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You are not logged in. [Log In] AppleCentral » Forums » Mods and Hacks » Desktop Mods » Video card reccomendation
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#472289 - 06/05/07 08:17 PM Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
macDeviant Offline


Registered: 02/14/05
Posts: 491
I recently got a 350mhz Sawtooth and i've decided to make it my HTMac. i have a mac mini, which is small clean and neat, but not very expandable in the ways i want. i would like to be able to use the sawtooth for high def video when the time comes. I'm just not sure which card to get. i would like to use agp if i can since the sawtooth has only three pci slots.

ati has three cards:

9800 AGP 2x-4x
9600 AGP 4x-8x
9200 PCI
as far as i know the 9600 can't work because the sawtooth only has 2x agp.

there are four cards i want to use in the pci slots but can only use three. USB2 + FW, Sata storage, gigabit ethernet, and m-audio sound card (not sure if compatible or not). one more pci slot would have been SO nice.

help please thank you very much  smile
_________________________
2.4gHz 15" MacBook Pro, 1.66gHz Core Duo Mac Mini, 2.5gHz G5 QUAD, 733mHz Quicksilver, 450mHz G4 Cube, 700mHz G3 iBook, 350mHz Sawtooth G4, 350mHz Revs. A and B B&W G3, 16mHz Powerbook 100, 8mHz Macitosh Classic.

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#472290 - 06/05/07 08:38 PM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
zenstate Offline


Registered: 10/16/04
Posts: 586
Loc: Vancouver, BC Canada
First off..  no matter what vid card you have a G4 350 is never going to be able to play HD video.  You would need to upgrade it to a dual G4 1GHz+ to be able to do that.

About the card..  a 9800 is too much power and money for video plus it will only be feeding through a 2x AGP slot.  I have seen a few 64mb radeon 7000 agp flashed for mac on ebay.  that would be all the video power you need and they are only about 45-50 bucks.
_________________________
Mac mini C2D 1.83GHz - 2GB RAM - 200GB 7200rpm HD
Sawtooth w/G4 1GHz - 1GB RAM - SIIG SATA w/2x1TB HD
B&W w/G4 600MHz - 1GB RAM - 2x80GB HD
Sawtooth G4 400MHz - 512MB RAM - 40GB HD
Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP 20" Widescreen LCD
2.94TB Total Storage

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#472291 - 06/05/07 09:14 PM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
macDeviant Offline


Registered: 02/14/05
Posts: 491
i already have one of the mentioned 64MB 7000 cards, but will that be enough to push a high def resolution of 1080p/i? (1920x1200 dpi)


I realized the 350mhz  isn't enough so here is my plan for the HT mac. i'll be doing these upgrades:

max out the ram (2 gigs)
up grade CPU to ATLEAST 1GHz
Add 4 port SATA card for uber internal storage of uncompressed music and movies
Add USB 2 + FW card
Either an surround sound card (if it's compatible) or gigabit ether net card
ATX case and power supply
Slot load DVD/CD burner, and maybe upgrade to blueray down the line
wifi and bluetooth


so there is the run down
_________________________
2.4gHz 15" MacBook Pro, 1.66gHz Core Duo Mac Mini, 2.5gHz G5 QUAD, 733mHz Quicksilver, 450mHz G4 Cube, 700mHz G3 iBook, 350mHz Sawtooth G4, 350mHz Revs. A and B B&W G3, 16mHz Powerbook 100, 8mHz Macitosh Classic.

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#472292 - 06/05/07 10:29 PM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
zenstate Offline


Registered: 10/16/04
Posts: 586
Loc: Vancouver, BC Canada
Originally Posted By: "macDeviant "

i already have one of the mentioned 64MB 7000 cards, but will that be enough to push a high def resolution of 1080p/i? (1920x1200 dpi)


resolution relies very little on the gpu.  its all about how much vram you have.  64MB is plenty for 1920x1200.  a radeon 7000 would perform just as well as a 9800 when it comes to high res video.  64mb radeon 700 is all you need.  trust me..
_________________________
Mac mini C2D 1.83GHz - 2GB RAM - 200GB 7200rpm HD
Sawtooth w/G4 1GHz - 1GB RAM - SIIG SATA w/2x1TB HD
B&W w/G4 600MHz - 1GB RAM - 2x80GB HD
Sawtooth G4 400MHz - 512MB RAM - 40GB HD
Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP 20" Widescreen LCD
2.94TB Total Storage

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#472293 - 06/06/07 01:15 AM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
maestro Offline


Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1656
Newer cards have better video processing.  Its not all about game speed.  Video looks better.  I would use a 9800 pro which are pretty cheap these days.

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#472294 - 06/06/07 01:59 AM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
zenstate Offline


Registered: 10/16/04
Posts: 586
Loc: Vancouver, BC Canada
I imagine the gpu might help HD quality stuff a bit but it wouldn't be that dramatic a difference.  With standard definition it would make no difference at all.

I am a complete quality whore when it comes to video and I wouldn't spend more than 50 or so on a media center vid card.  Thats just me though..
_________________________
Mac mini C2D 1.83GHz - 2GB RAM - 200GB 7200rpm HD
Sawtooth w/G4 1GHz - 1GB RAM - SIIG SATA w/2x1TB HD
B&W w/G4 600MHz - 1GB RAM - 2x80GB HD
Sawtooth G4 400MHz - 512MB RAM - 40GB HD
Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP 20" Widescreen LCD
2.94TB Total Storage

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#472295 - 06/06/07 02:10 AM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
zenstate Offline


Registered: 10/16/04
Posts: 586
Loc: Vancouver, BC Canada
I should clarify that I don't think a 9800 is a bad idea but he already has a 64mb 7000.

as a reference..  1680 x 1050 will never use more than 28-30MB so 1920x1200 will be around 35-40 max.  64 is plenty.


Edited by (06/06/07 02:12 AM)
_________________________
Mac mini C2D 1.83GHz - 2GB RAM - 200GB 7200rpm HD
Sawtooth w/G4 1GHz - 1GB RAM - SIIG SATA w/2x1TB HD
B&W w/G4 600MHz - 1GB RAM - 2x80GB HD
Sawtooth G4 400MHz - 512MB RAM - 40GB HD
Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP 20" Widescreen LCD
2.94TB Total Storage

Top
#472296 - 06/06/07 04:11 AM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
macDeviant Offline


Registered: 02/14/05
Posts: 491
well i guess i'll just leave the vid card on the back burner, and focus more on the other things
_________________________
2.4gHz 15" MacBook Pro, 1.66gHz Core Duo Mac Mini, 2.5gHz G5 QUAD, 733mHz Quicksilver, 450mHz G4 Cube, 700mHz G3 iBook, 350mHz Sawtooth G4, 350mHz Revs. A and B B&W G3, 16mHz Powerbook 100, 8mHz Macitosh Classic.

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#472297 - 06/06/07 04:34 AM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
zenstate Offline


Registered: 10/16/04
Posts: 586
Loc: Vancouver, BC Canada
put the vid card money toward a cpu upgrade
_________________________
Mac mini C2D 1.83GHz - 2GB RAM - 200GB 7200rpm HD
Sawtooth w/G4 1GHz - 1GB RAM - SIIG SATA w/2x1TB HD
B&W w/G4 600MHz - 1GB RAM - 2x80GB HD
Sawtooth G4 400MHz - 512MB RAM - 40GB HD
Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP 20" Widescreen LCD
2.94TB Total Storage

Top
#472298 - 06/06/07 06:10 AM Re: Video card reccomendation [Re: MilPotCAR]
macDeviant Offline


Registered: 02/14/05
Posts: 491
next question: is it really needed to have a $300 CPU to play high def i.e. dual 1ghz. Wouldn't a single 1 GHZ be enough? i won't be doing much encoding on with the machine, and it will all be single tasks, surf the web, listen to music, watch a movie. not like it's going to be my main machine.
_________________________
2.4gHz 15" MacBook Pro, 1.66gHz Core Duo Mac Mini, 2.5gHz G5 QUAD, 733mHz Quicksilver, 450mHz G4 Cube, 700mHz G3 iBook, 350mHz Sawtooth G4, 350mHz Revs. A and B B&W G3, 16mHz Powerbook 100, 8mHz Macitosh Classic.

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