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iMac Graphics Card? iMac Graphics Card?

eclipse525

eclipse525

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 5, 2003
854
4
USA, New York
My current iMac(17" FP) came with a GForce4 MX. Is there OR will there be a way to upgrade this graphics card?

I've noticed that with some games, one being NeverWinter Nights, if I turn up all the settings(shadows, lighting, etc.) the game starts to crawl. By the way, I do have it max at 1gig of Ram.




Thanks.

~e
 
There is not and is not likely to ever be any way to upgrade this as it is not a card. It is a soldered chip on the main logic board. The only way to replace it would be to replace the logic board.
 
Re: iMac Graphics Card?

Originally posted by eclipse525

My current iMac(17" FP) came with a GForce4 MX. Is there OR will there be a way to upgrade this graphics card?
Click to expand...
Yes, it's easy...

Buy a new iMac.

That's been the easy upgrade path for these all-in-one machines since they came out.

If you want easier upgradeability in the future, Apple offers the PowerMacs.
 
Unfortunately there is no way to upgrade the video cards in the iMac, because, as a previous poster mentioned, the iMacs don't even really have video cards - the video chips are soldered onto the motherboard. Even if it was a video card, it's pretty tricky accessing anything in an iMac other than the user-upgradeable RAM slot and the Airport slot on the bottom. To get inside one of those bad boys you have to break the thermal paste seals and all sorts of other fun things.

I'm afraid the only way to upgrade your video card is to buy a new system! Sorry bud.
 
Just a small tip - turn off realtime shadows around PC's and NPC's. The game will run a good deal faster, and doesn't really look much different.
 
Here are many things you should learn

1: LCD screens are rather poor for gaming
2: Laptops aside the iMac is the least upgradeable system currently avaliable
3: the AMD K7 1GHz that I bought 3 years ago has a faster Front side bus (FSB,) Than any G4 ever released.
4: Mac's are gennerally poor for gaming since the games are usually ports of DirectX games, whose code has to be emulated on the PPC platform.
5: If you want to play games on your mac find ones that are written in openGL, since the apple support this code.
6: I'm going to that a break now, but this is food for thought.
 
Originally posted by manitoublack
...
3: the AMD K7 1GHz that I bought 3 years ago has a faster Front side bus (FSB,) Than any G4 ever released.
...
Click to expand...

The last PowerMac G4's left off at 167MHz, running PC2700 DDR (333MHz). If you're referring to the 200MHz fsb that was around then, it was double-pumped. Those systems only ran PC133 SDRAM.
 
Thanks for the response. Mostly the intelligent ones. For reasons unknown, some of you have this need post Smart-Ass comments. We are all not as knowledgable as some of you and these Forums are a great way to Learn AND Teach. Keep this in mind.

Thanks again.

~e
 
Originally posted by eclipse525
Thanks for the response. Mostly the intelligent ones. For reasons unknown, some of you have this need post Smart-Ass comments. We are all not as knowledgable as some of you and these Forums are a great way to Learn AND Teach. Keep this in mind.

Thanks again.

~e
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this is one of those things you have to get used to on these forums - there are those of us who will intelligently post with the intent of being useful and helpful, and then there are others who, as you say, post smart-ass comments which do not contribute to the discussion in any means whatsoever.

Luckily, the moderators on Macrumors are excellent, and when some of these individuals get out of line, they usually get warned, and if they're "repeat offenders" or especially ignorant/immature, they'll be banned. This is the best forum I've been on when it comes to moderation to allow for intelligent and useful discusisons - one of the reasons I keep coming back.
 
....so far this is one of the best Forums I've been on and I've actually learned a whole lot. Most of the people are really nice and knowledgable. I personally only contribute when it's worthwhile. If you don't have anything of value to say, it's better not to say anything and just observe.

~e
 
Originally posted by eclipse525
....so far this is one of the best Forums I've been on and I've actually learned a whole lot. Most of the people are really nice and knowledgable. I personally only contribute when it's worthwhile. If you don't have anything of value to say, it's better not to say anything and just observe.

~e
Click to expand...

Amen to that!

Oh wait, I guess that wasn't of much value to say, perhaps I shouldn't have posted it... ;) :cool:
 
Re: Re: iMac Graphics Card?

Originally posted by Sun Baked
Yes, it's easy...

Buy a new iMac.

That's been the easy upgrade path for these all-in-one machines since they came out.

If you want easier upgradeability in the future, Apple offers the PowerMacs.
Click to expand...

It was a valid question.

Don't flame people over that.

Yes apple offers the PowerMac... sure. How many people want a new iMac soo soon after they bought one?

Yeah okay.


Originally posted by ~Shard~
Amen to that!

Oh wait, I guess that wasn't of much value to say, perhaps I shouldn't have posted it... ;) :cool:
Click to expand...
*cough* Spam *cough*

:p


Yeah there is no way to upgrade it any further.

Very sorry, I would call apple and yell at them... like I have done...
 
Re: Re: Re: iMac Graphics Card?

Originally posted by MrMacman
It was a valid question.

Don't flame people over that.

Yes apple offers the PowerMac... sure. How many people want a new iMac soo soon after they bought one?

Yeah okay.
Click to expand...
And it was the direct answer.

That's the way it is, the only way to upgrade the video is buy a new machine (or a PowerMac).

Unless you know of another method...
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: iMac Graphics Card?

Originally posted by Sun Baked
And it was the direct answer.

That's the way it is, the only way to upgrade the video is buy a new machine (or a PowerMac).

Unless you know of another method...
Click to expand...


No.

I stated I didn't know of another method.

I feel like I'm the person being beaten up in your avatar BTW.
 
Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
a major flaw for a consumer machine, next time i would like to see a agp slot.
Click to expand...

I agree - consumer machine or not, and "all-in-one" machine or not, the video card is one of those components that is handy to upgrade, especially if you're playing games. I suppose if all you're doing is checking your e-mail, surfing the Net, using iLife, etc., it's not necessary, but it still would be nice.

I do completely understand though the nature of the iMac, the beauty of it being all self-contained and all-in-one, and I realize you may lose some of that if you start utilizing AGP slots, extra RAM slots, and other upgradeable items - just saying it would be nice. :)
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: iMac Graphics Card?

Originally posted by MrMacman
I feel like I'm the person being beaten up in your avatar BTW.
Click to expand...


the guy is beating up a fax machine. rent office space you'll love it.

I don't think apple should put in AGP slots that would make things more messy and people would demand mac versions of the latest and greatest which would happen ... also with all the cables inside of the machine its not like you could switch stuff out and plug in your stuff
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: iMac Graphics Card?

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
... I don't think apple should put in AGP slots that would make things more messy ... also with all the cables inside of the machine its not like you could switch stuff out and plug in your stuff
Click to expand...

That's because the cabinet's so darned small. The Cube's only a little bit bigger and it manages to have an AGP slot and three (3) RAM slots. Ah, but it's not an AIO; it came from the PowerMac people.
 
Would you say the PowerBooks are more upgradable than the iMacs?

Also, there's alot of mention that Desktops will be fazed out in the near future and be replaced by Laptops. If this is the case will upgradability become more of an issue at this point?


~e
 
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