Comments on: Graphics transplant for grey-haired Powermac?

Question: Graphics transplant for grey-haired Powermac?

killdevil — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:13:28 -0800

I need a cheap graphics card for my old Powermac G4 that will drive a high-res LCD.

What is the cheapest older AGP graphics card I can use that will pump out a DVI signal at 1920x1200 (widescreen), millions of colors? The circa-2000 ATI Rage Pro that's installed won't come close (it only supports up to 1280 pixels, which looks unbearably bad since it's not a native res on my new screen).

I'm looking for an older card I can pick up on eBay or similar.

One final note: I THINK my G4 has AGP graphics, but I'm aware that Apple swapped PCI for AGP at some point during the G4 tower production run. What identifying physical characteristic on the card or slot will allow me to be certain that mine is AGP?

By: kindall

kindall — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:41:13 -0800

I've got at least one AGP Mac Radeon (maybe an 8500, maybe a 9600, maybe one of each); I believe both of those cards will work at the required resolution. Drop me an e-mail to remind me (it's in the profile) and I'll dig through my drawer to see what's in there. I could be convinced to part with one cheaply, I'm pretty sure.

By: kindall

kindall — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:42:04 -0800

Oh, and to make sure it's AGP, launch Apple System Profiler and see what it says.

By: disillusioned

disillusioned — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:02:29 -0800

See here.
If you're using the Samsung 240T. You could be using Apple's Cinema Display, I suppose, but most of the advice seems to carry over.

By: musicinmybrain

musicinmybrain — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 19:51:55 -0800

Or, if you have the box open, a AGP slot looks like the one at the top in this picture. The others in the picture are PCI slots.

By: kindall

kindall — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:36:41 -0800

Looks like the one I have won't work, sadly. :(