Video Card assistance

[yonsie]

I thought my monitor was dead the other day, so I bought a new one for my desktop mac (PowerMac G4 Quicksilver 867). It too didn't work. When I hooked each up to my laptop, they both worked fine. So now I'm thinking video card?

The original card for this machine was a GeForce2MX. I want to replace the card with anything that is comparable (or better), but have been on a wild goose chase with different computer sellers/repair places (both Mac and PC places) in the Twin Cities area. None were able to help.

I've heard that it has to be a "Mac specific card." If this is true, is this going to be more difficult to find, or more expensive for that matter?

This machine is 7 years old, so really, I'm just trying to limp it along until I can afford a new Mac to replace this hard working soldier. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[madog]

More expensive and harder to find. Sometimes a PC card can be "flashed" to work with the Mac, but for the most part it is specific to the Mac by way of the firmware/bios that is on it.

Check out a place like http://www.welovemacs.com or other sites to find it. There might be one brick and mortar store in the world that would have that particular card (or any card that would work on that Mac), so stick online.

 

[CubeHacker]

Ebay is probably your best bet for finding a used card. You can either go for original Apple cards (expensive), or flashed PC cards which are typically newer tech and cheaper. If you can find a Geforce 6200 or Radeon 9600/9700/9800 line I would get one of those. Just make sure to contact the seller to make sure it will work in your Powermac model. Dont pay more than $50-60 for a card, its not worth spending more on an old machine.