Upgrading G4 AGP Graphics Card - Resolution Issue

Hi All,

New to these forums and also relatively new to Mac's. I wonder if you're able to help me out here - I bought a G4 AGP mac the other day, have upgraded it to 1.5GB RAM, new hard drive (IDE), DVDRW drive and installed a USB 2 PCI card no problems - also upgraded to OS X 10.4.9 without issue.

I have also bought a Samsung 22" LCD display for use with it (widescreen). The display has both VGA and DVI inputs. The current card in this G4 mac is the original ATI Rage 128, w/ 16MB RAM and both DVI and VGA connections. This monitor requires 1680x1050 res to function correctly (it's native res) - this works fine on the VGA port no problems, but the DVI port seems limited to 1280x res, which unfortunately is too low for this monitor and it looks rubbish.

What I want to do is upgrade the AGP card in this system to something with more processing power and RAM. I also want to make use of the DVI connection to get a better image from the monitor. Problem is finding a compatible AGP card, designed for use with the Mac. Although there are some around, and horrendously expensive, they don't provide the resolution I need - which I find really odd. They just do 1600x1200 and go up to around 1720x, completely missing out 1680x1050. I don't understand it - I have two options here, either go with a nice new card but lose the resolution I have on an older card, or stay with my current card, that supports the res, but get annoyed by the poor performance!

If anyone can provide a solution to this, perhaps some links to other Mac AGP cards that I could purchase, that will support this res on the DVI connector and isn't specific to the G5 model that would be great!

Thanx, Richard

ATI Radeon Pro 9800 Mac Edition

Still at about $249 HERE. That's the same price I paid for mine 4 or 5 years ago....

Thank you for the reply - I have had a look at the card specifications and it is exactly the same as all the others I have come across - it doesn't support 1680x1050 resolution - in fact, the res of my PC monitors which are 1440x900 are not even listed either - is there any issue with Mac's running with widescreen monitors?

Not that I know of. What you probably need to understand is that you are simply dealing with an old Mac and the upgrade capabilities are somewhat limited in this area. Because of this, plunking down your money to make this work is really not worth it in the end. Other limitations on this machine are only going to make the problem more apparent in the future. You can buy a better card and have monitor work ok, or you can buy a newer Mac and move on. I would suggest the latter, but the amount of money you ware willing to spend will be the determining factor.

I have a windscreen on my Quad and am running 1400x1050 just fine.

I have both a Sawtooth G4 500 and Digital Audio 667 (upgraded to 1.8Ghz). The DA has the Baggss suggested Radeon 9800 Pro and works perfectly with my 22" Wide Screen Apple Cinema Display at 1600x1024. So does the Sawtooth with an ATI original Mac Radeon. Which OS is on that G4? Panther and Tiger both work fine here on any Flat Screen in the house at native resolution. My 20" Widescreen Viewsonic Display ditto on my Sawtooth G4 at 1400x900.

Baggss, very good card you recommended. Works great here on the DA.

I'm considering upgrading my graphics card to support leopard on a G4. Apple lists my power supply at 200 watts, some ATI cards (9600, 9800) are listed as 300 watts recommended; yet I see references to people successfully using these cards. http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354 lists the peak draw of 9800 pro at 47 watts. What consequences (if any) occur when running graphic cards on a system with less than recommended power?

Thanks for any help.

Hi, I have same issue I have purchased 20" Cinema Display, when i connect to MAC i view blank screen. I have tried with ADC to DVI connector but no result.

PowerMac G4(Gigabit Ethernet)
VGA: ATI RAGE 128 Pro - (AGP 2x)

If any one can provide me solution to choose VGA Card----!!!!

Thks