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Mac video hardware?

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First post, by wildweasel

Posted on 2009-02-23, 01:23

wildweasel Offline

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Alright, so my Power Mac G3 Blue-and-White tower is a little old to be running Mac OS X. In a previous thread here, somebody recommended that I pick up a Sonnettech G4 upgrade card. I am currently considering that. But I'm positive that there's something else I can do here, especially in the realm of graphic acceleration.

My G3 currently houses an ATI Rage 128, I believe. I have no idea what interface the card is running, and I have no clue how to tell. I'd like to know, though, if it's possible to swap the ATI Rage for, say, a GeForce 2 that I have lying around - is there enough difference between PC and Mac video cards that the GeForce 2 (which is a PC video card) would not function? I kind of don't want to fry the card, or the Mac...

Also, I can't really install any OS newer than 10.3.9 on account of the system only coming equipped with a CD-ROM drive - can that be easily switched out for a DVD-ROM or DVD-R, or would I have to look for a Mac-specific DVD drive?

Reply 1 of 6, by rumbadumba

Posted on 2009-02-23, 19:25

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http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerma … _g3_450_bl.html

is one place to start, also apple used to have a range of forums you could ask on.

As I understand it:

- Your Mac will have a PCI graphics card
- but Mac versions have a Mac-specific bios, which you would need to flash onto any other video card you wanted to use. There may be utilities for this.
- You optical drive uses an ATA-3 bus a/c to everymac.

The worst item I found in upgrading macs is the hard drive - my 5500 will only accept a hd that Apple can upgrade the firmware on [or something like that]. If it evers goes pop... no more Mac for me I suspect.

Reply 2 of 6, by wildweasel

Posted on 2009-02-23, 20:16

wildweasel Offline

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rumbadumba wrote:
The worst item I found in upgrading macs is the hard drive - my 5500 will only accept a hd that Apple can upgrade the firmware on [or something like that]. If it evers goes pop... no more Mac for me I suspect.

Interestingly I had no problems putting a second hard drive in here, even in spite of the fact that it was formerly FAT32. Think it was an old Western Digital, 13 GB...about the only caveat is that OS X can't report its remaining space for some reason.

Reply 3 of 6, by doomer

Posted on 2009-02-24, 06:57

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Hello, I am a PC.

In other words, Apple sucks 😉

Reply 4 of 6, by rumbadumba

Posted on 2009-02-24, 22:52

rumbadumba Offline

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Never hurts to broaden your horizons.

Reply 5 of 6, by Moogle!

Posted on 2009-02-25, 03:52

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I'm likely the person that suggested the Sonnet thing.

Reply 6 of 6, by wildweasel

Posted on 2009-02-25, 08:06

wildweasel Offline

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I am not interested in "PC's are better" talk. I am running a perfectly good PC already. I just want to improve this older Mac, as there are some apps and games for Mac that I cannot get for PC, notably iMovie.

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