PC hardware in a Mac?

V

vikram

Registered
This is probably a reeeaaalllllllly old question - can you install PC PCI, AGP and PCI-e cards in a Mac? Apple pretty much uses all the same standards as the PC world (Hypertransport for the G5, I think), PCI, AGP, USB, blablabla........
Heck, the new Intel Macs are just shiny PCs with a reflective badge of a half-eaten fruit.........................

I already know that any SATA or IDE device will work in a Mac, with the right drivers (if Mac OS doesn't already have it). My old Rev. D iMac has a 40GB Seagate HDD in it. I also know that standard RAM fits in most Macs........
 
It all depends on the device. The device needs to have a specific Mac ROM on it, or needs to use an open standard (like OHCI/EHCI for USB) to be usable in a Macintosh.

Best bet would be to post the specific expansion card in question here and see if anyone has any experience with it.

Typically, you cannot use graphics cards in a Mac unless they are specifically designed for a Mac (ATi has an exception -- they make a graphics card that is compatible with both PC and Mac out-of-the-box).
 
i'm not sure about the current situation with the intel macs. the larger ROM needed on the mac cards was to communicate with the Open Firmware, right? instead of BIOS?. now they're using EFI instead, what's the view? standard PC cards?
 
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