Apple G4 ATi Rage 128 Video Card w/DVD Decoder 820-1012

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I made an offer on two of these cards, mostly just for running additional Displays on my G4/466DA and QS'02, but the DVD Decoder Cards are a mystery to me. The seller said the cards were compatible with the PMG3 and PMG4, but will they work in earlier PCI Macs as VidCards w/o being able to Decode DVDs or will they work with Decoding on G3 and G4 Crescendo'd 6360/6400/6500, X5XX & X6XX systems as well?

They arrived yesterday and I'm curious to see if anyone else has already run them through their paces? :?:

 

[coius]

Try it, but I have issues with my PM 6500 freezing up with it all loaded. Not sure if it's from the power requirement, but I think it gets too hot in the cramped area. Once I took out the Rage 128 Pro from my PM 6500 it worked normally. But if I put it in, I got about maybe 2 minutes out of it, then it froze up. The card works fine in my Beige G3

 

[MacJunky]

It is not the power draw.

coius, clean the dust out(make sure to get the PSU), attach a temperature probe to the CPU heatsink, ensure the heatsink is mounted well.

If that does not work.. *shrug* perhaps try disconnecting the Audio/Monitor Subconnection Assembly. The revised ones interfere with radeon 7000, perhaps certain versions of the rage 128 as well? A Rage 128 should work just fine without any issue at all though.

What is the ambient temp(in celsius) where your 6500 is coius?

 

[coius]

Well. One of the issues is not that it doesn't run. It won't run with the G3 Sonnet upgrade card in it. It seems to run fine, but it freezes and i think it's preventing air from getting to the G3 L2 upgrade card. Or the power draw of both the G3 and the ATI is an issue.

I have heard of other issues with G3 upgrade cards and ATI video cards in te 6xxx series. I think it's a firmware bug someone figured out with the power macs.

I see it on the 6400 Zone a lot. So I may be running into issues the same ones they describe

 

[MacJunky]

It seems to run fine, but it freezes and i think it's preventing air from getting to the G3 L2 upgrade card.

If I may post your pic:

download/file.php?id=284&mode=view

The 6500's fan draws air from the case into the PSU and then out of the case. The gfx card is not really blocking the airflow over the L2, the RAM is. You might consider additional fan to assist and that would not really be a terrible Idea anyway. Even slow and quiet would be ok.

Or the power draw of both the G3 and the ATI is an issue.

I am pretty sure that a Rage 128 is not putting much load on the system, though i suppose I could always be wrong. In this thread we discover the 6500 PSU's ratings:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=13075

I have used three HDDs internally and a Radeon 7000 but no G3 in mine. There is another guy around who uses a Radeon 9200, G3, DVD, and who knows what else in his OS 9 running 6500(I think it is called Excalibur) with no issues. I am betting he uses plenty more power than yours or mine.

As far as perhaps a firmware or hardware bug? Yea, I would probably side with that before power or heat.

Sorry for jacking your thread Trash. :I

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

NoPro, this is an interesting discussion. The G3-L2 Crescendos run cooler and draw less power than the 603e on the MoBo, from what I've heard. Those first and second gen. PPC CPUs weren't very efficient with power or at cooling, IIRC. This is certainly the case with Crescendo PB, as it gives longer battery life than the standard Apple ProcCards.

Since I'll most likely be using my Rage 128/DVD Cards in G4 Towers, it's not so important in terms the speed/power/cooling trade-offs.

However I WILL be testing one of these puppies in a 6360, 6400 or a 6500 based hack or machine, even if it's just for S&Gs. I'd MUUUCH prefer to have a Dual Head card on those RA Adapters, but the thought of video decoding on one of those boards is almost irresistible. [] ]'>

Is the DVD Video Out limited to the Card's VGA output or does it run through the system, piped into a "Blank Window" via AppleVideoPlayer like the TV/Tuner setup? :?:

Thanks for all the great info, Comrades! :approve:

 

[trag]

If you have a PCI slot available and are running OS 9.x, or earlier, remember the Wired4DVD card. Those work really really well.

 

[Bunsen]

Is the DVD Video Out limited to the Card's VGA output or does it run through the system, piped into a "Blank Window" via AppleVideoPlayer like the TV/Tuner setup? :?:

Pretty sure it goes straight to the output - but you could try re-routing it to the internal screen in hardware }

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I was researching some more PCI Cards currently listed on eBay and ran across an interesting tidbit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_Graphics_Processing_Units

Useless to me, I was looking for resolution and color depth capabilities, like which ones will do modern WideScreen LCD resolutions along with 1600 x 1200, all at 24bits & 60Hz

However, I did find a reference/possible solution to your problems, coius!

disabling the "ATI Extension"

Now that's info I NEEDED!!!!!!!

Has anyone run across a Resolution/Color Depth/Scan Rate Chart for Mac PCI Video Cards?

Mac Model & OS compatibility would be an added bonus for MultiScreen-a-holics. :approve: