[manimac]

Hi all! Im using an old dual 1.8 G5 with a Nvidia Gforce FX 5200. Is it possible to upgrade this? I have been looking online at other cards and they say they support windows ect but no mention of macs... Whats the best card to upgrade to?
Thanks. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[MacCheetah3]

Hi
Other World Computing - Video Upgrades for Your Apple PowerMac G5 2x1.8GHz

Otherwise, the nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra is available at the Apple Store (Online)

[Peter Cohen]

You sure can. Unless you have a compelling need to drive two 30-inch displays, I'd recommend looking at ATI's X800 XT Mac Edition card. I picked one up shortly after they came out and have been really happy with its performance, especially for 3D intensive games. You can order one straight from ATI or from a variety of ATI resellers.
You'll find that most retailers only sell PC-specific versions of video cards, because the Mac card market is, frankly, infinitesimal. The difference is usually some Mac-specific code that's on the cards. You can sometimes "flash" PC cards to work on a Mac, if you have a PC to do it with, but it's a proposition that potentially voids your warranty and can create unpredictable situations that you're unlike to get support for, either from the card maker or from the game makers.
So your best bet is to go with a Mac-specific graphics card. MacCheetah offers you a good suggestion for where to go to look for them.

[manimac]

Thanks guys, im in Australia and work for an Apple reseller so I can get pretty much wholesale /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[happymac]

will that card (the Ati) fit into, and improve the performance of, an 867 Quicksilver?

[surfbits]

Peter,
I am ordering a 2.3 PowerMac next week and when I order it I have the option of choosing the ATI 9600/128mb, or upgrade to the ATI 9650/256mb for $50 or the Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra with 256mb for $550 upgrade.
I really cannot see spending $500 on the Nvidia, but is the $50 worth the upgrade in ATi cards or should I get the standard ATI and upgrade via 3rd party? (A little 3D shooters, and some RPG, not a lot of gaming though, mostly graphic design)
Thanks Peter and thanks for doing the YML segments.

[Peter Cohen]

Tim:
Our own tests of Apple's newest Power Mac G5 revisions showed that the 9650 actually yielded lower frame rates than the 9600 did. Its big advantage is the 256MB of video RAM, which allows you to drive a 30-inch Cinema Display.

So unless you have plans to spend a lot of money on your monitor, I think you're probably safe with the 9600 -- though you plan some serious gaming on that rig, I'd consider budgeting a Radeon X800 or Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra upgrade somewhere down the road.

For what it's worth, my 2.5GHz dual-proc G5 came with the 9600. While I found it adequate for most games, I did notice a huge improvement even going to ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition card. The X800, however, blew the doors off everything.

If you're curious, I'd also encourage you to check out my Mac Doom 3 Benchmarks Revisited piece, which I posted back in March. This doesn't tell the whole story, because Doom 3 is a very, very demanding game. But it will give you some insight about how the Power Mac G5 works when pushed to the limit with a few different video cards.

[surfbits]

Thanks Peter!
For $250 for the 9800, that sounds like a good alternative.
For $500 for X800, that's a little too much for gaming.
None of the Nvidia cards are worth a look?
I think that I'd be better off getting the standard 9600 and just upgrading it as I needed it.

[Peter Cohen]

Well, the big advantage of the 6800 is that it can drive two 30-inch displays. For gaming performance, though, I don't think it's worth it.