I am considering upgrading the video card on my G4 Cube

Question

I am considering upgrading the video card on my G4 Cube

Hi All, I am considering upgrading the video card on my G4 Cube, have looked on the cube owner forum and they suggest ATI Radeon 7500.
Does anyone know if the item below will be suitable:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160521879373&ssPageName=STR K:MEWAX:IT#ht500wt907

Many thanks
Garry

15" Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz/4GB/10.6, Mac OS X (10.6.5), IPad 64GB Wifi Powermac G4 Cube 450Mhz/1.5GB/10.4.11

Posted on Jan 19, 2011 7:57 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 19, 2011 10:11 AM in response to Garry Westwell

Any graphics card for a Mac must have a Macintosh ROM. PC cards will not display a screen in a Mac. This card will not work unless you can Flash it to Macintosh firmware.

Large-sized graphics cards will not fit.

If you install an updated graphics card, it will generate more heat. This may require you to install the optional 90mm fan in the bottom of your cube (the mounting tangs are already in place).

Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder

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Answer 2

Jan 20, 2011 3:59 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi thanks for that, I found two video card below which says Mac suitable:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/APPLE-POWER-MAC-G4-nVidia-GeForce-2-MX-32MB-ADC-VGA-ADC-/2 20726565680?pt=UKComputing_Apple_Mac_Accessories&hash=item3364541b30#ht_792wt1141

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/APPLE-POWERMAC-G4-ATI-RADEON-PRO-9000-64MB-DISPLAY-CARD-/2 50750998326?pt=UKComputing_Apple_Mac_Accessories&hash=item3a61ec9736#ht_6781wt1141

Will any of these be suitable for the cube and will it require re-sizing or a fan?

Many thanks

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Answer 3

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Jan 20, 2011 5:43 AM in response to Garry Westwell

Hi-

Here is a mod to fit the Radeon 9000 Pro:
http://www.drbottkg.com/prod/Radeon9000Cube.html

Additional discussion:
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13683
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14179

About the Geforce (change faceplate only, but cooling is discussed):
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13407
http://www.macintouch.com/cube4.html

All Cube graphics:
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showforum=28

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Answer 4

Jan 20, 2011 10:23 AM in response to Garry Westwell

Hi, I've upgraded my cube's card to this

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Apple-Mac-ATI-Radeon-7000-64MB-AGP-Video-Card-G4-G5-/270 660929429?pt=PCCVideo_TVCards&hash=item3f04a60795

Works perfect for me, it may not be a 7500 but it does fit into the cube without having to move the VRM. I just used the original faceplate from the card that was inside before ( modifiying that a bit, but everything fits and works).

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Answer 5

Jan 20, 2011 10:39 AM in response to x_theforgottensoldier_x

Hey cool thanks for that, did you need a fan?

Do you think I can use the NVidia card that I mentioned from my previous thread and then use the original faceplate from the card that was inside like you did?

Are the video cards pretty easy to take out and switch 🙂

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Answer 6

Jan 20, 2011 10:58 AM in response to Garry Westwell

No, i didn't need a fan with this card, only running StarCraft did i need to use a fan ( that was mostly the CPU though, the heatsink placed on the card works fine)

And it should work, the nVidia card, I've taken my GeForce 2 MX from my Quicksilver before and put the faceplate on that and slapped it into the cube, powered on fine. (Back when i still had the 16 mb ATi card.)

And its pretty straight forward to replace the card. But here's a guide to walk you through it, just follow it in reverse when you're ready to put it back together.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-Apple-PowerMac-G4-Cube-Video-Card/ 3383/1

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Answer 7

Jan 20, 2011 11:50 AM in response to x_theforgottensoldier_x

Hey that's perfect and thanks for all your help.
Will buy the card now and have a bash fitting it over the weekend 🙂
Next adventure is upgrading the CPU!!!
Wish me luck.

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Answer 8

Jan 20, 2011 12:00 PM in response to Garry Westwell

Great to hear, and good luck with the CPU, thats the one thing I didn't try to upgrade >_< if you're looking for CPU upgrades try Other World Computing:

<a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://eshop.macsales.com/item/PowerLogix/PF47S1500CN/

Isn't exact the cheapest, but better then buying one for around the same price off ebay, that could possibly be dead and come from Hong Kong..

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