PowerMac G5 and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

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PowerMac G5 and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

I have a *PowerMac G5 Early 2005* with an ATI X800 XT, my card was working fine until I switch to *Leopard OS X 10.5*, as you all know the issue with this card has not been solve by ATI/AMD, what make me look for another alternative. I want to try an nvidia card since I'm not happy with ATI support or solving issues with their products. I'm interested on the new *NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT* but I don't know if this card will work with my Mac.

Thanks in Advance!

Dual 2.5GHz (PowerPC G5), Mac OS X (10.5.2), 6.5 GB DDR SDRAM

Posted on Mar 22, 2008 6:19 PM

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Answer 1

japamac

Level 7

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Mar 22, 2008 8:12 PM in response to WillyO

Hi-

Welcome to Discussions!

The Geforce 8800 GT is a PCIe graphics model, and you need AGP graphics. No, it won't work.
For 8x AGP graphics, the Geforce 6800 GT or Ultra, or a flashed PC version 7800 GS are your performance Geforce options.

BTW, the drivers are controlled by Apple. As it is a widely reported complaint, and one attempt was made in a recent update to correct this problem, we can assume that Apple is addressing the issue, and future updates are inevitable.

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Answer 2

WillyO Author

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Mar 23, 2008 6:54 AM in response to japamac

Thanks Japamac for the info.

But according to my G5 Specification I also have (Three open full-length PCI-X slots as well, so that means that I have 1(AGP) and 3(PCI_X) slot. That means that I can also run a PCIe video card on my mac? Of course I don't know which one will perform faster on my mac, AGP or PCIe video card?

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

WillyO Author

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Mar 23, 2008 7:03 AM in response to WillyO

And by the way my *G5 is a late 2004* not early 2005.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Mar 23, 2008 7:43 AM in response to WillyO

Hi-

PCIe is PCI express, not to be confused with PCI-X, which is, basically, fast PCI.
PCIe can only be used in PCIe capable machines. In the G5 series, that is only the dual core, late 2005 models. Just to be clear, your G5 has AGP graphics, which only accepts 8x AGP Mac compatible graphics cards, and three PCI-X expansion slots which can use PCI-X or PCI expansion cards.

BTW, you're welcome, and thanks! 🙂

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Answer 5

BillHsu

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Apr 16, 2008 5:12 PM in response to japamac

I have what looks like a late 2005 Dual G5 tower (1 MB L2 cache per processor), comes with an Nvidia GeForce 6600 LE card. I'd like to upgrade to an 8800 GT; is this combination supported? It's kind of hard to tell from the NVIDIA and Apple support websites. Thanks!

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Answer 6

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Apr 16, 2008 5:29 PM in response to BillHsu

Hi BillHsu-

Welcome to Discussions!

The 8800GT is for MacPro, not the dual core G5.
7800GT or X1900 are your PCIe G5 main choices.

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