Compatibility

[david bazley]

This is my first post and I do not understand very much about Video Cards,
so please make your answers simple.
I have a 1.9 Gh PC with 1000Mb RAM and fitted with a Matrox G550 32 Mb.
I really thought my PC was pretty powerful for graphics design, but then I
bought Flight Simulator 2004 and suddenly realised that there is an entirely
different world of games out there and that my two year old video card was
just a model T Ford in a world of new racing cars. So I need a new Video
Card to really enjoy FS 2004 and get better modelling and either the 9600 or
9800 PRO has been recommended.

So a few questions please:
1. Will either of these cards simply slot into my existing AGP slot which by
the way is 2X and 4X compatible?
2. Does the fact that these two ATI cards being 8X compatible plugging into
4X compatible mean that I will not get the benefit of their full potential
power?
3. Will the power of the 9800 Pro be somewhat wasted on my 1.9Gh - a
racehorse trying to run on a slow muddy track?
3. Where can I get a clear briefing or book to wise me up on video cards so
I don't have to keep asking rookie questions? I mean what is the difference
between 4X and 8X. Is it something to do with the size of the buss, 4X being
16 bit and 8X being 32 bit?

Thanks,

Baz

 

[Guest]

This is my first post and I do not understand very much about Video Cards,
so please make your answers simple.
I have a 1.9 Gh PC with 1000Mb RAM and fitted with a Matrox G550 32 Mb.
I really thought my PC was pretty powerful for graphics design, but then I
bought Flight Simulator 2004 and suddenly realised that there is an entirely
different world of games out there and that my two year old video card was
just a model T Ford in a world of new racing cars. So I need a new Video
Card to really enjoy FS 2004 and get better modelling and either the 9600 or
9800 PRO has been recommended.

So a few questions please:
1. Will either of these cards simply slot into my existing AGP slot which by
the way is 2X and 4X compatible?
2. Does the fact that these two ATI cards being 8X compatible plugging into
4X compatible mean that I will not get the benefit of their full potential
power?
3. Will the power of the 9800 Pro be somewhat wasted on my 1.9Gh - a
racehorse trying to run on a slow muddy track?
3. Where can I get a clear briefing or book to wise me up on video cards so
I don't have to keep asking rookie questions? I mean what is the difference
between 4X and 8X. Is it something to do with the size of the buss, 4X being
16 bit and 8X being 32 bit?

Thanks,

Baz

Hi!

1) Yes, all video cards that I know of are backwards compatible. You can
get an 8x card and stick it in a 4x slot, however..
2) you will not take advantage of any possible extra performance. An 8x
card in a 4x slot will function as a 4x card.
3) The power will definitely not be wasted. You should see a very large
boost in performance. Some games are very heavily dependant on CPU speed,
but your CPU is fast, so you should be fine. I recommend the 9800 Pro if
you can spare the extra cash. Just get the 128mb version, you can find them
for like $220 now. Use pricewatch. (www.pricewatch.com)
4) I'm not sure where to look for specific information but remember that
www.google.com is your best friend. If you want to learn more about AGP,
search "what is agp" with google web/groups. As for AGP 4X and 8X .. think
of it like CDROM speed. The faster the better. It is the speed of
communication between the AGP port and system memory, I believe. Currently
you will see little/no performance increase with cards faster than 4X. That
might change with the release of games like HalfLife2, Doom3, and so forth,
but I'm not sure.

dxtx

 

[J. Clarke]

This is my first post and I do not understand very much about Video Cards,
so please make your answers simple.
I have a 1.9 Gh PC with 1000Mb RAM and fitted with a Matrox G550 32 Mb.
I really thought my PC was pretty powerful for graphics design, but then I
bought Flight Simulator 2004 and suddenly realised that there is an
entirely different world of games out there and that my two year old video
card was just a model T Ford in a world of new racing cars. So I need a
new Video Card to really enjoy FS 2004 and get better modelling and either
the 9600 or 9800 PRO has been recommended.

So a few questions please:
1. Will either of these cards simply slot into my existing AGP slot which
by the way is 2X and 4X compatible?
Yes.

2. Does the fact that these two ATI cards being 8X compatible plugging
into 4X compatible mean that I will not get the benefit of their full
potential power?

Not really. The difference in real-world performance between AGP 4x and 8x
is a few percent at best.

3. Will the power of the 9800 Pro be somewhat wasted on my 1.9Gh - a
racehorse trying to run on a slow muddy track?

A 1.9 should be able to give it a decent workout.

 

[david bazley]

My thanks to dxtx and J Clarke for really helpful answers. Thanks guys
really appreciated, the light is dawning - slowly. By the way the 9800 PRO
is 200 British pounds over over, which is a lot more than 220 dollars.
Unless of course any Brit reading this knows different?

Baz