Radeon 9000 Pro AGP - will it work in PM G5?

Thanks. But I've double checked everything and it seems that chipset (rv250) used in 9000 Pro supports AGP 1x-8x. That would mean that if this card fit physically it should work. In G5 dev note we can read about AGP:
"The accelerated graphics port (AGP 8x Pro) bus is a 266/533 MHz" and
"The AGP bus is 1.5 V only"
This means it is 4x and 8x comaptible - here are AGP specs from wikipedia:
*AGP 4x*
A 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz quad pumped to an effective 266 MHz resulting in a maximum data rate of 1066 MB/s (1 GB/s); 1.5 V signaling;
*AGP 8x*
A 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz, strobing eight times per clock, delivering an effective 533 MHz resulting in a maximum data rate of 2133 MB/s (2 GB/s); 0.8 V signaling.
All in all, according to all these informations Radeon 9000 Pro should work without problems in G5... We'll see soon, when I get G5 😉

japamac wrote:
Hi-

I am aware of the AGP specs.
There is one other factor, that you have failed to consider.
Apples use of the ADC port also included use of pins in the connector that later became needed for the 8x AGP standard.

*ADC port is not a part of AGP 8x standard.* G5 uses AGP Pro port, which has somewhat longer slot, but additional pins are at the back of the card rather than front like ADC connector.

In the 4x AGP cards, the ADC port uses pins that are designated for other use in 8x.
Apple had to change the ADC port pin configuration for the G5. G4 ADC cards are not wired correctly.

I'm pretty sure, the machine will just not boot, like a 4x machine with an 8x card.

If it works, please let us know. It will be the first.
If you short out your AGP slot, you were warned.

Here you're right - ADC connector on G5-aware cards is slightly different. But keep in mind, that it is still used for ADC voltage supply, so in theory it should be enough to tape out ADC connector on 9000 Pro to not harm either mainboard or graphics card. After all, flashed Radeon 9800 boards do not have ADC connector at all 🙂

The AGP bus is 1.5 V only and is not backward compatible. Older AGP cards will not work in the Power Mac G5 computer.

This is quoted from the Apple Developer Notes for the G5.

Of course, but rv250 GPU used in 9000 pro card is 1,5 V compatible, so basically it should work...
Tough decisions. On the one side - I could wait for proper G5-aware card and install through this time system and applications using my old PCI Matrox card. On the other - seller claims that only Nvidia 6800 got faulty in this G5 when its fan stopped working. But if this is AGP port that is fired and I can't check it right away, when I get the computer... What would you do in my place? 😉

Thanks. You're right, too much risk is here. G5 DP are still not that cheap 😉 I'll try to acquire PC version of ATI Radeon 9800 Pro with standard, red board, and try to flash it. Are many restrictions of using reduced ROM (64 kB) for Radeon 9800? Would Core Image, Quartz Extreme and popular resolutions like 1280x1024 be supported?
Or I will wait for an opportunity to buy native G5 card...
Do you think that old, PCI based Matrox Millenium card should work in the meantime? Of course I don't expect any acceleration, I just would use it to install and configure Leopard...

japamac wrote:
Glad to hear! 🙂
I have a couple 9800 Pro cards with the Rev 130 ROM. There are absolutely no restrictions on the cards, and support for up to 1920 x 1200 is no problem.

Even with reduced ROM files that fits in regular 64 kB flash of PC cards?

Get a ROM Here.
User this Buying Guide to confirm your card.

If you're flashing on a PC, use This guide.
You can flash on a Mac, using VNC, use This guide.

If you need to modify chips, check This.

Remember to test the card on a PC. Any artifacting, or other problems, will remain after flash.
No need to go to the trouble for a bad card.

Thanks for all links. They will be very helpful, as I have already acquired 9800 Pro (standard ATI red board) and G5 should arrive tomorrow via UPS 🙂 I'll soon try it! 🙂 Thanks again!

I have finally G5 and flashed 9800 Pro (it was working in G4 without problems). Unfortunately things are not that bright. OSX 10.5.4 installed without any problems. After G5 restart all seemed fined except for trying to open system preferences. The screen just freezed except for mouse pointer and I couldn't do anything. What's more interesting, I ran VNC on this G5, and even when the screen freezed, I could still connect. When restarted in safe mode or without R9800 (connected via VNC) - everything worked just fine. Apparently either somehow 9800 card is faulty or what's worse - AGP slot in G5. I don't have any other card to test it, and it is unlikely to find it in Poland quick, so I'll have probably to return G5 as faulty :-/