G5 graphics card upgrade

aliendoughnut · Feb 10, 2012

I have a g5 ppc with a GeForce 6600LE graphics card, can anyone advise an upgrade to this i have hexagon for 3d modelling but it keeps crashing, I am not looking to do any animation but i need to upgrade my graphics card, any advice would be appreciated

MacDude121 · Feb 10, 2012

Not sure of you have a newer or older G5, but have a look here: Power Mac G5 Video Cards : DV Warehouse, Your single source for your all digital video needs!

harryb2448 · Feb 10, 2012

G'day and welcome to the forums.

As you mention the 6600LE assume you have a Dual Core latte 2005 G5 PowerMac. If so have a read of this article from Apple detailing the four cards you can use. They are all pretty pricey consider the latest G5 is approaching the seven year itch as it were:-

Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) and Mac Pro: Graphics card compatibility between models

These are official Apple recognized cards. The X1900GT MacDude has made a link to will work but is is ultra expensive. If it is a late 2005, the AGP cards listed will not work.

http://www.welovemacs.com/100435854.html

A cheaper option may be a flashed PC card available through auction sites such as eBay.

MacDude121 · Feb 10, 2012

harryb2448 said:
G'day and welcome to the forums.

As you mention the 6600LE assume you have a Dual Core latte 2005 G5 PowerMac. If so have a read of this article from Apple detailing the four cards you can use. They are all pretty pricey consider the latest G5 is approaching the seven year itch as it were:-

Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) and Mac Pro: Graphics card compatibility between models

These are official Apple recognized cards. The X1900GT MacDude has made a link to will work but is is ultra expensive. If it is a late 2005, the AGP cards listed will not work.

100-435854 Power Mac G5 ATI Radeon X1900 GT (256MB) (DVI/DVI/S-Video) PCI Express RoHS Video Card (Green Friendly)

A cheaper option may be a flashed PC card available through auction sites such as eBay.

All very good points Harry. If he does have a late 2005 model, this would be the best card he could get IMO: Video Card NVidia Quadro FX 4500 512 MB PCI Express DVI/DVI for Power Mac G5 Late 2005 661-3732 - $349.00

That was what my G5 had, was an absolute beast, but at $350 it costs more than I paid for the actual computer.

harryb2448 · Feb 10, 2012

Which is why doughnut it is always helpful if you post the full machine details and OS.

aliendoughnut · Feb 11, 2012

Thanks for the advice!!
yes i have a late 2005 PowerPC G5 (1.1) 2 GHz and at those prices i will have to look at second hand cards

I only paid £50 for my machine

pigoo3 · Feb 11, 2012

aliendoughnut said:
Thanks for the advice!!
yes i have a late 2005 PowerPC G5 (1.1) 2 GHz and at those prices i will have to look at second hand cards I only paid £50 for my machine

I wouldn't recommend anything other than a used/2nd hand graphics card for a computer this old & current value. As almost always...e-Bay is your best resource.

- Nick

pigoo3 · Feb 11, 2012

aliendoughnut said:
I have a g5 ppc with a GeForce 6600LE graphics card, can anyone advise an upgrade to this i have hexagon for 3d modelling but it keeps crashing, I am not looking to do any animation but i need to upgrade my graphics card, any advice would be appreciated

BTW...the 6600LE was probably one of the best stock graphics cards that came with the Powermac G5 computers. It had 128meg of vram...there was a 6600 video card (non-LE)...that had 256meg of vram which might give you better performance.

BUT...if you can find a used one...I think that you will be VERY surprised at the cost!!! Probably more (maybe even may more) than the £50 you paid for the computer.

- Nick

aliendoughnut · Feb 11, 2012

Just found this
NVIDIA GeForce 6600:

Chipset Model: GeForce 6600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: SLOT-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0141
Revision ID: 0x00a4
ROM Revision: 2149

for £40
question is, will this help with my original problem with Hexagon 2.5?
do i look for something better?

pigoo3 · Feb 11, 2012

aliendoughnut said:
Just found this
NVIDIA GeForce 6600:

for £40

question is, will this help with my original problem with Hexagon 2.5?
do i look for something better?

WOW...that's a better price than I would have expected...good for you!

The 6600 does have 256meg of vram compared to 128meg in your current 6600LE...so it should help some. But the bigger question may be...are you asking or are you expecting...too much from an almost 7 year-old computer?

Another question would be...how much ram do you have? If this computer is "light" on ram (or you have too many simultaneous apps running)...you may not have enough ram. The sort of apps. you're running usually "like" a lot of ram.

- Nick

aliendoughnut · Feb 11, 2012

these are my specs

pigoo3 · Feb 11, 2012

aliendoughnut said:
these are my specs

1.5gig of ram....you REALLY NEED to increase that!!!

This computer has a max. ram capacity of 16gig. You need to at least increase that to 4gig with what you're doing (maybe even 8gig while you're at it).

Unfortunately ram for these things is not exactly cheap (US site & prices):

Power Mac G5 Memory

...but increasing the ram would be my first priority...and see how that helps. Then think about a better video card.

HTH,

- Nick

aliendoughnut · Feb 11, 2012

Yes thats what I was thinking

il increase the ram, I can get 4gig for about £40 see how that helps

pigoo3 · Feb 11, 2012

aliendoughnut said:
Yes thats what I was thinking il increase the ram, I can get 4gig for about £40 see how that helps

Sounds like a plan.

Once you do the upgrade...please post an update. I would love to hear how the ram upgrade effects things.

I'm not sure what sort of 4gig upgrade you were going to buy (4x1gig or 2x2gig)...but make sure you install the ram in "matched pairs". Also...this computer should have 8 ram slots...with 4 currently occupied. If you get the 2x2gig ram upgrade...that will bring your total ram to 5.5gig...leaving two ram slots open for future expansion.

Good luck,

- Nick

harryb2448 · Feb 11, 2012

Make sure you get Mac compatible memory for the G5. They are pretty fussy about that. Here is what you need. note the specs and shop around:-

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/4200DDR2M4GP/

The price listed US$69 is cheaper than £40. Find OWC much cheaper including air mail to Australia than buying locally.

Germany_chris · Feb 12, 2012

harryb2448 said:
Make sure you get Mac compatible memory for the G5. They are pretty fussy about that. Here is what you need. note the specs and shop around:-

OWC OWC4200DDR2M4GP 4GB Matched Pair (2GB modules x... in stock at OWC

The price listed US$69 is cheaper than £40. Find OWC much cheaper including air mail to Australia than buying locally.

Are they, just put in 8gb in my DP and it was whatever is cheapest ram and it seems to be working fine.

aliendoughnut · Apr 11, 2012

just an update I have increased my ram to 5.5 gig and found a better graphics card to a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 : :Cool:

G5 graphics card upgrade

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