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PowerMac G5 issue in Tiger OS: cannot output 2560 x 1600 on my 30" Cinema Display

sheapuppy

sheapuppy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 25, 2020
76
39
Chicago IL
Hi everyone,

I had been running Tiger OS X 10.4.11 for a long time - very stable for my Classic OS 9 apps. About a week ago, my logic board died so I ended up buying off FB a PowerMac G5 (7,3) with 8GB RAM, Dual 2.0 GHz 970 CPUs, and an ATI Radeon 9200 128MB PCI card. I swapped my 250GB SSD drive and the new G5 booted up with no issues EXCEPT that I can only get 1200 x 800 resolution. I thought maybe it was an issue with the card itself, so I put the original NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 64MB AGP card. With either card, I can only get 1200 x 800 resolution.

My understanding is that both of these cards support dual link DVI display.

I'm using a 30" CinemaDisplay with the original "W" cord (DVI, USB, Firewire) that came with it, so I'm not sure what's going on? Hopefully someone can help me.

TIA...JP
 

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Amethyst1 said:
Neither of them do.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I could've sworn that they did but obviously I must be wrong (dang AI ! :rolleyes:). Which one would you recommend that doesn't break the bank? I'm mainly using it for Photoshop as I still have an original Adobe CS license!

ATI Radeon 9650 XT (one single-link, one dual-link DVI)
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL (two dual-link DVI)
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL (two dual-link DVI)

Best regards...JP
 
I'm not sure where your G5 got that Radeon 9200 from, but I can't find any factory configs with said card online. I also have a PowerMac7,3 (2.3GHz DP), but it has a Radeon 9600 installed. By the way, I wouldn't waste any more time with that FX 5200 if I were you. I installed a 128MB variant into one of my hackintoshes years ago, and it didn't even let me enable the translucent menu bar in Leopard.

If you want something better, get the Radeon 9650 XT (I heard 6800 Ultra cards are rare, and tend to fetch top dollar).
 
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TechAndOSWorld said:
I'm not sure where your G5 got that Radeon 9200 from, but I can't find any factory configs with said card online. I also have a PowerMac7,3 (2.3GHz DP), but it has a Radeon 9600 installed. By the way, I wouldn't waste any more time with that FX 5200 if I were you. I installed a 128MB variant into one of my hackintoshes years ago, and it didn't even let me enable the translucent menu bar in Leopard.

If you want something better, get the Radeon 9650 XT (I heard 6800 Ultra cards are rare, and tend to fetch top dollar).
Click to expand...
Thanks! I got lucky a couple of weeks ago while looking in FB marketplace. A seller had a damaged G5 for parts - it appears someone had dropped it, and cracked both the plastic cover and side panel. In addition, it had corrosion related to being an LCS 2.5 GHz - one of the CPUs is shot. BUT to my surprise, it came with an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL GPU INCLUDED!! And best of all, he sold me the entire G5 for $25!!

That said, the GPU card had some damage - some of the caps were missing. I am not sure if it was caused by the drop or some other issue. I ordered the missing caps from DigiKey and did some soldering over this past weekend.

Finally, I had a chance to fire it up last night. I am able to get full 2560 x 1600 resolution!! Woohoo I'm stoked!!
 

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TechAndOSWorld said:
I'm not sure where your G5 got that Radeon 9200 from, but I can't find any factory configs with said card online. I also have a PowerMac7,3 (2.3GHz DP), but it has a Radeon 9600 installed. By the way, I wouldn't waste any more time with that FX 5200 if I were you. I installed a 128MB variant into one of my hackintoshes years ago, and it didn't even let me enable the translucent menu bar in Leopard.

If you want something better, get the Radeon 9650 XT (I heard 6800 Ultra cards are rare, and tend to fetch top dollar).
Click to expand...
After doing more research, it appears the 9200 PCI was offered aftermarket mainly to be used with Xserve G5 headless units. I suspect the original seller had it left over and just put it in the replacement G5 I bought about a month ago.

There is a website that lists the 9200 PCI as a PowerMac G5 compatible which I'm assuming has the Mac ROM to boot up into a standard PowerMac or Xserve G5.

www.dvwarehouse.com

Video Card ATI Radeon 9200 128MB PCI DDR Memory DVI-I / VGA & S-Video for Power Mac G5 Single & Dual Processor with PCI Port

Video Card ATI Radeon 9200 128MB PCI DDR Memory DVI-I / VGA & S-Video for Power Mac G5 Single & Dual Processor with PCI Port - Refurbished Where used: Will work on all Power Mac G5 Single and Dual Processor Machine! Power Mac G5, Power Mac G5 (June
www.dvwarehouse.com www.dvwarehouse.com

I've also read somewhere else in the forum that someone was successful in installing a 9200 PCI into a PowerMac G4 running OS 9. Now that's daring!
 
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It sounds like you have it covered, but my PowerMac G5 has the nVidia GeForce 6600 in it and it has been a solid performer. Subjectively, I notice no issues with rendering speed at all. The 6800 is probably better (higher model number), but if you should run into any issues with it, consider the 6600. It is also passively cooled, leading to a very quiet user experience.
 
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mac57mac57 said:
It sounds like you have it covered, but my PowerMac G5 has the nVidia GeForce 6600 in it and it has been a solid performer. Subjectively, I notice no issues with rendering speed at all. The 6800 is probably better (higher model number), but if you should run into any issues with it, consider the 6600. It is also passively cooled, leading to a very quiet user experience.
Click to expand...
Thanks! My G5 definitely runs loud with all the fans, including the one from the 6800 Ultra. Because the 6800 Ultra was damaged, I noticed that there are some issues rendering out of the DVI-2 port with certain resolutions/refresh rates. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there are two 'L' inductors L501 and L504 missing on that port (see picture). I'm wondering what the values are because there are no markings on the corresponding inductors on DVI-1.
 

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mac57mac57 said:
The OP talks about both PCI and AGP, but nonetheless, great point @Amethyst1 ... The 6600 in my machine is PCI-e, while the PCI slots in a 2 GHz Power Mac G5 would be PCI-X (I think).
Click to expand...
That is correct. I currently have a late 2004 PCI-X with AGP. My original system came with an FX 5200 (garbage card). That said, the logic board went dead, so I bought another 2004 and transferred the SSD, RAM, etc. The card that came with that system was a PCI(?) Radeon 9200, which as I have discovered was NOT the original card.

With me so far?

Then, I found a seller with a damaged late 2004 G5 where he claims someone took a bat to it. The logic board was damaged but everything else looked good. To my surprise, this seller had an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL 256MB GPU in it. So for $25 I couldn't go wrong.

Now, my frankenstein 2004 has the following specs:

2 x 2.0 GHz PowerPC CPUs
8 GB RAM
Apple Airport Express 802.11g WiFi
Apple A1115 Bluetooth 2.0 (?)
D-Link 4-Port USB 2.0/Firewire combo card
Samsung 512 GB SSD + Samsung 256 GB SSD
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL 256MB GPU

Running Tiger 10.4.11 + Mac 9.2.2 on the 256GB SSD and Leopard 10.5.8 and Sorbet Leopard on the 512GB SSD

Next up, I'd like to run Snow Leopard 10A190 on one of the drives.

In addition, I'm in the process of restoring an LCS 2.5 GHz (late 2004) and LCS 2.7 GHz (early 2005).
 
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