4x AGP vs: 8x AGP

[Sumdumgi]

Is there a noticeable difference between the two? I am buying a new 9700pro and the mobo I am leaning towards ASUS P4PE Motherboard for Intel P4 478 only supports 4x AGP.
TIA

[bailey]

I would recommend that you wait a bit before you go out and buy the p4te just now, seams that is is having a cold-boot problem that asus is testing at r&d right now, thinking it may be a bios problem. so hang tight on that right now and watch these threads for future updates.

I just built one this past week and ran into the problem myself.

went to the asus forums and read a lot about thes problem.

[juppy]

As for your original question, I've read several threads around here that there isn't much noticeable difference. Like 2% or so, and that's only going to possibly show up in benchmarks and not to your eyes.

[Sumdumgi]

Thanks for the heads up Bailey, also thanks to juppy my fellow okie for answering my question. It would be interesting to know what others think also though.

[wschino]

I think its just another one of those gimmicks that they are trying to use to get you to buy stuff. I really don't see 8X going anywhere.

[Tuf]

There's not much software that can take advantage of 8X as of now. But that will change and probably pretty soon. The few programs that are out that are written for 8X do perform significantly better when 8X is available to them.

I wouldn't buy a mobo today that didn't have support 8X unless I knew for sure I would never put a video card in it that did. In other words if I had a 9700 I would absolutely consider it mandatory.

When I build a new computer for myself I want it to have all the performance that is available at the time.

[Sumdumgi]

Yeah Tuff but the ASUS P4PE Motherboard is so loaded except for that and is getting excellent reviews, excluding Baileys comment.

Whats up with all the locals online tonight, lol.:D

[AzCoastie]

I've been running the Asus P4PE since early December without any problems... Very stable! :D

Here's my setup:
Lian-Li PC65 Case w/ Enermax PSU
Asus P4PE Mobo w/ Soundmax on board (Great sound!)
Intel P4 2.53 CPU Retail
512MB Corsair PC2700 DDR (x2)
WD 80GB Special Edition HDD
WD 30GB HDD
Lite-on 16x DVD
Lite-on 48/24/48 CDRW
ATI RADEON 9700 Pro
WinXP Pro SP1
Also, you wont notice any difference between 4X & 8X AGP.

[Sumdumgi]

Looks pretty similiar to what I am building excluding the DVD and the lian-li. I love their cases as far as heat dissipation and quality but I just dont care for their look. To traditional for me. Sounds like I wont be able to tell much difference in 4x-8x at least until software advances are made. Thanks everyone!

[HAL9000]

8X AGP isn't going to be noticable until you run at some very high monitor resolutions. 4X just begins to be noticable at 1024x768 and doesn't begin to shine until 1280x1024 and higher.

[Ryan2318]

the p4pe is extremely stable... where did you hear about that problem?

[whargoul]

I don't know how widespread the problem is, but this (http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/3879/) is the first link Google returned for a search (http://www.google.ca/search?q=p4pe+cold+boot+problem&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta=).
I don't think there is any doubt it is stable - when it runs.

[Sumdumgi]

I didnt look hard in the forums but I didnt see anything about it.

[mike breck]

In my opinion, AGP 8x is just a maketing dodge at the moment.

From what I've read, there is hardly any performance boost with AGP 3.0/8x for present day games. The games just don't take advantage of the higher 2.1GB bandwidth. Now this will probably change over the next few years, but until then, I would go for a AGP card with higher clock speeds on AGP 4x.

By the time games are really utilizing anywhere near the 2.1GB bandwidth, it will probably be time to upgrade the system again.

[Tuf]

As with any hardware choice it boils down to what software are you going to be using. If just want to surf the internet, any machine built in th last three years or so is gonna be just fine.

But if you are going to sink a significant amount of money into a machine and use it for two or three years I think it makes sense to buy everything that you think you might have a need for.

[mystvearn]

Now that there is this thread, Is 8x backwards compatible?And the voltage,is it the same?

[mike breck]

In theory, yes.

If the card has Universal AGP with two notches, then it should work in an AGP 2.0 (1.5v) or AGP 3.0 (0.8v) motherboard slot. So putting newer cards into older AGP 2.0 mobos should ok.

However, if the card is a dedicated AGP 3.0 and just has one 1.5v notch, then it may not work in an AGP 2.0 mobo.

The other problem, will be trying to use AGP 2.0 cards in AGP 3.0 mobos. Whether this works will depend on the connectors on the card and the mobo.

I would assume most manufacturers will adopt the Universal AGP connectors for their cards to ensure maximum backwards compatibilty.

HTH

[Spyda]

some boards require you to have a 1.5v card installed, otherwise buuuuuuuuuuurn

[mike breck]

Yes,

As far as I know that, that applies to the Intel 845 and 850 chipsets. You cannot use 3.3v cards in these mobos.

[mystvearn]

Well I have this 3d card which I'm not sure can fit in an asus p4pe.
Here's the link.

http://www.aopen.com/products/vga/gf2ti-vo64.htm

It says it supports 2x and 4x.:confused:

[mike breck]

Well if it supports AGP 4x, then it supports 1.5v and will be OK.

If the card has two slots on the connectors, then it can run at 3.3v (2x) and 1.5v (4x). The connectors on the card and AGP slot will make sure it runs at the right voltage.

The danger would be when placing an older card with only ONE slot on the connectors into these boards. The one slot would mean it just works at 3.3v.

Most cards from Geoforce 2 onwards can work at 1.5v.

The problem was that some cards, namely SiS305 based cards and a few others which I have still to identify, had two slots on the connectors and therefore appeared to conform to 3.3v/1.5v. However, this was cosmetic as the cards actually just ran at 3.3v.

The result was dead mobo time.

[mystvearn]

Well there is a sticker on the chip of my geforce2 saying 3.0v. I'm not sure now...
What are the connectors?is it the metal thing on the 3dcard that fits in the agp slots? Well my card has 4 of those-3 fits in the long slot, then there is the short one that fits in the other place on the agp slot.

I'm going to but an asus motherboard with agp8x?-is that compatible with my card?

Does anyone know?

[mike breck]

Yes,

The connectors are the "gold fingers" at the base of the card which fit into the AGP slot.

Your card has two slots or notches on the "main body" of the connectors (forget the extra bit) and therefore supports 1.5v signalling.

Your card will work in an AGP (3.0) 8x mobo. As indeed an AGP 8x card would work in an AGP (2.0) 4x mobo.

However, nothing in 100% guaranteed in this area. Even tho some cards and mobos meet the specifications, they don't work together.

The only way to find out is to try - unless someone has put exactly the same brand and model of card in that mobo and can tell us it works.

HTH

[mystvearn]

:) Thanks-I feel a lot better. Not to find someone who has done it is a problem. Anyone has tried placing a geforce 2 Ti 64mbddr in an asus p4gx/p4pe@ other Asus 8x agp slot please come forward.:rolleyes:

[mike breck]

I wouldn't worry too much mystvearn.

If it doesn't work, you'll have a "very" good excuse to buy a G4 Ti4200.

The prices have come down quite a bit now.

;)

[mystvearn]

Thanks-but I'm waiting for the release of graphic cards that can capture video in in the DIVX format.:rolleyes: I would still like to keep the card though. Its very impressive. Lots of tweakables.