I just recently purchased a G5 early 2005 model to use as a server. However the forums continue to tell me Apple supports very few graphics cards, and in order to have one that works, it must be "Mac Edition" something. Is this true or can i fit any AGP 8X card in it, including ones for PC? If it is true, why would Apple do that if any other PC part (like RAM, Optical Drives, Hard drives, etc) work in the old G4's i built? I've considered getting a Mac Pro but har the same issue presents itself there too. IMO this kind of thing would prevent some people from buying a MAc as a gaming machine or server or whatnot by banning them from using the card they want to. What can i do for the current computer I have video card-wise, is this a real issue or is it going to ever change? also on a side note do the G5's support ECC RAM modules or no? Any insight would be appreciated, thank you!
Mac graphics card support
- Thread starter Isayuh
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This is a firmware issue with the cards. As a general rule you cannot use PC cards in Macs without changing the firmware on the card. It is possible to "flash" some PC cards to work with Macs but that can brick the card if something goes wrong.
I am not sure how many, if any, "flashable" cards there are out there for the G5. The PC cards were not generally designed with the Power PC chip in mind. Since mine died I haven't kept up with it.
I am not sure how many, if any, "flashable" cards there are out there for the G5. The PC cards were not generally designed with the Power PC chip in mind. Since mine died I haven't kept up with it.
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There are some cards for the G5 with more than 64 GB of memory although some of them are more expensive than I would like. Here's one card that should work http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007DBC2K/?tag=macforums0e4-20
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Read this:
What graphics cards are provided for the Power Mac G5?
...pretty much a summary of all video cards for Powermac G5's. Keep in mind that the last three models in that list have a different logic board architecture for the video card (16 lane PCIe video slot vs. 8x AGP Pro slot for the other models).
You didn't say exactly what model Powermac G5 you have ("Early 2005" isn't enough info)...so hard to narrow the choices further.
HTH,
- Nick
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You're going to find this true (or close to true) when trying to upgrade or get an older Mac up and running. You can buy a complete dual-processor Powermac 2.0ghz for around $200 on e-Bay...but if you just needed a stock video card for a Powermac G5...it could cost you anywhere from $50 to $200+ (depending on the card).
- Nick
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