Will the ATI Radeon 700 AGP card run two Studio 21 Displays?

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Level 3

613 points

Will the ATI Radeon 700 AGP card run two Studio 21 Displays?

I just bought a G4 MDD 1.4 GHZ Mac that has what I assume was the stock video card, which appears to be for LCD displays, since the cables from my Apple 21" Studio displays (CRTs) don't match up to it (those are called VGA monitors, right?).

On my present Mac (G4 Quicksilver) I am running both of these 21" Studio Displays, one plugged into the stock AGP card and the other connected to a PCI video card. As I prepare to switch over to my "new" MDD Mac now, I need to figure out how best to run the two monitors with this G4. (I will leave the video cards in the old Quicksilver and give it to a relative who also wants to run two monitors with it).

I notice a new Radeon 7000 AGP card being offered on Ebay which has one VGA port, and they provide an adapter so that the second (DVI) port can also run a VGA monitor. If that card would run both my 21" Studio Displays independently as claimed, it would be the ideal solution, if the performance is adequate.

I do lots of Photoshop(CS2)adjustment of digital camera images and also make video movies with Final Cut Express, iDVD, etc., with both monitors set to 1152 X 870 at 75 Hertz. Would such a card as this one be up to the task with both monitors?

Every time I try to post the link to the Ebay auction for this card, everything in this text box disappears. So I'll just copy and paste the description of the card from the auction: "ATI Radeon 7000 64MB DDR Dual Monitor capable AGP Video Card with VGA, DVI-I, and S-Video Out and a DVI to VGA adapter. The video card has ATI's latest firmware (v226) with the latest ATI Displays support. It does not have any sleep issues. The card is capable of dual true independent/simultaneous monitor support with extended desktop. The adapter allows for dual VGA operation. This model has been tested in a G4 Tower, G4 Cube, and G5 with several versions of OS X including OS 10.4/Tiger. This card is guaranteed to work in any Macintosh G4 Tower, G4 Cube, or G5 Tower with OS 9.2.2 or later that has an available AGP slot."

Sounds good---maybe too good to be true. Any drawbacks to such a setup as this?

Any advice most appreciated.

Tom

G4 Quicksilver 1 GHz DP, Mac OS X (10.3.9), 1.5 GB of RAM

Posted on Jan 14, 2007 3:53 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 14, 2007 4:51 PM in response to Tom Baker1

Your G4 should have a ATI Radeon 9000 Pro or NVIDIA GeForce4 MX graphics card, with one ADC and one DVI port. The computer should have come with one DVI to VGA adapter for one of your displays. You can buy an ADC to VGA adapter for the other.
<http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=1299>
<http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=47 C76E4C&nplm=M8754G%2FA>

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Answer 2

Tom Baker1 Author

Level 3

613 points

Jan 14, 2007 5:29 PM in response to Malcolm Rayfield

Thanks for the info Malcolm. I checked out those links you provided, and it appears that buying two adapters for the presently-inistalled video card which would allow it to run two VGA monitors looks like a workable solution, all right. But it would be more expensive than just buying that Radeon AGP card to run both monitors, if the latter would work (that's what I'm still wondering).

Also, I notice that the DVI to VGA adapter sold by Apple has some poor reviews and seems to have glitches. It is reported by several people to be unreliable and seems to turn a lot of displays magenta, and in other cases requires a lot of wiggling or careful positioning to make it work right. Sounds like Apple needs to work on the design.

I appreciate the info, but I'm still favoring the Radeon 700 AGP card if someone can tell me it might work.

As to which card my Mac has in it right now, I can't tell just by looking at it (why don't they put an identifying sticker or something on the things?) and I can't connect any of my VGA displays to it yet to let the Mac report what it has in it, so it's still a mystery.

Thanks again,

Tom

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Answer 3

Jan 14, 2007 8:27 PM in response to Tom Baker1

There are other DVI to VGA adapters out there. My ATI board came with a one piece, very small adapter that has no wire to break. ATI doesn't seem to sell just the adapter, but you should be able to find them. Gefen also sells DVI to VGA adapters. There is no reason to buy a new board just to save one adapter.

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Answer 4

Douggo

Level 4

2,740 points

Jan 14, 2007 9:40 PM in response to Tom Baker1

I appreciate the info, but I'm still favoring the Radeon 700 AGP card if someone can tell me it might work.

My best guess is that the card is a flashed PC version rather than a native Mac version. As best as I can recall, the first numbered card that were Mac-specific were the 7200's, and they were PCI versions instead of AGP. Flashed PC cards show up on eBay regularly - some done by reputable flashers, some not. If I were to recommend getting the card - and I'm not - I'd query the seller if it was a true Mac-ROM card or if had been flashed.

I would recommend going the adapter route until you have more time to investigate your options for video cards. As far as the Apple DVI-to-VGA adapter goes, I've used several of them for many years and have had no issues at all. Plus there are other options for adapters, as has been pointed out, so you're not locked into the Apple unit.

-Douggo

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Answer 5

Tom Baker1 Author

Level 3

613 points

Jan 16, 2007 12:32 AM in response to Douggo

Thanks Douggo. I'll go price adapters then. But it seemed like buying two adapters for the card I have might cost the same or more than just getting another card that came with whatever was needed to run two Apple CRT 21"Studio Displays. Like maybe this Nvidia Geforce FX5200 card with 128 MB of video RAM on Ebay <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250073735746> (got any opinion on that one?)

I'll go shop around some more. Thanks for the information and recommendations.

Tom

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Answer 6

Tom Baker1 Author

Level 3

613 points

Jan 16, 2007 2:08 AM in response to Tom Baker1

Hey, here's an ADC to VGA connector that's half the price of the one you mentioned above. Does that mean half the quality and double the trouble, though? Do you know anything about this brand? <http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-ADC-VGA-ADAPTER-CABLE-MCA->

Thanks,

Tom

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Answer 7

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Jan 16, 2007 8:12 AM in response to Tom Baker1

Never heard of even flashed PC AGP Radeon 7000. 9100, yes or 9200. More trouble and issues if you use adapters on a PC card. I have used a number of VGA LCD and CRTs using Apple and DrBott adapters (ADC2VGA and DVI2VGA).

There is an issue with OEM 9000 and DVI2VGA LCDs sometimes which Apple notes in none of their tech notes even.

The Radeon 9600 OEM modded for MDD is a nice $70 card 64MB sold my OWC. Else the 9600 Mac/PC or the 9800. I think it is asking for image problems etc to go with flashed ebay cards. StrangeDogs is reliable source. Cost, quality and performance, or "on the cheap" and take your chances.

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Answer 8

Douggo

Level 4

2,740 points

Jan 16, 2007 11:54 PM in response to The hatter

Never heard of even flashed PC AGP Radeon 7000. 9100,
yes or 9200. More trouble and issues if you use
adapters on a PC card.

9700's and 9800's are easily flashed with full functionality. There are flashing ROM's for the 7000-series PCI and AGP cards out there, so it's not outside of possibility that the card in question was flashed. Some of the newer cards require that you use DVI-to-VGA adapters as the ports won't function otherwise..

The Radeon 9600 OEM modded for MDD is a nice $70 card
64MB sold my OWC.

Those have dried up at OWC, so the basement model is a 9600 for $219 (and they're back-ordered for at least a month).

-Douggo

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