What's the cheapest video card for a maybe-dead G5?

Question

What's the cheapest video card for a maybe-dead G5?

I was just given my first Macs in 11 years: a G4 and a G5, The G4 seems OK.

The G5 was tagged as "dead" and the hard drive, and video cards were cannibalized. However the guy who did this knows even less about Macs then me, and did not even try to fix it.

So, I am going to take a shot at it. I picked up an OEM SATA Hard Drive, but I need a video card.
I don't want to spend big money on a perhaps dead Mac, returns are a pain even without restocking fees.

Whats my best bet?

Thanks!

G4 G5, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Jan 17, 2010 3:10 PM

Reply

Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,375 points

Jan 17, 2010 5:24 PM in response to Charlweed Hymerfan

Hi there, it's not that simple, there are G5s that use 3 different KINDS of cards, AGP, PCI, PCIe, we need a number off the G5 to determine what it uses. 🙂

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Answer 2

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Jan 18, 2010 3:18 AM in response to Charlweed Hymerfan

Hi-

AGP G5, the cheapest is a Geforce FX 5200.
PCIe graphics G5, the cheapest is a Geforce 6600 LE.

Look on eBay, as that is where the deals are.
You can always resell the parts on eBay as well.

Unless you are flush with cash, avoid online "Mac specialty" suppliers.
They are great, and provide a valuable service, don't get me wrong, but graphics cards are bad enough on eBay.
Some of these third party shops are simply mad with the prices that they want for graphics cards....

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Answer 3

Jan 18, 2010 9:59 AM in response to BDAqua

Number? You mean model number?
Here's the info on the bottom of the case:

Power Mac G5
Model No.:A1047 EMC No.:1965C
100-120V~/200-240V~ 6.5A/3.5A
50-60Hz

And from inside the case:
2.0GHZ DP/512MB 400/160GB/SD/G5200/56K/PCI-X

Slot 1 looks like an AGP slot, but looks and be deceiving...

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

239,375 points

Jan 18, 2010 12:11 PM in response to Charlweed Hymerfan

Here's the info on the 2GHz PCI-X...

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermacg5/stats/powermac_g5_2.0dp.html

Here's the info on the 2GHz PCI-X2...

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermacg5/stats/powermac_g5_2.0_dp2.html

Both seem to use 8x AGP Pro cards...

Video cards used by G5s...

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/faq/powermac-g5-adc-ports-dvi- ports-resolutions-supported.html

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