agp4X and agp8x

[tucker 0]

I have a computer with AGP4x and I want to get a better graphics card for it. The problem is that all the cards I have seen are AGP8x and so will not work for me. I have seen a card that says AGP8x/AGP4x, does this mean that it will work in my AGP4x motherboard? Also, if it does work, will it be operating more slower than it would do at AGP8x?

[Relic 0]

There is no discernible difference between AGP 4X/8X, a slight diff, but not noticable to the eye, only in benchmarks.

 

An 8X card will work with a 4X mobo.

 

What mobo do you have, and what are you upgrading from? We can help you in your choice of vidcards too, if we know what you're working with. The amount you're willing to spend on your upgrade will help in choosing/suggesting a card for you too.

[tucker 0]

Originally posted by Relic:

Quote:

There is no discernible difference between AGP 4X/8X, a slight diff, but not noticable to the eye, only in benchmarks.

 

An 8X card will work with a 4X mobo.

 

What mobo do you have, and what are you upgrading from? We can help you in your choice of vidcards too, if we know what you're working with. The amount you're willing to spend on your upgrade will help in choosing/suggesting a card for you too.

I currently have a Geforce2 MX400 64mb card, I was wanting a card that is like the Geforce4 MX440. I do not know what motherboard I have.

 

[Relic 0]

Well, start off by going to "Start/Programs/Accessories/System Information"

and let's have a look at what you have now.

 

If you have an MX 400, the very LEAST you would want to upgrade to is a ti4200/4800 series, better yet, a 6600GT. A 6600GT will run you about $150 to $170, no small chunk of change.

 

I'm an nVidia fanboy, which I freely admit to, but the ATI 9600 series will also be a big upgrade for you, for about $100.

 

An ATI 9550 would work well for you, no matter what your mobo is.

 

Myself, I'll have the ti4200(Albatron ti4280 Medusa) I currently have running in this system right now, up for sale in maybe two weeks, as soon as my eVGA 6600GT comes in.

 

I'll toss it to you for $50, gimme $10 for shipping, $60 total, and it's yours.

 

That's provided you live in Canada or the US, across the pond will cost more. I payed $125 for it(Canadian), and I admit I have OC'ed it, it OC's very well, but it's been run at stock clocks forever, very stable card, and it hasn't been stressed.

 

Lemme know if you want it, and I'll give you a date when it will be available, sometime after the 16th of this month at the latest, probably before then, depending on whether I get my new vidcard shipped to me, or decide to just drive down and pick it up(100 mile trip, one way).

 

Later.

[tucker 0]

Originally posted by Relic:

Quote:

Well, start off by going to "Start/Programs/Accessories/System Information"

and let's have a look at what you have now.

 

If you have an MX 400, the very LEAST you would want to upgrade to is a ti4200/4800 series, better yet, a 6600GT. A 6600GT will run you about $150 to $170, no small chunk of change.

 

I'm an nVidia fanboy, which I freely admit to, but the ATI 9600 series will also be a big upgrade for you, for about $100.

 

An ATI 9550 would work well for you, no matter what your mobo is.

 

Myself, I'll have the ti4200(Albatron ti4280 Medusa) I currently have running in this system right now, up for sale in maybe two weeks, as soon as my eVGA 6600GT comes in.

 

I'll toss it to you for $50, gimme $10 for shipping, $60 total, and it's yours.

 

That's provided you live in Canada or the US, across the pond will cost more. I payed $125 for it(Canadian), and I admit I have OC'ed it, it OC's very well, but it's been run at stock clocks forever, very stable card, and it hasn't been stressed.

 

Lemme know if you want it, and I'll give you a date when it will be available, sometime after the 16th of this month at the latest, probably before then, depending on whether I get my new vidcard shipped to me, or decide to just drive down and pick it up(100 mile trip, one way).

 

Later.

Yes, I have done what you have told me, but still can't find what my motherboard is. Is motherboard and IDE controller the same thing? If it is then its a Intel® 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller.Will any AGP8x card work for me, or only the AGP8x/4x card? I thought that AGP8x and Agp4x had different voltages and so a AGP8x card would not work with my AGP4x motherboard.

 

[Down8 0]

APG is completely backwards compatible as far as I know. Any AGP card will work in any slot.

 

-bZj

[Relic 0]

Okay, if you really want to know what mobo you have, head over here and snag SiSoft Sandra, the free edition. http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=177

 

You have an Intel mobo, I can tell you that much.

 

An 8X/4X card will work no problem in your system, I'm dropping a 6600GT into this system in a week, it's 8X, my mobo is 4X, it's just not a problem. 8X/4X AGP cards use the same voltage, 1.5v, and as I've already said, there's no noticable diff between 8X and 4X. The AGP slot is just too slow to make a diff. PCI-Express, on the otherhand, is a big difference.

 

BTW, what card were you looking at? I'll verify if it's AGP 4X compatible for you, if that will make you feel a bit more secure about your purchase.

[tucker 0]

Originally posted by Relic:

Quote:

Okay, if you really want to know what mobo you have, head over here and snag SiSoft Sandra, the free edition. http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=177

 

You have an Intel mobo, I can tell you that much.

 

An 8X/4X card will work no problem in your system, I'm dropping a 6600GT into this system in a week, it's 8X, my mobo is 4X, it's just not a problem. 8X/4X AGP cards use the same voltage, 1.5v, and as I've already said, there's no noticable diff between 8X and 4X. The AGP slot is just too slow to make a diff. PCI-Express, on the otherhand, is a big difference.

 

BTW, what card were you looking at? I'll verify if it's AGP 4X compatible for you, if that will make you feel a bit more secure about your purchase.

The card I am looking at is a Albatron MX4000 128MB DDR AGP TV OUT. The manufactures code is MX4000L.

 

[Relic 0]

That card is compatible right down to a 1X AGP slot, no worries with your 4X slot, go for it. My ti4200 would kick the snot out of that MX4000 though, and will work with your 4X slot, it's in a 4X slot right now. :^)

 

Here's a pic of the specs, notice it's an 8X card running at 4X.

 

 

Here's a shot of the AGP settings.

 

 

 

[American Zombie 0]

Download then run CPU-Z.

Look on the mainboard tab to see what board you have and the maximum AGP it supports.

[Shadow64Bt 0]

Couple things I'd like to point out.

The AGP slot is by no means "slow." It runs on it's own bus apart from the PCI slots, that is why it was implemented in the first place. It's only real downfall is the architecture that was used to build left no room for major expansion. Motherboards and CPUs could only handle one AGP slot, as a second AGP bus would clog the pipelines, sort of like rush-hour traffic. The difference between 4x and 8x AGP is not exactly night and day, and niether is the difference between AGP and PCI-E currently. The only time you will see a big difference between AGP and PCI-E is when there are two cards running SLI or CrossFire in PCI-E vs. a single AGP card, and, of course, when software is designed to take advantage of the increased bandwidth.

The performance delta between 4x and 8x however, can be quite noticeable on a card built to truly take advantage of it. The older GeForce 4 series cards were built with 4x AGP, when they upgraded them to use 8x, the architecture was not changed at all, so those cards are really only 8x AGP in name only.

Of course, none of this means anything now with PCI-E becoming industry standard, and my beloved AGP is going the way of ISA. That's progress for you.

Anyways, enjoy.

 

Oh, and a side note, every AGP slot in the series is different. Late 4x era AGP cards will not run in 1x/2x slots, but early 4x cards will run in 1x/2x/4x (Universal) slots, and 1x cards will run in 1x/2x and old 4x slots, but not in new 4x/8x slots, and 2x and 2x/4x cards will run in any of the series. Very confusing, I know, especially without visual aides, it basically all comes down to the number of notches in the connector, and of course, whether or not you can set the voltage of your AGP slot.

 

Anyways, that's it for my rant, enjoy

[Relic 0]

If it fits the slot, it will work is basically how it works. I'm an nVidia fanboy, but ATI has an excellent visual on AGP compliance, take a look over here: https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge

 

As for nVidia, check here: http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidi...amp;p_topview=1

 

 

[tucker 0]

Here is the imformation Manufacturer Compaq, model 077Ch, Chipset Intel 1845 Rev A3, Southbridge Intel 82801BA(ICH2), Graphic Interface Version AGP version 2.0, Transfer rate 4X, Max Supported 4X, Aperture size 64 MBytes, Sideband disabled.

[Relic 0]

Final link, your vidcard will work with that modo.

 

http://www.playtool.com/pages/agpcompat/agp.html

[tucker 0]

Originally posted by Relic:

Quote:

Final link, your vidcard will work with that modo.

 

http://www.playtool.com/pages/agpcompat/agp.html

Yes, my intel i845 is 1.5 volts, and so it will work with the MX4000 chipset card which is a Universal AGP 3.0 card. I now have more choices of cards to choose from. Thanks.

 

[Relic 0]

You're welcome.

 

If you have your heart set on an MX4000, find one that is at least 128bit, not 64bit. Any card that is at least 128mb, 128bit, especially if you do any gaming at all. If you get a card that is only 64bit, you will be disappointed.

 

I picked up an BFG FX5500 to replace an FX5200, but did not realize it was only 64bit until I installed it. My old Voodoo 3000 actually performed better than the FX5500 64bit.

 

Check the specs of the card very carefully, 64bit cards can't transfer info all that fast, especially when gaming. 128mb of memory, 128bit transfer rate, and you'll be impressed, anything less, I doubt you'll be happy.

 

Example of what you would want, decent price too: http://www3.ncix.com/products/index.php?...%20Technologies

 

This is also 128mb 256bit: http://www.bytewizecomputers.com/products/7/21/630/6618

 

Good luck, and I'll stress one last time, get a card with a minimum of 128BIT bus.

[tucker 0]

Originally posted by Relic:

Quote:

You're welcome.

 

If you have your heart set on an MX4000, find one that is at least 128bit, not 64bit. Any card that is at least 128mb, 128bit, especially if you do any gaming at all. If you get a card that is only 64bit, you will be disappointed.

 

I picked up an BFG FX5500 to replace an FX5200, but did not realize it was only 64bit until I installed it. My old Voodoo 3000 actually performed better than the FX5500 64bit.

 

Check the specs of the card very carefully, 64bit cards can't transfer info all that fast, especially when gaming. 128mb of memory, 128bit transfer rate, and you'll be impressed, anything less, I doubt you'll be happy.

 

Example of what you would want, decent price too: http://www3.ncix.com/products/index.php?...%20Technologies

 

This is also 128mb 256bit: http://www.bytewizecomputers.com/products/7/21/630/6618

 

Good luck, and I'll stress one last time, get a card with a minimum of 128BIT bus.

The Albatron card that I am looking at says Memory Bus 64 Bit, does this mean that it is only a 64bit card, or is " Memory Bus" not what you are talking about?

 

[Relic 0]

Originally posted by tucker:

 

Quote:

The Albatron card that I am looking at says Memory Bus 64 Bit, does this mean that it is only a 64bit card, or is " Memory Bus" not what you are talking about?

 

Yup, that's a 64bit card, it will be slow. 128bit minimum memory bus for today's apps and games. 64bit is a major performance hit, bigtime.