Radeon 9000

[chrisdunderdale]

Hello everyone,

I’m sure this is a simple one, but I wanted to be sure. I have a digital audio G4, and a ADC display. I want to retain os9 bootability - is the Radeon 9000 the most powerful card that I can use to do this? I also assume it is a native Mac card? No need to flash, etc? Is the easiest way to get hold of one from an old MDD? EBay prices for the individual cards are silly.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[Phipli]

I also assume it is a native Mac card?

Unless it is a PC one? There are usually Mac versions, and PC versions.

Cheapest way to get one is buy a dead MDD from eBay that you can see one in. Dead G4s are cheap, parts are expensive. The world makes no sense to me. Like you said.

Most powerful OS 9 card is the Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti 4600 though isn't it? Or am I muddled?

I want to retain os9 bootability

You can boot with some other cards, you just don’t get graphics acceleration. Forget the specifics.

No need to flash, etc?

Depends if it was sold as a PC or Mac Card.

 

[volvo242gt]

I used a 9700 and a 9800 in my previous G4 DA under both 9.2.2 and 10.4.11... Both worked well. The 9700 had to be reflashed from the PC ROM, and the 9800 was an ATI retail box version, so it had VGA and DVI ports, instead of the ADC port.

 

[Phipli]

I used a 9700 and a 9800 in my previous G4 DA under both 9.2.2 and 10.4.11... Both worked well. The 9700 had to be reflashed from the PC ROM, and the 9800 was an ATI retail box version, so it had VGA and DVI ports, instead of the ADC port.

Hum. As I understand it, the 9700 and 9800 don't provide 2D or 3D acceleration in Mac OS 9? They "work" but basically just as a fame buffer. A Rage 128 Pro would be faster.

 

[s_pupp]

Hum. As I understand it, the 9700 and 9800 don't provide 2D or 3D acceleration in Mac OS 9? They "work" but basically just as a fame buffer. A Rage 128 Pro would be faster.

That was my pretty much experience with the 9600 and a 9800 modified for use in a G4 MDD. There was no acceleration in OS9, and the original PCI Radeon Mac Edition was much faster.

 

[Unknown_K]

ATI 9000's are the way to go if you want accelerated OS 9.xx and mac editions will have that tab for ADC power so it's easy to tell them apart from PC models.

From what I remember the OEM 9000 cards were pretty cheap compared to the much rarer 3rd party Mac edition AGP cards.

Apple AGP Pro cards from G5's won't fit in a G4.

 

[treellama]

Technically a GeForce 4 is faster But good luck finding one.

 

[Unknown_K]

I have a few PCI Mac video cards, and loaded up on 9000 AGP cards but never snagged enough of the G5 era PCIE cards. 3rd party video cards for macs were always hard to find and time isn't making it any easier.

 

[chrisdunderdale]

Thanks for the replies, really useful - cheers lads