AGP 4x/8x

[Spursboy]

I bought my pc awhile back now; so im looking to upgrade. I've tried putting this off until I can buy a new setup with Vista.

But now I'm thinking of waiting until Vista is a steady ship (tried and tested) and the DX10 gpu's are a little cheaper. So I've thought about getting a new gfx card.

My system is:
3.02ghz P4
1gb Ram
9500pro

My mobo only supports up to AGP4x and I have been informed that it wont be able to support 8x at all; could anyone confirm this for me? As looking as some other posts, I'm happy to spend ~£100 to tide me over until mid way through next year, where I'll pay through my teeth for the 'next big thing'.

Suggestions welcome.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Im sure all 8x cards will work in a 4x slot with hardly a performance drop, as 8x was nowhere near being used fully, im not 100% though.

 

[Spursboy]

Thanks for the quick reply; can anyone else confirm this for me, as Im not too fond of splashing out £100 for something that doesn't work?

 

[melbourne720]

8x cards can run at 4x speeds, but the trouble is that 8x cards normally run at 0.8 volts, whereas 4x cards run at 1.5 volts. Make sure (I'm not sure how) the card can do 1.5 as well as 0.8 volts.

There are only 2 ways I can see of doing this:-

1. Investigating specific cards to see if they can do both voltages via google and forum;
2. Get a 2nd hand card from a working system.

You could try a suck it and see approach, but it could damage the card and more...

Once you find one, a 2nd hand 6800 (if it works) would be a huge jump from what you have now.

 

[melbourne720]

From the NVidia website:-

Question
Will an AGP 8X graphics card work in a motherboard which only supports up to AGP 4X mode?


Answer
NVIDIA based graphic cards which support AGP 8x mode (Accelerated Graphics Port) follow the AGP 3.0 specification. The AGP 3.0 specification retains backwards compatibility with older AGP 4x technology. All NVIDIA Geforce and Quadro GPU's which support AGP 8x mode are downwards compatible with AGP 4x motherboards. When a graphics card which operates at AGP 8x mode is installed on a motherboard which only supports up to AGP 4x mode, the card will automatically switch to AGP 4x operation.

 

[Spursboy]

You star!

 

[melbourne720]

You star!

My Pleasure - now get a 6800 GT, strap a zalman/AC cooler on that card and crank up that overclock!!