Radeon 9800 Replacement Fan

Hi, my Radeon 9800 128MB edition just died. I am looking for a replacement. This is for a quicksilver.
3 out of 4 of my PCI slots are filled, so not a whole lot of room. I am worried about just any old fan due to size and maybe incompatible power connectors. Would either of these be good choices? I don't want to spend a lot of money, so am trying to stay under $20.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835888112
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835114024

Hi-
The screws holding the fan to the heatsink on the 9800 are either #2 Phillips or #1 Phillips. I have two different versions of the 9800 cooler here on my desk, and there is one of each. Anyhow, it is a simple matter of removing three Phillips screws.
The Zalman tutorial that you linked is a bit complicated, as the individual chose to connect to the board, and install a speed controller. Typical installation would be to simply connect the power from the Zalman to a 4 pin Molex connector (like the hard drive power connectors). I have a 9800 with the Zalman 900 CU, and the power connected to the molex power only (off a hard drive power connector) works very well.
BTW, the Zalman (either 700 Cu or 900Cu) is a very good cooler, and works better than the OEM cooler.
No need to complicate things unless you want to.....
If it is in the adjacent slot and blowing directly on the card, seems like it would help at least a little.
It would help at least a little, but the 9800 needs alot of proper cooling. I would advise against a PCI fan only for cooling the 9800. The 9800 is a hot running card, and a properly functioning cooler on the board is an important item to keep the 9800 alive and healthy.
Don't let the fan replacement scare you. It isn't that major of a job. Keeping devices working as they were intended is better than cobbling a "hope it works" solution together.

Similar Messages

RADEON 9800 cooling fan

I have a RADEON 9800 Pro Mac Edition 256MB in my QuickSilver 2002 mounted in the AGP slot. The 9800 cooling fan is very loud (grinding sound) after a cold startup then gets quiet after it warms up. I have looked at third party cooling fans for this RADEON and I have found the Zalman v700cu and the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 1, Rev. 2 that seem to be compatible. From the images of these two coolers it looks like the two mounting screws that project out the back of the garphic card are very close to the lower memory slot in my QuickSilver. I don't use the PCI slot next to the AGP slot so I know the coolers will be OK there.
My question is, has anyone actually tried one of these coolers in a QuickSilver 2002 and is there enough clearance between the mounting posts on the cooler and the memory card to prevent them from touching?

ATI fans are notoriously bad (read that as cheap). You will know the fan is going bad when you hear a loud whine or grinding noise after a cold startup or during heavy use. The fan went bad on my 9800 Pro 256 after just 5 months. I had to send the card to ATI for repair - nearly 3 weeks to get the card back. The replacement ATI fan started making noise after another 90 days. I can't see doing this on a regular schedule for the three year warranty term so I replaced the stock fan with an Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 1, Rev. 2. It's easy to install. So quiet that I can't hear it run and my computer case and power supply fans run slower and with less noise than ever before due to the Arctic fan venting warm air out of the computer.
The Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 1, Rev. 2 installed perfectly with no modifications and minimal effort. It has a 6 year warranty. I consider this modification the best thing you can do to protect the $250 (or whatever you pay) investment you make with the RADEON card. It's better than waiting for the stock fan to fail and cause your 9800 to melt down. Technically installing the Arctic fan voids the ATI warranty but I believe I could reinstall the old stock fan if the card needs other warranty repairs without anyone noticing the switch was ever made.
So your answers are yes and yes although I never had the monitor problem you describe. The ATI card is a good choice - keep it then download and install the latest drivers from the ATI/AMD web site and do yourself a favor and buy an Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer model for your card. Install it when you start to hear the stock fan going bad. You will be glad you did.
PS - many thanks to FangSuede for his excellent advice given to me.

Radeon 9800 Pro fan not working

Last Fall I purchased a used Radeon 9800 Pro card to install in my Sawtooth. When I finally got around to flashing the card with Mac-compatible firmware, and then attempted to use the card, I discovered that the fan was not working. As I recall, the card worked briefly under a light load, but could not handle a heavy video load. How likely is it that the card will work properly when I replace the stock fan (with the Vantec all-in-one -- BTW, thanks, japamac, for pointing that fan out as a space-saving alternative to the Zalman VF here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7785260 ),
or is it quite possible that the card is fried and won't ever perform adequately again. Is it possible that I will install the new fan, only to learn that the card still buckles under a heavy load?

Hi-
With the 9800 Pro, if the card is run for any amount of time without a fan, the chances are good that the GPU is cooked.
How cooked, will only be shown by putting a fan on the card, and trying it.
but how to know whether this is the case beforehand?
Pull the fan and put a replacement on. That's all you can do.
Get a replacement bury frame fan, and replace the fan in the ATI heatsink.
If it doesn't work with a new fan, sell the set as junk on eBay.
You'll get, at least, the cost of the fan out of it.

Hello, I purchase a radeon 9800 pro 128mg, I have a mac G4 (Double mirrors) I am replacing the old Radeon 9800 pro 128mb. I am using 10.4 TIGER. I installed the card and I am still getting a black screen. my monitor works on my g4 powerbook desktop Help?

Question #1
Hello, I purchase a Radeon 9800 pro 128mb from ebay. I own a mac G4 ( double mirror doors) I am using tiger10.4 I am replacing my old radeon 9800 pro 128mb with one from ebay. I installed the card properly but I am still getting a black screen. why? Monitor works on my powerbook G4 laptop.
QUESTIN #2
Can I upgrade my hard drive to a 2tb with the proper PCI card and cable ?

#1, tough to tell, is it using the VGA or DVI output?
#2, yes, if you can find a Mac compatible card.

What would you replace an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (256MB) with?

Hi,
I started a thread before asking whether I could replace a 256MB card with a 128MB card, even though the interface was a different shape.
But, as I know so little about Macs and graphics card, it seems wiser to ask
What would you replace an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (256MB) with?
The computer is user for photo editing and normal internet/email use. The photo editing is done on Adobe Photoshop for professional treatment of photographs.
The computer is a Power Mac G5 (1.6GHz) and budge is £80 / $120.
Thanks in advance, Franc.

Hi-
Please check my recommendations in your other thread.
Better options for the 9800 Pro are the Radeon 9800 XT, Geforce 6800 GT, Geforce 6800 Ultra, or if one has the money or finds a good deal, a Radeon X800 XT.
For your budget and uses, the Geforce cards are a performance value buy.
BTW, I have owned all of the cards, used all of the cards, and tested all of the cards.
Graphics Cards- ATI and Nvidia
See my testing pages starting here:
Page 1: Open GL

Can I replace an ATI RADEON 9800 PRO-(256MB)-MAC EDITION with Mac ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb Video Card For G4/G5

Hi,
I am trying to help a friend whose graphics card has bust.
The old one was an ATI RADEON 9800 PRO-(256MB)-MAC EDITION.
I've been looking on ebay and it seems a lot cheaper to get a Mac ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb Video Card For G4/G5.
Can I just swap them over? The connectors are not identical according to the photographs.
Thanks.

I'd like to thank everyone for all the really useful information in this thread. It helped me solve a similar problem, which I'll describe here briefly in case it helps someone else.
I have a 2004/5 dual 2 Ghz PowerPC G5 and an Apple Cinema HD display linked, as I later found out, with the now defunct ADC connector. The display suddenly started to look like that scene in The Matrix, when code falls like rain down the screen, and I worked out I needed to replace my Radeon 9800 pro video card (I discovered the board was blue when I removed a thick layer of dust).
I took japamac's excellent advice and bought a Geforce 6800 Ultra from the linked eBay seller in Hong Kong, who delivered it extremely quickly, along with the cables to plug it into the DVD drive power source and a CD with installation instructions. It was only then that I realised the card had two DVI connectors and my display needed ADC (I hadn't understood the difference).
eBay came to the rescue again with a seller who had a secondhand DVI to ADC adapter, which Apple produced when it phased out ADC about six years ago but no longer sells. It has its own power supply and looks like a large version of the Mac laptop power cables - and has added signifcantly to the pile of spaghetti under my desk.
Installing the Geforce 6800 Ultra is fiddly, and a bit scary if you're not used to delving into the insides of a Mac, but the instructions were clear and illustrated with useful photos. The video cable has four connectors. Two fit into the end of the card, the other two (linked in a Y shape) form a bridge between the DVD/superdrive and its power cable. You have to remove the DVD drive, unplug it, and then plug one of the two Y video card connectors into the DVD power cable and the other into the DVD drive itself. Then you replace the DVD drive, plug the two remaining cable connectors to the video card and ease it into the old card's AGP slot.
Finally, with the G5 reassembled, plug the adapter's DVI connection into the back of the card, plug the Cinema Display ADC cable into the adapter block, plug the adapter's USB cable into the G5 (this enables the the USB ports on the back of the display to work), and power up.
At the time of writing, the display has been up and running for a couple of hours and all seems fine.
Thanks again everyone for all your help and advice. If it wasn't for communities like this, it would be virtually impossible to solve problems with old but still serviceable Macs.

Flashed Radeon 9800 Pro died. Anywhere I can find a cheap X800XT?

It seems that everytime I throw in an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (AGP) that's flashed into my G5 DP 1.8 June 2004 PowerMac, it chews through it within a year or two, ending up killing the card with the infamous vertical lines in random areas of the screen.
I have had moderate success in keeping my last card afloat with an aftermarket fan, however it finally gave in today, when the card completely shorted.
I'm running on a spare Radeon 9800 Pro (flashed) which has the same configuration as the card that died, except this has a lower core GPU and memory clock speed.
I've been frantically searching for a cheap replacement (under $120) for a Mac edition Radeon X800XT 256MB AGP card, but only came up disappointed when I saw the few (and quite expensive) results on ebay, as I can't use paypal (can't verify my address since I don't use my bank often) so my only options are left to searching locally or going on amazon.
I do want to save my Mac, it is a beast of a machine, I love it to death, and I simply want the best for it.

They are quite expensive, some other possible cards...
See japamacs page here on the best AGP cards for G4s & G5s...
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/4B4B7BA2-7ABB-47F1-87AC-B03D379 42BEE.html
Rated slowest on top, fastest on bottom.

Dead Radeon 9800 Pro please help

Hi,
I think my ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128M AGP graphics card in my early Powermac g5 dual 2G is dying/dead. Looks like it's dropping a bit somewhere as I have blocks of coloured lines all over the screen. THis makes the machine unusable at 1900 x 1200 millions of colours and just about readable if I drop to 256 colours I have tried reseating the board after cleaning it (it was dirty). The fan is still working. I've tried booting from another disk and also driving my Dell flatscreen monitor using the DVI - VGA converter, so eliminating the digital cable and the monitor DVI input from the equation.
My question is this, where can I get a suitable replacement card? I've seen a ATI Radeon™ 9800 PRO Mac Special Edition 256mb AGP for sale on ebay which states it's AGP x 8 - would this work? Any other suggestions for a suitable reasonably priced replacement? I mainly use the machine for photo editing, and have my monitor/printer colour calibrated using a spyder and I only need to connect one monitor. The old card did allow me to turn the monitor through 90 degrees, but I never used the feature.
Another question - could I temporarily use the AGP card from my old G4 500 in the G5 - its an ATI Rage Pro 128 I believe?
THanks in anticipation.
tekno.mage

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the info,and I feel I should add further to this discussion regarding my own dead card.
What was a hard fault (with similar symptoms to the screenshots shown in Alan's link) despite several attempts to reseat the card (after cleaning it - there was a lot of dust in the fan assy) isn't so hard any more. After fitting the card I bought on ebay and discovering it was DOA, I reinstalled my old card, to discover that it worked again all ok - for about a day and half, then went bad again. Further fiddling around with it revealed that sometimes, reseating it will make it work for variable lengths of time. It's currently faulty and I'm writing this in 256 colour mode with bands of lines down only part of the screen. Once or twice, the card has suddenly started working again without reseating it, but only for about an hour.
The fan on the card is spinning (and was spinning even when very dusty). The fault doesn't seem to be strictly temperature related as leaving the machine powered off in a chilly office overnight oer even for a couple of days has so far, never resulted in the card working on power up - unless it's been reseated first. Also, the card doesn't always go faulty when the mac is working hard and the exhaust fans are blowing out lots of hot air.
I'm wondering if the scenario is more likely to be a solder joint that went bad when the card was running with a dirty fan (ie caused by slight overheating) and is now affected by movement (reseating) & vibration when the machine is in use? Either that or it's the dreaded "tin-pest" disease caused by use of lead-free solder where minute whiskers of tin can "grow" and short across nearby tracks casuing hard to find intermittant faults on circuit boards.
tekno.mage

Replacement fans for quicksilver 2002 933Mhz

Hello There, I love my 'new' secondhand Quicksilver 2002 but I hate the noise it makes. I have emailed a firm about getting quieter fans but they want to know what size the existing fans are - can someone tell me please? Or at least how does one measure them? - as I can open the machine and have a look. Also any recommendations? Thanks

Hi-
Your fans are as follows:
Case fan 120mm x 25mm = 86 cfm 37 dba
PSU exhaust 80mm x 25mm = 38 cfm 29 dba
CPU intake 60mm x ??= 23 cfm 33.5 dba
As I have, just find a fan of the proper size, and necessary airflow, and replace as desired. Often times, the fans will come with 3 wires. The third, a yellow wire for speed controllers, which doesn't have to be connected. You can rewire your connectors, or use adapters, or solder directly- your choice.
The following has lots of different brands listed, for easy comparison:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=36&zenid= 3b5951b15677aeba573668e965e6d5a0
Sorry about the thickness on the CPU fan- you'll have to measure it (total thickness of fan cage), or, maybe someone else will post.
I have fans by Scythe, A.C. Ryan, Aerocool, and Arctic Cooling. All nice stuff, each much quieter than the origional.
G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

Sapphire Radeon 9800 PRO, 256 MB using ZALMAN VGA COOLER ZM80C-HP with

Hi, I need some help...
I own a MSI 875P NEO FIS2R Mainboard and Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 PRO 256 MB VGA card...
Meanwhile Sapphire released the same VGA card just like above mentioned but then equipped it with the ZALMAN Heatpipe VGA Cooler, type ZM80C-HP and called that videocard Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 PRO 256 MB ULTIMATE
I know the same separate ZALMAN VGA Cooler is available in the shops here since a few days and that I can equip my 9800 PRO too with that Cooler but I really don't know if the videocard plus the zalman cooler will fit on my 875P Neo FIS2R mainboard... Cuz of the little space between the AGP slot and the Canterwood Bridge (North Bridge)... ?(
Anyone know if it's possible to do this/how to arrange this??? :(
Thanx in advance... :D

It will fit. But why replace the original heatsink? It works ok without the fan. Take a look here

Extra cooling needed for G4 MDD Dual 1.25 w/Radeon 9800?

I'm juggling graphics cards in my G4s. Some months back, I received a G4 MDD Dual 1.25 with a Radeon 9000. I migrated all my stuff from my G4 Digital Audio over to that, including my GeForce 4Ti card, and after some downloading of drivers, I was able to get the G4 DA running with the 9000.
A short time ago, I recieved a G4 MDD Dual 1.0 Ghz with a Radeon 9800 Pro 128M card (that's what the label says, anyway...). Two things were a little different, and they are what prompt my question. First, one of the PCI slot "covers" had been removed. This could simply be that the preior owner removed a card they needed for something else, of course. And second, there was rather a lot of foam (like for chair cushions) stuffed in places. I'm thinking that was to quiet the machine down.
So anyway, if I move the 9800 into my dual 1.25, will I need to "help" the cooling in any way? I'm thinking not, but since I've never dealt with these cards before, then perhaps there is common knowledge out there I'm unaware of.
Then, I'll have a G4/DA with 1/2Ghz Sonett processor & GeForce 4Ti, and a G4 MDD Dual 1.0 Ghz with Radeon 9000 to move on to new owners...

The Radeon 9800 is a warm card, but it isn't so terrible that the MDD can't use one.
The most important step for keeping the DP MDD cool is to enable Nap mode using CHUD:
567DFEE3-A0A8-4602-9722-FCFCD76D8837.html
Another important task is to replace the thermal compound on the Radeon 9800.
The cards are all older than the thermal compound was meant to last.
16196A0F-952B-47ED-A9F9-91F7B0ECA431.html
and
C874D84E-96DD-4DFF-9566-7C66BE065BB5.html
Use Arctic Cooling MX-4.
Also use it on the processors to get additional cooling benefits.
Use of Nap mode and replacement of the thermal compound should be all that is required to avoid heat issues.
The following are all additional cooling ideas to consider.
The mention of a PCI cooler is a good one. Placed along side the Radeon, it can help to rid the case of hot air produced by the graphics card.
This one is good help with minimum noise:
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-cyclo-blue-slotcooler.html
The Radeon 9800 has a minimalist fan and heatsink.
The aluminum heatsink doesn't disipate heat as fast as copper, and the fans tend to bake out and fail.
Replacement with a third party cooler is a good idea, but the design of the MDD makes that difficult.
This little Vantec cooler is a good option for the 9800 in a MDD which has the memory slots filled:
http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/95
If the memory slots have two 1 GB DIMMs installed in the two slots furthest from the graphics card, then this cooler is fine:
http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/97

Replacement fans for Quicksilver 2002 800

I'm thinking of changing the following fans on my machine for quieter versions as the Quicksilver is just too loud!
Case fan, PSU exhaust, CPU intake
Which are the best to replace and does anyone know of the best fans I can use to do a direct swop? Thanks in advance.

Hi-
Your fans are as follows:
Case fan 120mm x 25mm = 86 cfm 37 dba
PSU exhaust 80mm x 25mm = 38 cfm 29 dba
CPU intake 60mm x ??= 23 cfm 33.5 dba
As I have, just find a fan of the proper size, and necessary airflow, and replace as desired. Often times, the fans will come with 3 wires. The third, a yellow wire for speed controllers, which doesn't have to be connected. You can rewire your connectors, or use adapters, or solder directly- your choice.
The following has lots of different brands listed, for easy comparison:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=36&zenid= 3b5951b15677aeba573668e965e6d5a0
Sorry about the thickness on the CPU fan- you'll have to measure it (total thickness of fan cage), or, maybe someone else will post.
I have fans by Scythe, A.C. Ryan, Aerocool, and Arctic Cooling. All nice stuff, each much quieter than the origional.
G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

Radeon 9800/256 MB for Sawtooth?

Hello,
Can anyone verify if [this|http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270269208676&trksid=p3907.m32&trkparms=tab%3DWatching] Radeon 9800/256 MB Pro is compatible with the Sawtooth? I should say with my Sawtooth for which I do have a 550 watt PSU; I just haven't installed it yet.
The specs for the 9800/256 MB Pro state it is not compatible with 2X AGP; but it has two gaps in the connectors which indicates it would work on the 2X AGP Sawtooth running 10.4.11.
If the 9800/256 MB Pro is compatible, is it really worth getting over the 9800/128 MB Pro (which is compatible with the Sawtooth)? Mostly I use my G4 to do fine art graphics work in Photoshop and Aperture......Although I do appreciate really fine graphics on my display no matter what I am doing.
Also, will the 9800/256 Pro cool efficiently enough with all three PCI slots being utilized?
Thanks!

Hi-
The fan install isn't difficult. The hardest part is getting the OEM fan off. It uses two push pin type fasteners, that are spring loaded.
If you're game to replace a PSU, then you can do this!
Seems I have managed to break at least one pin on the ATI fans on most attempts at removal....
But, then again, no one ever told me how to do it.........
What the ATI heatsink fasteners are, is a hollow retaining stud, with a spring around the stud to maintain downward pressure on the graphics processor chip (maintain good contact). Then, a pin is inserted into the stud to expand the bottom of the stud in the graphics card board.
Carefully push the pin out of the stud from the back side of the board. A blunted off tooth pick can be used for this (blunted to protect you, not the card ) Then using small needle nose pliers, or hemostats, squeeze the protruding portion of the stud so that it slips back through the hole in the graphics board, releasing the heatsink/fan from the board.
If you don't care to salvage the pins, use a small pair of side cutters and clip the stud off from the back side of the card. Definitely not tedious, this method.......
Careful, though, as the spring will launch the other end of the pin to the nether regions of your room!
Once the assembly is off, using a soft cloth, dampened with isoprophyl alcohol (only if necessary) clean the surface of the graphics processor chip off, leaving no residue.
Place a small amount (about 5mm diameter x 1-2mm thick) of the thermal compound on the processor chip, and then test fit the new heatsink (simply place and remove). From the footprint, you will be able to see if you need more compound, or if there is too much. What you want, is an evenly dispersed, thin coat over the entire mating surface.
MX-2 is thick and sticky, so better to have to add than to have to remove.....
Don't worry too much about excess, as MX-2 is non-conductive, and won't cause any shorts like other compounds can. You can remove some excess from the perimeter of the chip and heatsink with a soft clean cloth.
From there, follow the instructions included with the VGA cooler, and everything should be fine.
The Vantec should use screws, so it is easier to assemble/disassemble.
Pay attention to maker instructions on fastening the heatsink. Proper fastening, neither too tight nor too loose is important.
That should about do ya'. Remember, if you get a flashed card, since you are using it in a Sawtooth, the typically taped #3 and #11 pins (on the backside) don't need to be taped, or otherwise altered.

Is my Radeon 9800 failing?

Hi!
I've got a 2003 model 1.8GHz Powermac G5 (single processor) with an ATI Radeon 9800 video card - this card was a build-to-order option at the time I purchased the system.
A couple of day ago I started to experience strange artefacts/corruption appearing on my screen. Rather alarmingly, the artefacts show up in screen captures I make (can post screen shots if anyone thinks it would help...).
I've taken the following steps to try to identify the problem:
1. Rebooted (obviously!).
2. Reseated the video card in it's AGP slot (I'm comfortable working inside computers so I'm pretty sure I didn't break anything whilst doing this...).
3. Reset the PRAM on the G5.
4. Booted from a Firewire drive into TIger (I'm running Leopard on the G5's internal HDD) to rule out any OS issues.
5. Tried a different monitor and a different display cable.
6. Changed screen resolution, refresh rate and colour depth in system preferences.
The problem persists after trying each of these steps. I have noticed that screen behaves OK when the computer is first switched on or after it's been woken from sleep - it takes a few minutes for the corruption to kick in - perhaps suggesting that the fault only develops when the card has had time to heat up? With the machine powered up, the cooling fan on the Radeon card seems to be spinning away as per normal.
I haven't installed any new hardware or software recently.
I can really only conclude that my video card is dying - unfortunately I don't have access to a spare card to check this out. My next step is to order a replacement card from Apple (grits teeth at cost...), but I wonder if anyone here has experienced any similar problems, or if I'm missing something obvious....
Thanks in advance for any help!
Matt

Here's an update on the situation: With some work booked in for early next week, I needed to get the system back up and running again ASAP.
I ordered and received a Radeon X800 XT card from Apple. It worked perfectly for about an hour and then the problem came back - even worse than before. I was now worried that the fault might have been on the logic board all along...
...However, some research on ATI/AMD's website, and also some further digging on these boards suggested that there is a known and unresolved problem with the latest batch of X800 XT cards. A call to ATI's support desk with my serial number confirmed the card I'd received new that morning was one of the effected batch (so why, you might ask, have they not be recalled and are still being sold?).
I got back in touch with Apple and was offered either a replacement or a refund (the support staff were very helpful). Since they couldn't guarantee that a replacement card wouldn't be from the same batch and therefore have the same problem, I requested a refund and ordered my only other option: A Radeon 9600 256MB.
It does kind of sting having to pay so much for such a vintage GPU and essentially a downgrade to my original card, but on the upside, the new card arrived this morning and my system has been running flawlessly for the past several hours (keeps fingers crossed it stays that way!), plus I've gained a dual link DVI port.
I do, however, want to have a go at resurrecting my 9800 card - so thanks to Tom for the link to the Arctic Cooling solution he provided above. I think it's going to sooner rather than later before you can't get new AGP cards for macs, so it would be good to know I have a spare on hand...
Matt

ATI/Radeon 9800 Pro 128 AGP 4x/2x in Gigabit Ethernet dual 450 PMac G4

Hi,
This is my first time posting to these discussion group... I've been going through related threads and have not found an answer to my problem...
I have a Gigabit Ethernet dual 450 G4. Awhile ago I upgraded the processor to a Sonnet 1.8ghz so I could run Leopard.
I just bough the ATI/Radeon 9800 Pro 128 AGP 4x/2x video card. I researched around and that seemed to be a card that would work in my machine. I even read a review on Amazon where someone had also upgraded to the 1.8 processor used this card with no issues.
I do have an older monitor - Apple Studio Display CRT with the ADC connector. So I also bought the Apple DVI to ADC adapter kit.
I installed the card and do not get any picture at all - I believe I have installed everything correctly. I'm pretty sure I can hear the fan on the video card in the machine. The monitor is getting power from the adapter since the button lights up when I press it - but it does not stay lit -- the monitor never turns on. Using my old graphics card the monitor makes a little "beep" when it turns on.
In reading the other topics I am wondering if it might be a power issue? According to Other World Computing's profile my machine has a max of 220 watts. Although they suggest this video card as one the will work in my machine.
I have disabled the hard drive that came with the machine (too small) and am using two Maxtor hard drives that I added - one ATA (120gb) and one SATA (500gb) that is connected to an SATA pci card. I also have two additional pci cards with usb 2.0/firewire ports.
In looking at the topics here I came across the link about taping the 3 and 11 pins on the video card. Even though the card I have is 4x/2x not 8x I thought I'd give it a shot. That did not work either.
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

I don't wish to sound redundant here, but I've been reviewing the vendor's page:
It's OK- I don't mind beating this dead horse....
The maker says such to protect themselves from possible claims that may arise due to over loaded systems and power problems when their card is installed in said system.
Of course, 300w would be nice, but they didn't even specify the PSU rating a couple years ago. The Sawtooth, with it's 237w PSU, used to be listed as a compatible machine for the 9800...... They just didn't consider how far a Sawtooth might be modded.
Within reason, the early G4's (Sawtooths) are capable of using the Radeon 9800 Pro. The GE has the same 338w PSU as the DA (they are interchangeable), so there is plenty of power for the 9800.
One thing to remember, the requirements of the ADC port of the AGP slot are removed by using a non ADC card. This really changes the calculations of the power available.
It's kinda' a long post, but, if you care to get ALL the details, check the following:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7065653&#7065653
I think you'll be satisfied with the explanation.......
Which leaves your second, and very appropriate, point.
The main enemy of all, though, isn't power. Heat is the biggest concern.
Reducing heat/increasing cooling by using a third party fan on the 9800 is highly recommended. The 9800 is a hot card, and the stock fan is prone to early failure.
Adding additional cooling to remove the extra heat produced by the 9800, by using an exausting PCI fan, will also help the PSU provide adequate voltage to the system, by reducing the amount of hot air moving out of the PSU.
Super heated air moving through the PSU reduces the cooling ability of the PSU. A hot PSU doesn't produce reliable power.
So, add the 9800, add some cooling, and enjoy!

Radeon 9800 Replacement Fan

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