Sawtooth G4 and a better ADC video card..

[BittenApple]

I have a 450Mhz G4 Sawtooth PowerMac and I want to get a ADC compatible video card to run my ADC Apple monitor. However I have read that not all cards are compatible. Right now I have a DVI card that is running a very ugly 15 inch HP monitor. Id rather have the Apple CRT.

Can anyone direct me to cards that work?

Thanks

 

[Intell]

Sawtooth's cannot use ADC monitors without the ADC-DVI adapter. There are some VGA Apple CRTs that you can use such as the 17" or 21" Apple Studio CRT Display. They were the original shipping companion display for the Sawtooth model.

 

[bunnspecial]

I don't think that any Sawtooth G4 can support an ADC-equipped video card. If you want to use an ADC monitor, you will need the(expensive) "brick" that will allow you to connect such as a monitor to a normal DVI port.

All that said, I've been happy with a GEForce 4MX in both my DA and Quicksilver. The card I have has 64mb VRAM, has ADC and VGA out, and will support dual monitors. Buying a newer computer that can support this card would likely be less expensive that locating one of the ADC-to-DVI converter bricks.

 

[BittenApple]

Do Digital Audio support ADC?

 

[Intell]

Yes, Digital Audio PowerMacs support ADC displays.

 

[bunnspecial]

The "stock" ATI Rage 128 Pro that came in my DA had ADC out.

 

[BittenApple]

so does it rely on the Mac or on the video card to produce a ADC signal?

 

[Intell]

An ADC cable carries three things, DVI video, DC power, and USB 1.1. The video card generates and provides the DVI power. The logicboard provides the USB 1.1 and the power supply converts the AC mains to 28V DC. All of which is combined on the card at a physical level and put out the ADC port.

 

[bunnspecial]

so does it rely on the Mac or on the video card to produce a ADC signal?

In order for ADC to work, you need +28VDC somewhere, as that's where the power for the display comes from.

If you look at the pinouts for the various G4 PSUs, you will see that the +28V is not on the Sawtooth(and PCI graphics) boards. The +28V doesn't appear until the Gigabit Ethernet series.

Here's a chart here

http://www.smps.us/power-connectors.html

You need a video card with an ADC port, but you also need the requisite connections on the motherboard.

 

[MysticCow]

The first PowerMac to have an ADC option is the next model up (the Mystic model). Unfortunately, that isn't the Sawtooth.