As I stated in the thread titled "Best Radeon" this thread is meant for any members here who want help buying a Mac edition Radeon video card from USA, or Canada eBay sellers. The members who have indicated interest in this idea so far are listed below in the order they contacted me, or left a message in the other thread. I will attempt to help the members at the top of the list first, but if another member lower in the list is willing to pay more, or wants a lower spec, or older Radeon video card, I might be successful in finding their video card before someone higher on the list.

If you want to be added to this list, just leave a message here in this thread, or contact me amigadave, at my earthlink.net email address.

The list of members and the video card they want, plus price they are willing to pay is as follows:(don't know how to keep the formatting for the list below, so it is all compressed together and harder to read)

Name Video card Purchase Price
1. Kozer Mac edition X800XT $60.00
2. ChrisMarsden Mac edition X800 or ? $50.00

Prices above do not include shipping and I prefer that everyone who wants to participate has a PayPal account, to send me their money, before I buy the card for them on eBay. If this is not possible because you cannot set up a PayPal account, we might be able to work some other solution for payment. I am not adding any money for myself, as this is a service I am providing to help out other MorphOS users, who may have trouble buying from eBay sellers located in the USA or Canada. The list is also hopefully an aid to prevent MorphOS users from bidding against each other on the same video cards, and thereby forcing the price higher, for eBay auctions that are not "Buy it Now". In future posts, I will provide links to specific eBay auctions that I find, but not the "Buy it Now" listings, to help prevent members from bidding against each other.

I was successful in buying one X800 Pro today for less than either of the people on this list are willing to pay, but need to confirm that it is a Mac edition when it arrives. It was cheap, so I took a chance buying it. If it is a real Mac edition card, I will offer it to the members on this list, to see if it will fit their needs. I also put an offer of $50 on a Gigabyte X800XT, but also must confirm it is a Mac edition, and not a re-flashed PC card.

Currently on eBay of North America there are only 3 Radeon X800 video cards that are clearly "Mac Edition", but their asking prices are between $139 and $169, far above the prices our members are willing to pay.



[ Edited by amigadave 14.06.2016 - 18:57 ]

Quote:

@amigadave, thanks for your efforts so far! above you wrote 'Mac edition X800 or ?' is this a question i need to answer?

either way once you have confirmed its a mac edition let me know and we can work out the finally cost with shipping (i'm in the UK). I'm looking forward to getting Morphos running.

Quote:

X800Pro?
The Apple card is an X800XT and the X800Pro cannot be flashed for Mac compatibility.
Are you sure it is an X800Pro and not an X800XT?

There are two G5 Radeon 9800Pro 128mb cards listed right now for $49.99 plus $3.99 shipping each.
Those would work quite well.

Quote:

I'll confirm if it is a real "Mac Edition", but Konrad was the first member here to contact me asking for help buying a card, so I will offer it to him, then to you if he declines.

@Jim, the auction said it was an 800Pro, but the sticker on the card showing the serial number had the text "X800XT", so I am hopeful that it is a Mac Edition, which is what my search criteria was for. It should be here in a few days, if the seller shipped it today or ships tomorrow.

Edit: Chris, if you want me to also look for Radeon 9800 Pro cards, let me know. Your first post mentioned that you might accept something different than the X800XT.


[ Edited by amigadave 16.06.2016 - 20:44 ]

I would like a no fuss mac edition card - i don't really want a flashed card or have to flash another myself. I'm not fixated on the X800XT - a slight lower performance card in the same class is fine for me. so if the cards available right now on ebay meet this criteria please buy - let me know about payment as i think you want it upfront?

Quote:

The Radeon X800 Pro I purchased earlier ended up being a re-flashed PC card, but if anyone wants it, they can have it for free, just pay me what ever it costs to mail it to you. I only paid $30 for it, so it wasn't much of a loss.

I have bid on 2 current auctions that have genuine Mac Edition X800 XT Radeon cards for starting bids of $50 with free shipping to my address. There are other PC and Mac edition AGP Radeon cards on eBay at the moment as well, including a re-flashed Radeon FireGL X3, which is what I have installed in my G5 PowerMac (thanks to Jim for re-flashing it). It works well, but might be responsible for some random lock-ups I experience from time to time, or for times when my system does not want to boot up at all, and takes several attempts to finally get it running MorphOS3.9. The FireGL X3 is not cheap though, and the seller is asking over $130 for it.

Sorry I haven't been as attentive as I could have been in this search for Mac Edition Radeon video cards for other members here, but I have been distracted due to health issues for myself, my son, and the son of my best friend, who recently fell through a skylight, and 40 feet to a concrete floor below. He is lucky to be alive.

If you are still interested in getting a video card from me, please leave another message in this thread, and/or contact me via email. I prefer using email, instead of the PM system here, as I get email notifications on my cell phone, so respond to them much faster.

I thought that some members of this forum had previously stated that X800 Radeon cards that had 2 DVI ports were probably PC versions which had been re-flashed, and not genuine Mac edition cards, but the 2 X800 XT Mac Edition cards on eBay auctions that I am currently bidding on, both have 2 DVI ports, and no ADC port. So, I guess I am mistaken about what others have written, or anyone claiming that Mac Edition cards always have an ADC port, are incorrect.

Swapping video card ROM chips

I found this (https://www.plausible.coop/blog/?p=173) web page describing the successful swapping of video card ROM chips, to install a larger Mac compatible ROM chip on a Radeon 7000 PCI card.

Has anyone here attempted to do the same on a newer MorphOS compatible Radeon 9800, or X800 Pro, or XT video card? I would happily pay someone to do such a mod on my FireGL X3 Radeon card, but don't know what ROM file would work on it, as I don't think the FireGL X3 card was ever offered with a Mac ROM, and I don't know if any of the Mac X800 Pro, or XT ROM files would work on the FireGL X3.

Someone here had written about attempting a ROM swap earlier, but I don't know if they followed through with the attempt, and can't remember which video card they were going to try it on.

> Someone here had written about attempting a ROM swap earlier, but I [...] can't remember
> which video card they were going to try it on.

That was the thread:

http://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=11711&forum=11

Quote:

You could ask Yasu, David.
I shipped him an Apple X800XT, but its been awhile and I am not 100% sure about the issue.
However, even the X1900GT PCIe G5 video card has one DVI and one ADC connection.

Anyway, here is a photo of an Apple card.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LqoAAOSwXeJXfr1x/s-l1600.jpg

The bottom connector is clearly larger and appears to be an ADC connector.
Another dead giveaway is the color and the absence of a secondary (molex) power connector.

The only Apple video card I am aware of that we support that has two DVI connectors is the Radeon 9600.

Quote:

I have wondered how the Mac Edition video cards get away with not needing the additional power connector, and PC versions need them. If the AGP port is capable of supplying the necessary current, why do all the PC versions require the secondary power through molex connector? I guess it could be that too many different motherboard manufacturers are involved, and a standard for supplying the additional power through the AGP port never was agreed upon, before video card designs were created that needed the additional power.

One or more G5 PowerMac models came stock, or as an option, with the Radeon 9650, which has 2 DVI ports, or is that the card you meant by the 9600?

Quote:

Here's your answer. Mac Edition cards have an additional power connector (and of course PowerMacs have an additional slot, next to the AGP), that powers up the card, the monitor (through ADC), and (correct me if I'm wrong) as well as passes the USB 1.1 signal so that the ADC monitor acts as a USB hub too.

Quote:

I never noticed that before! Or if I ever knew it, I forgot about it. That extra connector would make it the easiest way to determine if a video card up for auction, or being sold online, is a real Mac Edition card, from a distance, without needing to see if it has an ADC port.

Thanks for pointing that out, now I feel even more stupid today.

And again, "the absence of a secondary (molex) power connector.".

The bottom connector is for monitor power, the lack of a secondary power connector a the top back of the card is due to the fact that Apple uses an AGP X8 Pro slot that can supply more power.
The 9600s have dual dvi output and do not have the bottom connection for ADC power for monitors.
The 9650 in fact can use dual dvi for a higher display resolution.

Quote:

Some times I look back at things I have written and laugh at myself, for typing such stupid things. Good thing I don't mind looking foolish any more.

I read a post from another member here, who said that the 9650 was the best AGP slot Mac Edition Radeon, for supporting large resolutions, even though I had found test results a few years ago, which show the 9650 to be slower than some Radeon video cards which were older, such as the 8500 (I think that is one of the older video cards that the 9650 was compared to with benchmark results for both, as well as results for a few other Radeon video cards for PowerMac's). Some users prefer higher resolutions, instead of 3D performance, which is understandable.

Any change on the possibility of you attending AmiWest 2016 Jim? Sure would be great to see you there.

Quote:

I'll be in the middle of 8 classes for a total of 24 credits.
But it still is a consideration.
What is the date again (hopefully a weekend)?

Edit - October 6th to 9th, eh?
Well, it is a weekend.

On the 9600s, its a mixed bag, its not that fast, but a few will run in G4s, and the dual dvi output of the 9650 gives you a really nice max resolution.
Plus they are cheap.

[ Edited by Jim 18.07.2016 - 14:16 ]

I think I have the Radeon 9650 that came inside my dual 2.7GHz G5 PowerMac, unless I gave it away to another MorphOS user. If I do have it still, it may take me months to find, among the many boxes that have not been unpacked after my move to this house. It feels like I may never get around to unpacking them all, and never know where some things are hidden. That, or I will finally get them all unpacked just as it is time to pack up and move again, as I doubt I will remain in this house for more than another 2 to 3 years.

I don't even want to think about moving again, it almost killed me the last time, so I would be tempted to just take a few essential things, and leave the rest behind, or take many truck loads directly to the local land fill site, where some of my things would receive a long over due burial.

That is a lot of classes you are taking at one time! How do you find the time to study, complete class work, and also work to pay your bills, while still finding a few hours each day/night for sleep and eating meals? I applaud your ability and drive to go back to school, and I have thought about doing so myself many times, but then always come to my senses and decide I would be better off just learning "Online", either through organized classes, or independent studying. I've tried to talk other AmigaOS and/or MorphOS users to join together in a study group for learning programming, or improving what little programming skills I still have from my years maintaining the program I used at the last 2 cities I worked for, which tracked building permits and fees, as well as a few other related tasks, but most people who want to learn new, or improve their existing programming skills, would rather do so alone, which is understandable.

I hope you can fit the AmiWest weekend into your busy schedule. The fun begins on Friday afternoon/evening, when the "Classic Amiga" repair clinic takes place, and several users get together to work on their hardware, either doing repairs, maintenance (like replacing capacitors), or modifying their setups with new add-on items, or re-installation of the OS and 3rd party software.

Well, the "Mac Edition" X800XT video card I purchased for Konrad finally arrived from the seller yesterday, but I didn't open the box to look at it, and test it in my G5 PowerMac, until today. It arrived in a genuine Mac Edition box from ATI, but as soon as I removed it from the anti-static envelope, I was suspicious that it was not a real Mac Edition video card, and that the seller might have switched cards and used the Mac Edition box. The reasons I feel the card is suspect, is because it has a VGA port, as well as S-Video and DVI ports, instead of one DVI and one ADC port. It also needs the additional molex power connector, which makes sense if it isn't equipped with the ADC port to power a monitor, it doesn't need the extra card edge tab, to get the extra power.

What do the rest of you think? Are there "Mac Edition" Radeon X800XT video cards in the wild that look like what I just described? I tried to find out more information on the web, but didn't find any pictures of Mac Edition cards that had the same ports as the card I received. To make things worse, I get zero video output to the monitor, when I installed this X800XT in my G5 PowerMac and tried to boot MorphOS3.9.

I then removed the card and replaced it with my FireGL X3 video card and booted up MorphOS3.9 with no problems.

I am asking for input from people here who already have Mac Edition X800XT video cards, to see if any of them come with the ports I described above, before I conclude that this is indeed NOT a Mac Edition video card, and ask for a refund. If I can't get any video output when I try to boot it up with a MacOSX install DVD tomorrow, and/or if I can't get any Open Firmware prompt to display, I'll be asking for a refund anyway.

Thanks for any advice or info about this.