet are either ATi X800 XT for Mac G5 or a flashed Nvidia 7800GS

 

[VanneDC]

mate, iam assuming (yes, yes, i know what assuming stands for your crappy vid card is a FX5200 64mb card? just going up to a Ati 9800pro will do all that you need, and the difference is amazing.

esp when you consider a X800 mac card will set you back 150 bucks even if you can find one.

you can also flash a pc variant, though your milage may vary

cheers