What is this Mac card?

[reyne]

Hi there,

I've pulled this out of a PowerMac G4 Mirrored Door (Long dead) however I am unsure of what the exact model of card it is.

I am fairly certain that it's a 9700 pro, however none of the sticker identifiers (SKU) match to what is on the following links:

Graphic Card ATI Radeon 9700 Pro for Power Mac G4 Early 2003 M8570 DIY Parts replacement Video Cards

Video Cards Parts * EEE CODE :, , NYX, NYZ, * Model Compatible Number :, , M8570, * Apple Compatible Order Number :, , M8839LL/A, M8840LL/A, M8841LL/A, * Apple Computer Family :, , Power Mac G4 (Early 2003), * EMC Number :, , EMC-1914, * Part Number

www.macpartsdepot.com

661-2798 Apple Graphic Card ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Power Mac G4

This Part is a Replacement Video Card for Power Mac G4 Early 2003 Model: M8570 / Order Number: M8839LL/A, M8840LL/A, M8841LL/A.FREE SHIPPING & 60-DAY WARRANTY Are Included With Every Purchase

applepartsellers.com

It has two SKU stickers on it, perhaps done in error?

Interestingly, it does not work in a Quicksilver, so perhaps the AGP Slot ran at a different voltage in Mirrored Door models?

Appreciate any comment on this.

Cheers, Bill.

 

[chriscarruthers]

Sure does look like a BTO 9700 and nothing else I know of. If you can find a working MDD then the ATI Displays Control Panel should help.

The only other Apple-shipped cards with both ADC and DVI like this are the GeForce4 Ti (longer card, definitely not this), Radeon 9000 Pro (fanless, definitely not this), and some GeForce4 MXs (also fanless, definitely not this). Maybe there was an 8500 too but they look different AFAIK.

Very rare anyway!

 

[Unknown_K]

Weird card. It is defiantly Mac having ADC connection and the older Power connector on the bottom (the G5 models have that connector closer to the front). Its newer than the Radeon 9000 because of the square RAM chips so 9600/9700. The 9800 Mac edition was pretty much for the 8x AGP Pro G5 models, and a hacked PC version would not have ADC.

 

[Byrd]

Nice card, didn't know they were on MDDs, but some searching suggests it was only in built-to-order units for an extra $300, over the stock Radeon 9000.

ATi Radeon 9700 - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Radeon 9700/9800 are notoriously unreliable cards, usually from inadequate cooling on the core or faulty BGA RAM. Assuming yours works give it a good test in when a Mac, check over the fan/heatsink and maybe point a larger slow running fan at it inside the case.

 

[obsolete]

Ooh, yeah, cool card. I wonder why these don't work in pre-MDD G4s. I know Apple did some screwy stuff with the AGP slot to cram the ADC features in there, but I thought that was common across all post-Sawtooth G4s.

Radeon 9700/9800 are notoriously unreliable cards, usually from inadequate cooling on the core or faulty BGA RAM. Assuming yours works give it a good test in when a Mac, check over the fan/heatsink and maybe point a larger slow running fan at it inside the case.

Yeah, I've heard the stock heatsink/fan on the 9800 described as more decorative than functional. I think the 9700 is actually better, but only slightly. The GPUs run hot, and if the fan fails, the card is toast pretty quickly. Both models benefit from upgrading to a larger heatsink/fan and adding heatsinks to the RAM, too.

The Radeon 9700/9800 are actually my favorite cards from this era. They're great when they work! I have a lot of experience repairing and flashing PC cards to Mac. That's actually most of what I've been working on lately; I've brought several dead/artifacting cards back to life. If anyone has a Radeon 9700/9800 with problems, feel free to send me a message.

 

[chelseayr]

@obsolete I could be wrong but as far as I recall the 'screwy stuff' was with regarding to using some pins that may had at the time seem to not be in use .. but were in fact actually utilized in other/later agp slots .. which explains why you might at rare times hear of the "tape over certain pin on the card to be able to use it in a different agp board" hackish-sort-of-trick trick

 

[obsolete]

@obsolete I could be wrong but as far as I recall the 'screwy stuff' was with regarding to using some pins that may had at the time seem to not be in use .. but were in fact actually utilized in other/later agp slots .. which explains why you might at rare times hear of the "tape over certain pin on the card to be able to use it in a different agp board" hackish-sort-of-trick trick

Yep, that's my understanding also. I'm not aware of a difference in Apple's implementation between Quicksilver and MDD G4s, though, but perhaps there is one that explains why this card is not backwards compatible.

 

[zefrenchtoon]

Maybe you will find some infos here:

Pins 3 And 11 - The Mac Elite

themacelite.wikidot.com

 

[obsolete]

Maybe you will find some infos here:

Pins 3 And 11 - The Mac Elite

themacelite.wikidot.com

Haha, I wrote that page a long time ago The information there is correct, but not comprehensive.

There's a Digital Audio schematic on MacDat, but I have never seen a MDD schematic, so I do not know if there is a difference.

 

[volvo242gt]

I had both a 9700 and a 9800, back when I had my second G4 DA (the one that got the OWC 1.2GHz upgrade). Both worked fine. The 9700 was a flashed card. The 9800, I think, was one from a G5...

 

[zefrenchtoon]

Haha, I wrote that page a long time ago The information there is correct, but not comprehensive.

There's a Digital Audio schematic on MacDat, but I have never seen a MDD schematic, so I do not know if there is a difference.