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Graphics card upgrade for G5

W

webthing

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2004
5
0
I have a 2GHz Dual G5 with the standard Radeon 9600 card in it (ADC & DVI). If I want to upgrade to a better graphics card do I need to make sure I get one from a mac specialist? Or could I - for example - buy one cheap off the internet (say the 9800) and install it in the machine? Given that the new screens are now running off DVI is there anything different between a card like this for a mac and the same one for a PC??

As long as OSX drivers exist for the card it should be ok shouldn't it??

:confused:
 
Nope, there are some hardware differences. Unfortunately, a non-Mac-specific card will not run in your G5. God knows I wish it would... I'm in the same boat.
 
In reply to that then.... anyone recommend a store that has decent prices on G5 compatible cards? Preferably in the UK.
 
Newegg offers the Radeon 9800 for mac at $299 with free shipping. That's the cheapest I've seen, plus, Newegg is one of the most trusted online stores on the internet.
 
it's still stupidly overpriced compared to the PC version. Damn mac-tax! :mad:
 
Have you had major problems with the 9600? Seems to work fine for me. I'd like something faster, but I can't at all say I need it or, 99% of the time, would even see any improvement.
 
No, i haven't had any problems with it. It's just that I'm looking at Motion and Apple recommend a better graphics card (even though the 9600 will still work). I'm just wondering how much difference it would make. Guess I won't know until I try out Motion for real.
 
Might I recommend you put off buying anything for a few weeks? The reason: the 6800 Ultras are coming. You don't need one - but a number of people are going to upgrade to it - freeing up their current cards. Hopefully, they'll post them for sale in this forum. You could probably get a 9800 Pro at a reasonable price.
 
I might be getting a Rev A. 1.8 G5 here in the near future (my father is thinking of selling me his for $1,000 flat, who am I to stop him?) but I'm going to upping the graphics card. I looked at ATI's web site for vid cards and they show the Raedon 9800 Pro w/ 128 MB of RAM for $150. They're out of stock but when I go to pricewatch the card selles for over $300?! What gives?
 
SilentPanda said:
I might be getting a Rev A. 1.8 G5 here in the near future (my father is thinking of selling me his for $1,000 flat, who am I to stop him?) but I'm going to upping the graphics card. I looked at ATI's web site for vid cards and they show the Raedon 9800 Pro w/ 128 MB of RAM for $150. They're out of stock but when I go to pricewatch the card selles for over $300?! What gives?
Click to expand...

I'd say make sure it's the mac version. Also there are 2 mac versions:

9800 w/128MB memory ~$350
9800 SE w/256MB memory ~$400

You could find them for a bit cheaper, but not as low as $150. Even a flashed PC 9800 would run you over $200 on eBay.
 
keysersoze said:
I'd say make sure it's the mac version. Also there are 2 mac versions:

9800 w/128MB memory ~$350
9800 SE w/256MB memory ~$400

You could find them for a bit cheaper, but not as low as $150. Even a flashed PC 9800 would run you over $200 on eBay.
Click to expand...

I totally believe you but... on ATI's site...

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2513464

Say's $150... which blew my mind when I found it being sold for $300+

Edit: Ahhhhh nevermind... that's the Radeon 9000 Pro... not the 9800... I'm an idiot.

Edit 2: Well not a total idiot... the "buy" link on the left hand side from this page: http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800prome/index.html
takes you to the purchase of the Radeon 9000... weird.
 
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