Powermac G4 MDD Single Processor 1,25ghz

[Dimitris1980]

I have the following machine:

Power Mac G4 1.25GHz single
RAM: 1768MB
HDD: 60GB
CD-RW Asus CRW-5232A3
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 4mx 32MB AGP
Mac Os Tiger and Mac Os 9.2.2

I connected the powermac to my tv philips 22" that i have on my bedroom via a dvi to hdmi cable (i also have a sony eizo 17" monitor). I would like two things. One thing is to be able to watch movies (especially for my little daughter that loves Barbie movies), (not necessarily HD) and the other and most important is to be able to boot from Mac OS 9.2 for classic old games. What upgrades should i look for? I would like better graphics card, bigger/faster hard drive, dvd drive, cpu upgrade (generally i would like to give a nice boost on my powermac mdd). In another forum i have been suggested for the following:

1. sonnet encore mdx 1.8 ghz (difficult to find and also expensive)
2. Gforce4 Ti 4600 128mb ram or ATI Radeon 9000 256mb ram

I have nVidia GeForce 4mx 32MB, i used VLC 0.9.10 and 0.8.6 but most movies that i have in an external hard drive (usually avi and mkv files) don't run correctly (pauses of sound, pauses of picture, black picture etc.). In some movies i have also problem with the greek subtitles. I am thinking seriously for the above video cards. Should i also upgrade the cpu and should i install mac os leopard (i would also like to be able to surf the internet)? What about other upgrades (bigger and faster hard drive, dvd drive, airport card etc.). Please note that i want to keep Mac Os 9.2 (it was the reason i bought this mdd model).

Thank you,
Regard Dimitris

 

[ifrit05]

I would first go with a new GPU and then max out the memory.

You can easily throw a Radeon 9800 Pro in there for around $60 on amazon (best GPU for 4x AGP G4's). While it wont let you play HD, it would be a considerable upgrade over the GeForce.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000BJBCGG/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Radeon 8500 was the last Radeon card that supported 3D acceleration for MacOS 9 IIRC.

Leopard should run fine with maxed out memory (2GB PC-2700) and the 9800 on MDD's.

 

[abtekk]

I have the following machine:
1. sonnet encore mdx 1.8 ghz (difficult to find and also expensive)
2. Gforce4 Ti 4600 128mb ram or ATI Radeon 9000 256mb ram

My personal choice would be the Radeon 9000. The rest of your specs seem okay, I mean on my Powerbook G4 I can run movies okay on 64MB Vram, just don't expect HD movies.

 

[Dimitris1980]

Should this card (ATI RADEON 9800 PRO) work also for Mac OS 9.2.2?

 

[ifrit05]

Should this card (ATI RADEON 9800 PRO) work also for Mac OS 9.2.2?

It should but you wont get any 3D acceleration. If your not running games and what not it should be fine.

 

[abtekk]

Should this card (ATI RADEON 9800 PRO) work also for Mac OS 9.2.2?

No the Radeon 9800 is not compatible, the ATI Radeon 8500 was the last card to support OS9 3D acceleration.

 

[Dimitris1980]

The ATI Radeon 8500 exists only in 64mb?

 

[ifrit05]

The ATI Radeon 8500 exists only in 64mb?

At first yes. Later they shipped with 128MB. Not sure about the Mac Editions though.
The only reason you need more VRAM on GPU's is mostly for gaming proposes and Higher resolutions (although my PCI Radeon 7000 in my Sawtooth can output resolutions up to 1920x1080 no problem [SD movies only]).

You could try to buy both the 9800 and a cheap older PCI Mac GPU (like a 8500) and put both in the machine that way when you go to boot OS 9, just plug your monitor into the older Radeon to get 3D acceleration.

 

[Cox Orange]

Keep in mind the 8500 is a good card for HW acceleration under OS 9, but if it is a flasshed PC card it won't have that feature, you will have to resolder some resistors (see themacelite entry about flashing the ATI 9000).

TheMacElite lists some cards as incompatible, due to not being compatible with 2xAGP. The 9800 exists as a 4xAGP with two "cuts" in the golden Pins, this is compatible with the early G4s. Since you have a MDD you do not need to bother.

Futher interesting stuff about graphics cards: http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/8923D90A-7AD8-41F1-BD1A-FEA5E1780B95.html see page 2 for OS X.