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ATI Radeon 7500 Installation

I'm trying something different with this page, let me know if it's better presented than the Project: BlueCube setup.

Disclaimer: This page is for reference information only. I am not responsible for any damage you

cause to yourself or your computer.

 

For more information about video cards for the cube, visit cubeowner.com then click on Graphics/Video Card Upgrades.

This site is excellent and I highly recommend any cube owener to check it out, thanks Laurie!!!

I chose the ATI Radeon 7500 because it was much more available on eBay than the nVidia GeForce 3MX, although video cards for the cube are generally very scarce.

Both cards were available on PowerMac G4 towers, thus are pulled from those units for sale on eBay.

The nVidia GeForce 3MX is also much more expensive, the last one I looked at went for over $350.00.

But is does perform better than the ATI Radeon 7500(which I got for $199), visit xlr8yourmac.com for more information on these cards performances, thanks Mike!!!

I did a lot of research all over the web before I decided on the 7500, much of the information was scattered all over and incomplete, just enough information to get you interested but not enough to actually see how to do it.

Let me start off by saying that this project requires familiarity with using cutting tools, specifically the Dremel Tool with cutting wheels, so it's not exactly for the novice, previous knowledge required such as removing the video card from the cube.

That being said, lets get on with it:

 

 

 

Here are both cards together

 

Here's another view, notice both card fences indicated by the red arrows

Here's a view of the fences removed 7500 on the left

Both card fences removed placed back to back. You can now see why you can't
just switch fences as with other video cards.

 

Testing the 7500 with fence removed, note how close the card comes to the dc power board,
which is why a taller card will not work such as the new ATI 9000 Pro

Although someone did shoehorn a ATI 8500 in a cube over at xlr8yourmac.com

The card will work without the fence, but will put stress on the AGP riser card and AGP Slot

Match ADC connectors together on both fences and then mark holes as indicated by the red

arrows with a fine tip sharpie.

 

Here are the sharpie marks indicated by the red arrows.

Center punch the marks with a center punch

Here's with the center punch, makes drilling much easier, use a 1/8" drill bit

Here's what you get when your done, two new holes.

Dremel cuttng tool time, cut off the left and right sides first.

Like this

Then this, sorry about the flash

Now mark the top of the fence like this, I used a no 2 pencil and the ATI Rage fence as a guide

 

Cut the top portion of the fence off, no need to remove the bottom, fits as is

I used this piece of aluminum as a guide with the vice grips in order to cut a straigth line.

Here's the completed fence

Bolted back on the 7500

I had to remove one of the jack screws on the VGA connector to make it fit.

Fully installed and running fine. Quake 3 is MUCH better now.

 

I hope everyone enjoyed this demostration, please let me know if this is better presented than Project BlueCube

using the .Mac homepage templates. If so, I will do future pages such as the fan install this way instead.

Thanks for checking out my little space on the web.