Re: old G4, new monitor?

Smitty Two wrote: 
In article <PvadnSb3Z-Yh8DLeRVnytA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
 Chu-En Ginsberg <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Chu-En Ginsberg wrote:
Smitty Two wrote: 
OK,

I confess to not having learned much since I was using punch cards in the early 70's. I've got a friend with an older G4, single processor 400 mhz. I'm sure it's a stock model with no video upgrade. Anyway, her old 17" CRT died and she wants to replace it with a new LCD monitor, preferably a 19" or 21".

What kind of compatibility issues does she need to worry about? Are there only two types of interfaces now, VGA and DVI? So anything that's VGA will work? What about video power on larger monitors? Will her stock machine run a 21" monitor?

Will she need additional video ram or some sort of video card? Cables? Adapters? Any brand/models to look at or avoid?

Any and all help will be much appreciated. I don't think I know enough to even ask all the right questions.

Smitty
The 400 MHz G4 was either the Yikes! or Sawtooth varients: Yikes! has PCI graphics with an ATI Rage 128 (VGA connection). Sawtooth uses AGP with either an ATI Rage 128 or Rage Pro card (either VGA or DVI-D connectors). In either case, a bog-standard VGA monitor will work fine. The limited memory of these cards will mean that the available display resolutions will be limited, probably to no more than 1024 x 768. It might be worth looking to upgrade the vid card it she plans to use in with a big monitor.

Chu

I'm talking crap - it should support 1600 x 1200 (should have looked at the mem sahib's machine, which is the same vintage). Blame it on too many mince pies :))

Chu

Lemme see if I'm thinking clearly, here. If her current max resolution option is 1600 x 1200, with her 17" CRT, then assuming no video board upgrade, she'll have that max resolution available for a larger LCD monitor, too? If she wants more pixels, then I assume she needs a new video board, correct?

She does have the G4 with the AGP graphics. Not sure which ATI board she has, but system profiler says 16MB video RAM. Now she's looking at 23" LCDs (jeez, i'm getting envious) with a "native" resolution of 1920 x 1200. I don't know what "native" means in this context. Is there an ATI card that will work on her old machine that will give her that, or more? (She doesn't want to go to OSX, so that's a consideration, too.)

Looking at the mem sahib's machine, the ATI card appears to be able to drive up to 1920 x 1080 @ 72 Hz - it ought to therefore be able to drive a larger LCD. A more modern card might be an advantage, however, and not too costly to implement.


Also, do you have an extra mince pie lying around?

Regrettably no, but I do have some rather fine choccy cake lurking in the kitchen - but not for much longer :D

Chu

--
chuenginsberg at mac dot com
.

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