commodorejohn
Well-known member
Okay, so I have a nice little 533MHz Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) that I've just got up and running with OS9. It's working pretty nicely, except that thanks to the piddly little 16MB ATI Rage 128 it came with, graphics-intensive tasks are just not so great on it. I do have, as part of my stash of random PC components, a 256MB Radeon 9550 that's physically compatible (i.e. it has the same weird zigzag card-edge.)
Problem is, it's a PC card, not a Mac card. I'm certainly up for trying to flash it, as I have no other use for the thing, but I'm getting some mixed information on whether this particular card is compatible with the Mac or not. I've seen pages claiming that the Gigabit Ethernet model is compatible with the 9500, but I've also seen pages stating that the 9550 is actually a down-clocked 9600, which the Gigabit model is supposedly not compatible with.
And to further confuse the issue, I'm a little confused on whether this Mac is the Gigabit Ethernet model. It's in a Graphite case, but it's running at 533MHz, not 500, and it has four PCI slots, not three, which leads me to believe that it's actually a digital-audio Quicksilver model? I am confused :/
Can anybody enlighten me on whether this is going to work or not? I'd simply go ahead and try it, but I don't actually have a PC on hand with a compatible slot, so I'd have to track one down at the recycle center - and if it's pointless I'd rather not go to the trouble. Alternatively, if anybody wants this card as-is, I'd gladly trade it for a less puny card that will work in my G4.
Problem is, it's a PC card, not a Mac card. I'm certainly up for trying to flash it, as I have no other use for the thing, but I'm getting some mixed information on whether this particular card is compatible with the Mac or not. I've seen pages claiming that the Gigabit Ethernet model is compatible with the 9500, but I've also seen pages stating that the 9550 is actually a down-clocked 9600, which the Gigabit model is supposedly not compatible with.
And to further confuse the issue, I'm a little confused on whether this Mac is the Gigabit Ethernet model. It's in a Graphite case, but it's running at 533MHz, not 500, and it has four PCI slots, not three, which leads me to believe that it's actually a digital-audio Quicksilver model? I am confused :/
Can anybody enlighten me on whether this is going to work or not? I'd simply go ahead and try it, but I don't actually have a PC on hand with a compatible slot, so I'd have to track one down at the recycle center - and if it's pointless I'd rather not go to the trouble. Alternatively, if anybody wants this card as-is, I'd gladly trade it for a less puny card that will work in my G4.
