On Ebay now (in the US) FireGL X3 cards for $25 with shipping (seller only has US shipping listed).
Over ten available. I just purchased one myself.
These can be re-flashed with a Mac BIOS and can be modified to be compatible with G4 and G5 Macs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Fire-GL-X3-256mb-AGP-404563-001-Dual-DVI-Graphics-/280758459783?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item415e821d87

International user: If you'd like to buy one of these, you can have it shipped to me and I'll ship it to you. Then all you'd have to do is reimburse me for the additional shipping charge.
Further, if you'd like the card flashed for Mac use, I can do that (as well as tape over pins 3 and 11 for G4 use).

Note - I can't guarantee that a MorphOS driver will ever be written for R400 cards. While it has been discussed, I have no idea when (if ever) this will be available.


[ Edited by Jim 31.03.2012 - 15:18 ]

The Ebayer who posted these cards has stated that he is willing to ship internationally.
He only needs an address to quote shipping prices.

Last 16 hours guys.

Jim, are these cards supported under MorphOS2.7 with 2D drivers and just not any 3D & Layers support yet? Also, how do they compare to other AGP video cards that can be used in the G4 & G5 PowerMac's?

They look like a good deal, but I have not researched video cards like you have. I am thinking of getting one for my G5 PowerMac, or maybe to convert for use in my G4 PowerMac MDD. Now that I have installed a quiet fan in my MDD, I plan to use it more often.

I already have a Radeon 9700Pro and a 8500 that need to be re-flashed for use in a Mac, as well as the 9000Pro that came with my G4 MDD, so I am not sure I really need another video card. Sell me on the Fire GL X3 advantages. MorphOS cannot use all 256mb of VRAM, can it? IIRC, MorphOS is still limited to only 128mb of VRAM.

[ Edited by amigadave 26.10.2011 - 15:34 ]

> MorphOS cannot use all 256mb of VRAM, can it? IIRC, MorphOS is still
> limited to only 128mb of VRAM.

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7991&forum=38&start=2

Jim, your mail box is full so I can't send you a PMail.

> Jim, your mail box is full so I can't send you a PMail.

You might try sending him a regular email instead.

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8003&forum=3&start=1

I would like some infos about this topic too..

Is the FireGL X3 the absolute fastest GFX board that we can fit on a G4/G5 IF/WHEN it will be supported by MorphOS.

If I am not wrong also Radeon 800/850 belongs to R400 family. They have never been in AGP format? So no way to fit them neighter on a G5 Mac?

Looking around and found this info on a Aros related site..


0x4B4C R420 ATI Radeon X850 XT PE (R480) (AGP) (it says "Apparently the R480 is just a faster R420.")

http://www2.aros-exec.org/modules/newbb/report.php?forum=4&topic_id=2702&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&post_id=29159&PHPSESSID=2f553b5a02e774c2dbc35c8c0ff6b675

So the X850 was made also in AGP form a "Teorically" should be the best in the R400 family. I had this board in a PC (in pci-e version) and I can confirm that even if old nowadays it is still a very fast board

So the "best candidates" should be these..


R420 FAMILY:

FireGL X3-256
Core Clock: 500 MHz
Mem Clock: 450 MHz
Pipeline Config: 16/16/16/6



Radeon X800 XT PE AGP
Core Clock: 520 MHz
Mem Clock: 560 MHz
Pipeline Config: 16/16/16/6




R481 FAMILY: (it's R480 but in AGP version)

Radeon X850 XT PE AGP
Core Clock: 540 MHz
Mem Clock: 590 MHz
Pipeline Config: 16/16/16/6


Obviously all this is just technical speculations, maybe we'll never have apps/games that really need so much power..

[ Edited by Miky060 27.10.2011 - 11:19 ]

> If I am not wrong also Radeon 800/850 belongs to R400 family.
> They have never been in AGP format?

For AGP there're X800 cards with R430 GPU, which is a PCIe chip, that's connected to a RIALTO bridge chip in order to make it accessible by AGP. And then there're X800 cards with R420 GPU and X850 cards with R481 GPU, which both are real AGP chips in themselves..

Sorry for not posting earlier.
And David, I'll try to eliminate some of my back messages.

The item has been re-posted here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Fire-GL-X3-256mb-AGP-404563-001-Dual-DVI-Graphics-/290625691561?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item43aaa41fa9

No, R400 video cards are not supported by MorphOS yet (and I don't know if or when they will be). Frank (Pega-1) has mentioned them as a possible future option, but the last time I checked he and Bigfoot were busy with other projects.

The main reason I've posted this listing is I have a FireGL X3 that has been re-flashed with a Mac BIOS and it works quite well (under OSX and Ubuntu) in my Quicksilver.
Hopefully, one day we'll be able to use them under MorphOS.

As Miky060 has pointed out, there are slightly faster variants of the R400 family available, but the FireGL X3 has all pipes enabled and works well with a Mac BIOS (and its CHEAP).

Sending two modified FireGL X3 cards out to Morphzone members sometime later this week.

Anyone else interested?

Hey, just a quick word on FireGL X3 cards.
Don't purchase one thinking that re-flashing them is an easy task.
The modified BIOS listed on the Mac Elite webpage does not work by itself.
I've had some luck with a modified Radeon X800XT BIOS.
When I've got the cards I currently am working with finished I'll post full details on the process.

Why the modified bios listed on Mac Elite doesn't work ?
Could you send me the workable bios of X800XT(FireGL X3)?
Thanks.

I'm not sure why the BIOS files on the Mac Elite website do not work.

I've taken a few weeks off to work on other problem, but since I now own four of these cards (and I've promised three of them to other people) I'll resume work on this soon.

Once I've found a good solution, I'll be sure to post notice and I'll send you the file attached to a PM).

Jim,
Quote:

I already had an ATI FireGL X3 and I decided to flash it for mac.
I flashed it but my screen was always black. I had to edit the rom so that the ID on the rom was 4a48. It is now working but I think the memory timings on the rom are wrong because setting the Memory frequency above 280MHz will give me artifacts (the stock frequency is 450MHz and it worked just fine on windows). The gpu frequency can take the stock 492MHz just fine. The memories on my FireGl X3 are made by infineon and after looking on their datasheet they work between 250-500MHz and have a WR latency of 2.0ns. The Mac X800 XT has memories that can work above 500MHz and they have a latency of 1.6ns.
Have you managed to get your card to work on the stock memory frequency of 450Mhz ?
If so, could you PM me the rom you are using? I have already tried help on other places but I have nothing so far :(

Thank you!

[ Edited by ZexXpt 18.01.2012 - 17:20 ]

Actually, you've gotten further along then I have,
I'm going to try that ID edit with some of the BIOS files I've collected.
If I find one that works well, I'll let you know.

Flashing three cards tomorrow with the most likely to function (BIOS files).
Will use suggested ID.

@Jim,

Good Luck!

Thanks David.
Had to push this back to today.
I hope this is the last piece of the puzzle.

Jim,
Quote:

Hi Jim,

I finally solved the mistery. I talked with Steve Smedley from the aquamac web page and he said that it was a bug in the Rom in which it doubles the frequency. If I set to 250MHz in graphiccelerator, the memory will run at 500MHz (do not mistake with the double data rate from the type of the ram). I installed Aticelerator II and it effectively reports 500MHz so it seems it is indeed a bug.
The reduced Rom from themacelite with the name FireGl ver109 works great but you have to change the ID. The Reduced Rom with the name X800XT ver109 works without changing the ID but since I don't know if it has more deferences, I used the FireGl reduced rom.

I hope this helps you in any way.

Thank you,
Jose

[ Edited by ZexXpt 24.01.2012 - 12:36 ]

NO, thank YOU.
This one has been bugging me for awhile.
I've got four of these sitting around, and once they're up and running one goes to David and two to Frank.

You may have given me the final clue I need.
Thanks again.

Hi Jim, how is the progress of working on these Fire GL X3 256mb AGP video cards?

Do they report a full 256mb of VRAM when used from MorphOS2.7? Or do they have the VRAM separated into two banks, or segments, so MorphOS can only see 128mb of VRAM?

Right now, they don't work at all under MorphOS (only OSX).
That's why I want to send two to Frank.
Hopefully, once he and his compatriots finish with the R300 3D drivers, they'll consider R400 support (no promises - I'm just sending the cards as an encouragement).

I found someone to help obtain R400 cards for our machines.
They will not be cheap.

Original Mac cards (X800Xt and X850XT) are your best bet.
If support for PCIe G5 Macs was ever introduced these would be relatively easy to obtain (at fairly low prices).

Converted FireGL X3 cards are available in limited quantities (but may cost as much as $180).

Converted X800XTs will be cheaper (although the cheapest are All In Wonder cards which will have tv tuners we can't use).

I am also working on a way to convert PC X850XT and X850XT PE cards (PEs are the fastest R400s).

I'll have the first working cards by the end of the month (Feb).