Is a 2x/4x AGP v.2.0 slot compatible with the AGP 4x/8x slot? In other words, are 2x/4x AGP compatio

[NIV Consulting]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am VERY confised with AGP, especially with the different versions-
AGP 2x/4x. AGP 4x/8x. It does not seem to make much sense to me.

Here is a synopsis of my situation and quandry. I have a PC/
workstation built on the Tyan S1834 Tiger 133 main board (motherboard)
with dual P3 933MHz CPU's, 1.5 GB of ECC PC133 memory, 250 GB ATA Hard
Drive, and an ATi Radeon 32MB 2X/4X AGP v.2.0 Graphics Memory (VRAM
video card. This main board (motherboard) is old but among the best
ones at the time that I had purchased it (circa 2000-2001 or so). I
have had this machine since then and have sentimental value to it that
I want to upgrade it as much as this system board (motherboard) will
allow me to do so. I am currently running Windows XP Professional SP2
on this and it performs superbly and is never too slow.

My objective is this-I currently have an 2X/4X AGP ATi Radeon 32MB
VRAM video card (as I just mentioned before) that is currently
installed in my 2X/4X AGP V.2.0 (AGP) slot. From shopping online at
pricewatch.com, I see a lot of 4X/8X AGP video cards which mostly are
the ones with 256 MB of VRAM, the type that I would like to upgrade
to. But when I look for 2X/4X AGP v.2.0 compatible video cards, they
only go up to 64MB, sometimes (but rarely) 128MB of VRAM. I would
ideally like to upgrade my video card to one that has at the very
least 128 MB VRAM, preferably 256 MB VRAM. at the best cost.
Replacing my computer or buying a new one is NOT AN OPTION.

The bottom line is that I would like to get the best video card
upgrade for my money , while ensuring that my upgrade part will be
100% compatible with the AGP v.2.0 2X/4X slot. on my Tyan main board
(motherboard). And also, going back to my original question, is 2X/4X
AGP 2.0 compatible or NOT compatible with 4X/8X AGP? What is my best
option for a good AGP video card that has 128-256 MB VRAM, that is
compatible with what I currently have, given my situation?

If anyone has answers to my questions and has a solution to my
quandry, please respond with your advise. Any good ideas,
suggestions, and advice for me will very greatly be appreciated. Thank
you in advance for reading my post and for helping me with my quandry.

Sincerely,

Kevin Shen

 

[Paul]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am VERY confised with AGP, especially with the different versions-
AGP 2x/4x. AGP 4x/8x. It does not seem to make much sense to me.

Here is a synopsis of my situation and quandry. I have a PC/
workstation built on the Tyan S1834 Tiger 133 main board (motherboard)
with dual P3 933MHz CPU's, 1.5 GB of ECC PC133 memory, 250 GB ATA Hard
Drive, and an ATi Radeon 32MB 2X/4X AGP v.2.0 Graphics Memory (VRAM
video card. This main board (motherboard) is old but among the best
ones at the time that I had purchased it (circa 2000-2001 or so). I
have had this machine since then and have sentimental value to it that
I want to upgrade it as much as this system board (motherboard) will
allow me to do so. I am currently running Windows XP Professional SP2
on this and it performs superbly and is never too slow.

My objective is this-I currently have an 2X/4X AGP ATi Radeon 32MB
VRAM video card (as I just mentioned before) that is currently
installed in my 2X/4X AGP V.2.0 (AGP) slot. From shopping online at
pricewatch.com, I see a lot of 4X/8X AGP video cards which mostly are
the ones with 256 MB of VRAM, the type that I would like to upgrade
to. But when I look for 2X/4X AGP v.2.0 compatible video cards, they
only go up to 64MB, sometimes (but rarely) 128MB of VRAM. I would
ideally like to upgrade my video card to one that has at the very
least 128 MB VRAM, preferably 256 MB VRAM. at the best cost.
Replacing my computer or buying a new one is NOT AN OPTION.

The bottom line is that I would like to get the best video card
upgrade for my money , while ensuring that my upgrade part will be
100% compatible with the AGP v.2.0 2X/4X slot. on my Tyan main board
(motherboard). And also, going back to my original question, is 2X/4X
AGP 2.0 compatible or NOT compatible with 4X/8X AGP? What is my best
option for a good AGP video card that has 128-256 MB VRAM, that is
compatible with what I currently have, given my situation?

If anyone has answers to my questions and has a solution to my
quandry, please respond with your advise. Any good ideas,
suggestions, and advice for me will very greatly be appreciated. Thank
you in advance for reading my post and for helping me with my quandry.

Sincerely,

Kevin Shen

There is an article here, that explains practical AGP compatibility.

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

Listed here as 694X chipset, and AGP 4X slot.

http://www.aberdeeninc.com/abcatg/MB6020.htm

The playtool page says:

VIA Pro 133A (VT82C694X) Universal AGP Motherboard

The issue could be, how well the Northbridge chip works with AGP cards.
That might be more of an issue, than voltage compatibility.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.c..._frm/thread/d2c4f28b882fe0d4/56ecc37692ad0228

A similar search, using 694X, is not digging up examples of using
modern video cards.

In terms of flexibility, an FX5200 AGP can work, even with my old
440BX board. But that won't give you the amount of RAM you want.
And with modern AGP cards, ones bridged via HSI or Rialto chips,
so a PCI Express GPU can work with an AGP slot - there is no guarantee
something like that would behave, with a 694X.

OK, here is one. This FX5200 has 256MB of memory. $45.
And the reviews in the second link, don't mention a lot of issues.
They do mention a crappy fan, but that is par for the course.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814145083
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814145083
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-145-083-10.jpg

You could probably fit an aftermarket fan to it. You don't have
to use the RAM sinks.

VF700-AlCu - scroll down for mention of FX5200
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=150&code=013

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=vf700&x=0&y=0

Have fun,
Paul

 

[NIV Consulting]

There is an article here, that explains practical AGP compatibility.

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

Listed here as 694X chipset, and AGP 4X slot.

http://www.aberdeeninc.com/abcatg/MB6020.htm

The playtool page says:

VIA Pro 133A (VT82C694X) Universal AGP Motherboard

The issue could be, how well the Northbridge chip works with AGP cards.
That might be more of an issue, than voltage compatibility.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan/browse_...

A similar search, using 694X, is not digging up examples of using
modern video cards.

In terms of flexibility, an FX5200 AGP can work, even with my old
440BX board. But that won't give you the amount of RAM you want.
And with modern AGP cards, ones bridged via HSI or Rialto chips,
so a PCI Express GPU can work with an AGP slot - there is no guarantee
something like that would behave, with a 694X.

OK, here is one. This FX5200 has 256MB of memory. $45.
And the reviews in the second link, don't mention a lot of issues.
They do mention a crappy fan, but that is par for the course.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...om/NeweggImage/productimage/14-145-083-10.jpg

You could probably fit an aftermarket fan to it. You don't have
to use the RAM sinks.

VF700-AlCu - scroll down for mention of FX5200http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=150&code=013

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Desc...

Have fun,
Paul

So, Paul, do you mean that the FX5200 with 256MB of memory will work
with my 2x/4x AGP slot? I have seen this same card on newegg.com and
I am not 100% sure if it would be compatible with what I have. Have
you had experience with using this graphics card, FX5200 with 256MB of
memory on a 2X/4X AGP 2.0 slot? Please let me know if this FX5200
with 256MB of memory will work. If it will work, I would buy it from
newegg.com. Thanks. Kevin

 

[Paul]

So, Paul, do you mean that the FX5200 with 256MB of memory will work
with my 2x/4x AGP slot? I have seen this same card on newegg.com and
I am not 100% sure if it would be compatible with what I have. Have
you had experience with using this graphics card, FX5200 with 256MB of
memory on a 2X/4X AGP 2.0 slot? Please let me know if this FX5200
with 256MB of memory will work. If it will work, I would buy it from
newegg.com. Thanks. Kevin

The FX5200 is listed as an AGP 8X card. But it will operate at lower AGP
rates. I have two different FX5200 AGP cards (128MB sized), and they both
work in my 3.3V only 440BX motherboard. They also work in all my other
computers, including my AGP8X 875P Intel motherboard.

What I'm telling you, is the 694X chip may not have a very good quality
AGP interface on it. The advantage of the FX5200, is you can turn the
AGP rate down, and try again. So it may not run at AGP 4X, but may end
up working at AGP 2X. And from that point of view, the FX5200 seems like
a good option to me.

(The Asus CUV4X is an example of a 694X board. This FAQ entry is for AGP.)
http://support.asus.com.tw/faq/faq_...0-F7BB-A044-42DB-780DCE28072B&SLanguage=en-us

There are other video cards, more powerful or more recent cards, but the
disadvantage of those, is you may not be able to reduce the AGP rate,
if the AGP interface is not stable.

Since I cannot find any mention of cards more modern than "Geforce2" mentioned
with the 694X, I cannot give an example of some other card that is found
to work. And therefore, I'm recommending the FX5200 AGP, as the most flexible
card I know of. As gaming cards go, it is not very powerful, and when I use
it for gaming, all settings go to "low". One advantage of the Chaintech
card, is the memory interface is 128 bit, while may cards are only 64 bit,
so you will get slightly more performance because of that. Perhaps closer
to an FX5500 level of performance, for whatever that is worth.

And at $45, it is a reasonably cheap experiment.

Paul

 

[NIV Consulting]

The FX5200 is listed as an AGP 8X card. But it will operate at lower AGP
rates. I have two different FX5200 AGP cards (128MB sized), and they both
work in my 3.3V only 440BX motherboard. They also work in all my other
computers, including my AGP8X 875P Intel motherboard.

What I'm telling you, is the 694X chip may not have a very good quality
AGP interface on it. The advantage of the FX5200, is you can turn the
AGP rate down, and try again. So it may not run at AGP 4X, but may end
up working at AGP 2X. And from that point of view, the FX5200 seems like
a good option to me.

(The Asus CUV4X is an example of a 694X board. This FAQ entry is for AGP.)http://support.asus.com.tw/faq/faq_right_second_detail.aspx?kb_guid=2...

There are other video cards, more powerful or more recent cards, but the
disadvantage of those, is you may not be able to reduce the AGP rate,
if the AGP interface is not stable.

Since I cannot find any mention of cards more modern than "Geforce2" mentioned
with the 694X, I cannot give an example of some other card that is found
to work. And therefore, I'm recommending the FX5200 AGP, as the most flexible
card I know of. As gaming cards go, it is not very powerful, and when I use
it for gaming, all settings go to "low". One advantage of the Chaintech
card, is the memory interface is 128 bit, while may cards are only 64 bit,
so you will get slightly more performance because of that. Perhaps closer
to an FX5500 level of performance, for whatever that is worth.

And at $45, it is a reasonably cheap experiment.

Paul

Paul,

Thank you so much for your information and advice. You have convinced
me to order a Chaintech FX5500 Graphics Card from newegg.com, as you
had mentioned about earlier in this thread. I went ahead and ordered
one of these cards last night online from newegg.com. I can't wait to
get it and try it out on my system. And you are right that at $45, it
is a reasonably cheap experiment, which I hope that will be a
successful one.

Kevin

 

[NIV Consulting]

The FX5200 is listed as an AGP 8X card. But it will operate at lower AGP

rates. I have two different FX5200 AGP cards (128MB sized), and they both
work in my 3.3V only 440BX motherboard. They also work in all my other
computers, including my AGP8X 875P Intel motherboard.

What I'm telling you, is the 694X chip may not have a very good quality
AGP interface on it. The advantage of the FX5200, is you can turn the
AGP rate down, and try again. So it may not run at AGP 4X, but may end
up working at AGP 2X. And from that point of view, the FX5200 seems like
a good option to me.

(The Asus CUV4X is an example of a 694X board. This FAQ entry is for AGP.)http://support.asus.com.tw/faq/faq_right_second_detail.aspx?kb_guid=2...

There are other video cards, more powerful or more recent cards, but the
disadvantage of those, is you may not be able to reduce the AGP rate,
if the AGP interface is not stable.

Since I cannot find any mention of cards more modern than "Geforce2" mentioned
with the 694X, I cannot give an example of some other card that is found
to work. And therefore, I'm recommending the FX5200 AGP, as the most flexible
card I know of. As gaming cards go, it is not very powerful, and when I use
it for gaming, all settings go to "low". One advantage of the Chaintech
card, is the memory interface is 128 bit, while may cards are only 64 bit,
so you will get slightly more performance because of that. Perhaps closer
to an FX5500 level of performance, for whatever that is worth.

And at $45, it is a reasonably cheap experiment.

Paul

Paul,

I ordered the Chaintech FX5500 from newegg.com, as you had suggested
to me and received it in the mail yesterday (6/7/07). I simply
removed my old 32 MB ATi Radeon AGP video card and replaced it with
tne Chaintech FX5500. When I restarted the computer, I installed the
drivers for this Chaintech FX5500 and everything worked fine. There
were no problems with this upgrade, and it was surprisingly quick and
easy.

Therefore the Chaintech FX5500 is an ideal video card upgrade for
those with the older but still very useful motherboards with the AGP
2x/4x slot, especially because of its 256 MB of onboard DDR video
memory.

Thank you Paul for your advice. It turned out that (as you had
mentioned in your earlier posting, "at $45, it is a reasonably cheap
experiment") this experiment proved to not only work well but also the
$45 really pays off!

Regards,

Kevin Shen

 

[NIV Consulting]

The FX5200 is listed as an AGP 8X card. But it will operate at lower AGP

rates. I have two different FX5200 AGP cards (128MB sized), and they both
work in my 3.3V only 440BX motherboard. They also work in all my other
computers, including my AGP8X 875P Intel motherboard.

What I'm telling you, is the 694X chip may not have a very good quality
AGP interface on it. The advantage of the FX5200, is you can turn the
AGP rate down, and try again. So it may not run at AGP 4X, but may end
up working at AGP 2X. And from that point of view, the FX5200 seems like
a good option to me.

(The Asus CUV4X is an example of a 694X board. This FAQ entry is for AGP.)http://support.asus.com.tw/faq/faq_right_second_detail.aspx?kb_guid=2...

There are other video cards, more powerful or more recent cards, but the
disadvantage of those, is you may not be able to reduce the AGP rate,
if the AGP interface is not stable.

Since I cannot find any mention of cards more modern than "Geforce2" mentioned
with the 694X, I cannot give an example of some other card that is found
to work. And therefore, I'm recommending the FX5200 AGP, as the most flexible
card I know of. As gaming cards go, it is not very powerful, and when I use
it for gaming, all settings go to "low". One advantage of the Chaintech
card, is the memory interface is 128 bit, while may cards are only 64 bit,
so you will get slightly more performance because of that. Perhaps closer
to an FX5500 level of performance, for whatever that is worth.

And at $45, it is a reasonably cheap experiment.

Paul

Paul,

I ordered the Chaintech FX5500 from newegg.com, as you had suggested
to me and received it in the mail yesterday (6/7/07). I simply
removed my old 32 MB ATi Radeon AGP video card and replaced it with
tne Chaintech FX5500. When I restarted the computer, I installed the
drivers for this Chaintech FX5500 and everything worked fine. There
were no problems with this upgrade, and it was surprisingly quick and
easy.

Therefore the Chaintech FX5500 is an ideal video card upgrade for
those with the older but still very useful motherboards with the AGP
2x/4x slot, especially because of its 256 MB of onboard DDR video
memory.

Thank you Paul for your advice. It turned out that (as you had
mentioned in your earlier posting, "at $45, it is a reasonably cheap
experiment") this experiment proved to not only work well but also the
$45 really pays off!

Regards,

Kevin Shen