[G4] Re: video/graphic upgrade

[Eric Wood]

Am 08.01.2009 um 10:44 schrieb Robert C. Buitron:

> Hi folks,
> There was a recent thread on upgrading the video/graphic cards on a  
> G4. I have a MDD, 800FW, 1.25 dual processor with the original  
> GeForce4 by NVidia in the AGP bus (slot 1) and the original 17"  
> Apple Studio Display. I use the machine heavily for photography and  
> some web creation.
>
> Why would I want to (or need to) upgrade the card to say the ATI  
> Radeon 9200? If I got a newer monitor, say the Dell 24" cinema,  
> would the upgrade help? Do I need an adaptor for the Apple Display  
> Connector to the DVI-I and is that available at OWC?
>
> When upgrading the video card, do I remove the original and place  
> the new card in the AGP slot, or do I keep the original and place  
> the new card in a PCI slot?
>
> Thanks for your incoming explanations and answers. I always follow  
> many of the subjects that are posted.
>
> Rob

Unless you're experiencing some poor graphics performance at present,  
you might as well not worry about a video card upgrade. If, however,  
you do want or need something better, then as the others say, you'll  
want a new AGP card to replace the current one. PCI cards will run  
very slowly by comparison, and you likely won't even find a better  
model than your current one available in PCI. I think the highest  
Radeon for PCI was the 7000, maybe a bit higher.

Your system is fast enough to warrant a video card upgrade to keep it  
modern, I'd say. I don't know how a Radeon 9200 compares to a Geforce  
4, though it's a decent model as I recall from the Mac Mini G4, which  
also used that chipset, and come to think of it, I think my iBook G4  
has that as well.

Eric W.