Forums | MacLife

dj phat 2000 · 2004-12-17 11:48 am

Anyone have any luck on doing this? If so, what brand did you use or suggest using to do it.

I have the G5 dual 1.8GHz with the stock 5200 Ultra. Looking to upgrade but, not at $500 freaking dollars. Come on, really. I see PC cards for $400 and less.

I know about the eeprom memory thing and that most if not all PC cards only have 64k. And the ones that do have 128k, have half of it blocked.

However, it never hurts to ask and see if any of you fellow Mac addicts have done this with success.

Please post up if you have or know of a site that has a means to do this.

The sites that I have seen so far don't do these cards. And google is not being helpful enough. sad

Thanks in advance. smile

NightCougar_37 · 2004-12-17 2:39 pm

R9800s are flashable with quite a bit of success. There are two methods. Solder on a 128k EPROM then flash with the Mac ROM, or use the trimmed down 64k Mac ROM. To see how its done/etc, try www.cubeowner.com. They also have the ROMs available for d/l there.

Who knows about the 6800 right now. It hasn't been attempted yet. Just now seeing R9600s getting attempted.

sirhannick · 2005-01-29 11:34 pm

You should've emailed me with this question. Sorry I haven't showed up in the past half year or so, but I have moved on to other forums. I was just checking back and saw this topic. I have flashed many 9800XTs and in fact have three for sale right now priced at a clean $325. I am also working on the 6800 Ultra and X800 XT right now.

NightCougar_37 · 2005-01-30 12:11 am

So thats what happened to you tongue .

I've thought about flashing a R9800 to Cube but I really need at least functional DVI to work with my ADC. So far i've only heard mixed reports about that. Then theres the length of them too. Shame soo many R9600s are 4x/8x. So that just leaves maybe a R9700 OEM. Tho i've heard some flashing success with the R9500s.

reece_james · 2005-01-31 4:30 am

As far as I can tell, if the 9800 Pro appears to be the same same as the real ATI card (not the Mac one), has the 256bit memory interface and the 8 pipes not 4, it should flash. Powercolour's appears to look right. I just can't afford to blow $300 AUD on the wrong card.

The black board 9800 Pro (Sapphire?) is the only one that is 2x that flashes for the cube.

matty429 · 2005-02-09 9:48 pm

Put me in line on this one...I just picked up a dual 1.8, and I have a PC 6800 GT...
I can't get any info confirming if it will work or not...

Bat · 2005-02-11 7:36 pm

I'm leery about the new cards and G5s. Remember the deal with G5s and AGP Pro slots, which consumer PCs lack; the newer top-end PC cards draw the majority of their power thru the external Molex connector. Even if they were hacked to physically fit, the card's power circuits are arranged that way, and forcing them to consume all power thru the slot connector seems iffy. Hacked cards might have quite a short life.

reece_james · 2005-02-11 7:45 pm

It depends, most flashes and hacks don't interfere with the power requirements of the cards. Most of the concern is dishing out a lot of money to flash a 9800 Pro only to find it doesn't work.

NightCougar_37 · 2005-02-12 1:26 am

I've heard others work on 2x AGP but its just the Black Sapphire which fits better in the Cube without hacking out a bit of metal.

reece_james · 2005-02-12 2:06 am

The black ones are rare and are the only ones know to work at 2x and fit in the cube. Any 9800 Pro 128MB with the 256bit 8 channel that fits the reference design should work.

Bat · 2005-02-12 6:25 am

Um... do you even know the difference betweeen AGP and AGP Pro? The Pro spec has mostly to do with power, little to do with data rate (2X/4X/8X). Recent high-end cards (9700 Pro up on the ATi side) have an additional power connector at the back- a Molex connector like hard drives use starting with the 9800 (floppy connector w/ adapter on the 9700; there wasn't room for the larger Molex).

Keep in mind these things plus board layout- traces and component placement- as you read these excerpts, with a bit of editing by me:

[color=brown]Powering up from the AGP and the Additional Power Connector
Before the arrival of graphics cards based on the RADEON 9700/9500 series chips

reece_james · 2005-02-12 7:18 am

I think there are some wires crossed. I'm talking about using a 9800 in a G4 tower in which there has been much success. Basically, the PC cards flash a reduced ROM if they meet the PC ATI standard. (Remembering that the Mac 9800 is 64MB and is dual DVI) The connecter isn't an issue and I believe has just been connected to the internal power supply. (Or into the case of a cube, a second external one)

However as to their suitability in the G5, I have no idea. Most reports are for G4 towers and a Cube. The question was asked if anyone has had luck, I'm saying yes, but in a G4.

Bat · 2005-02-12 11:07 am

matty429 wrote:
Put me in line on this one...I just picked up a dual 1.8, and I have a PC 6800 GT...
I can't get any info confirming if it will work or not...

Bat wrote:
I'm leery about the new cards and G5s. Remember the deal with G5s and AGP Pro slots, which consumer PCs lack; the newer top-end PC cards draw the majority of their power thru the external Molex connector. Even if they were hacked to physically fit, the card's power circuits are arranged that way, and forcing them to consume all power thru the slot connector seems iffy. Hacked cards might have quite a short life.

reece_james wrote:
It depends, most flashes and hacks don't interfere with the power requirements of the cards. Most of the concern is dishing out a lot of money to flash a 9800 Pro only to find it doesn't work.

NightCougar_37 wrote:
I've heard others work on 2x AGP but its just the Black Sapphire which fits better in the Cube without hacking out a bit of metal.

I think we can see how that happened. I responded about G5s, you two responded after me.

Either that, or matty429 has acquired that rarest of Macs, the DP 1.8 G4.

matty429 · 2005-02-12 9:16 pm

Yeah , It's A G5

reece_james · 2005-02-15 4:04 pm

matty429 wrote:
Yeah , It's A G5

bang

matty429 · 2005-02-15 7:42 pm

http://www.gigadesigns.com/products7AD1418U.html

Last edited by matty429 (2005-02-15 7:43 pm)

italiano · 2005-03-06 3:26 pm

Anyone needing info on Flashing their PC Card to Mac - just stop by our forums - In my Sig! we love to help. Been a reader of MacAddict for years now and just joined the FORUM

dv · 2005-03-06 6:50 pm

Forum can be spelled with lowercase letters, too.

italiano · 2005-03-06 6:59 pm

how nice - a living grammer checker...

reece_james · 2005-03-06 8:50 pm

Hey good to see you italino, I've been a lurker over at strangedogs and at cubeowner for a while now. Some really great info and tutorials there. Now when I can afford that 9800 to try....

reece_james · 2005-04-18 4:38 am

Time to bring back this little thread.

I've scrapped up the $$$ for a 9800 Pro 128MB PowerColour, but I have noticed a little problem. Apple has changed the spec for Tiger's core image.

Code:

Core Image-capable graphics cards include:
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 9800 XT, X800 XT
nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200
nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL, 6800 GT DDL

Is it worth still going ahead buying and hacking the card? Or should I wait a few weeks till reports start filtering in about Tiger.

Fish · 2005-04-21 11:03 am

reece_james wrote:
Time to bring back this little thread.

I've scrapped up the $$$ for a 9800 Pro 128MB PowerColour, but I have noticed a little problem. Apple has changed the spec for Tiger's core image.
Code:
Core Image-capable graphics cards include:
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 9800 XT, X800 XT
nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200
nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL, 6800 GT DDL
Is it worth still going ahead buying and hacking the card? Or should I wait a few weeks till reports start filtering in about Tiger.

It looks like they are just listing cards they currently offer. I'm sure 9800's are programmable.

italiano · 2005-04-21 3:07 pm

the specs say "including" those cards - the 9800 rocks with Tiger wink

reece_james · 2005-04-21 5:12 pm

italiano wrote:
the specs say "including" those cards - the 9800 rocks with Tiger

Nice! I'll go ahead then.

dj phat 2000 · 2005-05-03 10:37 pm

Wow, I some how gave up on this post. smile LOL

Well, I already went out and bought the X800 XT. I didn't want to risk it in the end and end up with a paper weight in either a computer, or a video card. Or BOTH!!!

Thanks guys

Forums | MacLife

#1 2004-12-17 11:48 am

Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#2 2004-12-17 2:39 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#3 2005-01-29 11:34 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#4 2005-01-30 12:11 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#5 2005-01-31 4:30 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#6 2005-02-09 9:48 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#7 2005-02-11 7:36 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#8 2005-02-11 7:45 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#9 2005-02-12 1:26 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#10 2005-02-12 2:06 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#11 2005-02-12 6:25 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#12 2005-02-12 7:18 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#13 2005-02-12 11:07 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

matty429 wrote:

Bat wrote:

reece_james wrote:

NightCougar_37 wrote:

#14 2005-02-12 9:16 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#15 2005-02-15 4:04 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

matty429 wrote:

#16 2005-02-15 7:42 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#17 2005-03-06 3:26 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#18 2005-03-06 6:50 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#19 2005-03-06 6:59 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#20 2005-03-06 8:50 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#21 2005-04-18 4:38 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

Code:

#22 2005-04-21 11:03 am

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

reece_james wrote:

Code:

#23 2005-04-21 3:07 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

#24 2005-04-21 5:12 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

italiano wrote:

#25 2005-05-03 10:37 pm

Re: Flashing 6800's or 9800 ATi cards. Any luck?

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