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PowerMac G4 800 graphics card upgrade

r6mile

r6mile

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 3, 2010
1,004
505
London, UK
Hello,

I've just purchased a PowerMac G4 800 (unsure if its SP or DP) from eBay for a grand £5.50, which I now plan to upgrade. Aside from a hard drive, which it's missing, I assume everything else is standard.

I'll of course purchase an ATA hard drive. The RAM is going to be maxed to 1.5GB. I may also upgrade the optical drive.

My question is regarding the graphics card (AGP). Firstly: is it even worth upgrading? This computer will of course not be used for gaming or any advanced graphics at this point, so is there any point in upgrading it for internet browsing and watching videos?

If so, how do I ensure that the graphics card is compatible? And also, which models would you say are appropriate (proportionate to the CPU speed, etc.)?

Thanks,
 
r6mile said:
Hello,

I've just purchased a PowerMac G4 800 (unsure if its SP or DP) from eBay for a grand £5.50, which I now plan to upgrade. Aside from a hard drive, which it's missing, I assume everything else is standard.

I'll of course purchase an ATA hard drive. The RAM is going to be maxed to 1.5GB. I may also upgrade the optical drive.

My question is regarding the graphics card (AGP). Firstly: is it even worth upgrading? This computer will of course not be used for gaming or any advanced graphics at this point, so is there any point in upgrading it for internet browsing and watching videos?

If so, how do I ensure that the graphics card is compatible? And also, which models would you say are appropriate (proportionate to the CPU speed, etc.)?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

You have a cube not a regular g4 tower, so theres really not much you can do with it other than dump tons of money for it, and it won't come out with that big of an outcome (aka not worth it) just get yourself a lower end intel machine from around 2006
 
^^^It's easy enough to differentiate Cube from another PM, so OP would rather say that he bought a Cube. Have you ever seen QS on your own eyes, BTW? ;) :p I don't think so...

OP, get cheap PC 9800 and flash it. Or XFX GF 6200 which is even better because it's fanless. Epecially if you don't game.
 
Last edited:
Indeed, it is a regular QS mac. I don't know what made you think it was a Cube...

I'm in luck! I just saw another faulty Powermac G4 on Ebay, currently going for £5.99 and within local collecting distance. Its only fault is described as being the power supply. Combining it with my other Powermac G4, I should be able to combine them and make some machine!

It is the Mirror Drive Door G4 1.25, i.e. the last Powermac G4 to be released. It is being sold with an 80GB hard drive, 512MB of DDR, and an nVidia graphics card - I am thinking this is probably the FX 5200.

Firstly - is it possible to install a QS power supply in an MDD? All info I've been able to find is about a MDD supply in a QS. I know the QS supply is larger, so I have my doubts it'd even fit in the case.

Assuming this is possible, what I'll then do is put the power supply from the 800 into the 1.25, upgrade the RAM to 2GB DDR, install an Airport card, and voila!

If this is not possible, I'll still buy the MDD 1.25, and nick the graphics, hard drive, and optical drive, and upgrade RAM and airport. Obviously though, I'd prefer to have the faster processor and the 2GB.
 
Lil Chillbil said:
He said its max ram is only 1.5 gigs, Balls in your court Niall...
Click to expand...

3 RAM slots, 512MB in each = 1.5GB

From EveryMac.com's Power Mac G4 Quicksilver page;

ScreenShot2013-04-13at160322_zps55651293.png


r6mile said:
Indeed, it is a regular QS mac. I don't know what made you think it was a Cube...
Click to expand...

And the OP confirms.

----------
666sheep said:
^^^It's easy enough to differentiate Cube from another PM
Click to expand...

...Well I can't tell which one's which from this picture :p

Compare1_zpsd31592dc.jpg
 
Ok so I think I'm getting hooked on this Powermac G4 business.

Aside from the QS 800 (with no HDD) that I've won, and the MDD 1.25 (with no PS) that I seek to buy, I've also eyed another working DA 733, and 2 other working QS (exact model unknown). All of these are within collecting distance, and currently going for £5-15. I should be able to fix them up, upgrade, and resell.

Oh dear...
 
ihuman:D said:
I know! The 450 AGP released in 1999 can support up to 2gb while some PMs released later can only support 1.5gb! Though I'm sure Rabidz can fix that for us...
Click to expand...

The reason is OS 9. It cannot use more than 1.5GB of ram. When the Sawtooth came out, 512MB sticks didn't exist. When Apple was designing the Cube and Gigabit Ethernet they used the following reasoning: Why waste space putting an extra ram slot on the board if the OS 9 (the primary OS at the time) can't use all of it?
 
Intell said:
The reason is OS 9. It cannot use more than 1.5GB of ram. When the Sawtooth came out, 512MB sticks didn't exist. When Apple was designing the Cube and Gigabit Ethernet they used the following reasoning: Why waste space putting an extra ram slot on the board if the OS 9 (the primary OS at the time) can't use all of it?
Click to expand...

OS 9 is usually at the back of my mind :eek: but the QS '02 still could only support 1.5gb of ram while the early AGP PMs could support 2gb and it took until the MDD to "restore" this.
 
Intell said:
When Apple was designing the Cube and Gigabit Ethernet they used the following reasoning: Why waste space putting an extra ram slot on the board if the OS 9 (the primary OS at the time) can't use all of it?
Click to expand...

I believe you meant Digital Audio :)
 
ihuman:D said:
I know, I was thinking that too, but if 256mb was still a good bit cheaper than the 512mb then wouldn't Apple have been better off leaving 4 slots in?
Click to expand...

The Cube probably has to do with the removal of the 4th ram slot as well. It and the Digital Audio use the same memory controller. If the Cube's board is too small for a fourth slot, then why would Apple make a different controller for the Digital Audio and Quicksilver's? They'd cut costs by reusing the Cube's memory controller and remove the 4th ram stick as an extra little savings.
 
Intell said:
The Cube probably has to do with the removal of the 4th ram slot as well. It and the Digital Audio use the same memory controller. If the Cube's board is too small for a fourth slot, then why would Apple make a different controller for the Digital Audio and Quicksilver's? They'd cut costs by reusing the Cube's memory controller and remove the 4th ram stick as an extra little savings.
Click to expand...

That could be it either...
I'm still fuming that they didn't leave the 4th slot alone.
 
r6mile said:
Hello,

I've just purchased a PowerMac G4 800 (unsure if its SP or DP) from eBay for a grand £5.50, which I now plan to upgrade. Aside from a hard drive, which it's missing, I assume everything else is standard.

I'll of course purchase an ATA hard drive. The RAM is going to be maxed to 1.5GB. I may also upgrade the optical drive.

My question is regarding the graphics card (AGP). Firstly: is it even worth upgrading? This computer will of course not be used for gaming or any advanced graphics at this point, so is there any point in upgrading it for internet browsing and watching videos?

If so, how do I ensure that the graphics card is compatible? And also, which models would you say are appropriate (proportionate to the CPU speed, etc.)?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Get a preflashed X850.

Or flash yourself:
Get a X850 (check ebay).
Get a X850 rom http://themacelite.wikidot.com/wikidownloads2 .
Flash http://themacelite.wikidot.com/ati-flash
Tape: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/pins-3-and-11
Install put the card in the AGP slot.
 
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