AGP 4x WTF??

[Jamous]

Hi guy's not entirely sure if this is the correct place to post as it is about motherboard too, but it is about grphics and games.
Anyways, I built a budget system recently for my sister as her m/b gave up. I used the existing AMD XP2700+, got her an Asrock K7NF2 M/b and fitted her existing ATI 9250, (yes I know, cutting edge stuff here!!)
It operates fine but it seem that the graphics card is running in 4x mode.
Now on the m/b itself in print it says AGP 8x, although in the instructions it says BIOS options are 2x, 4x AGP Datarate, but in the instructions spec it says AGP 8x.
In the ATI CCC it states ATI 9250 4x.
Can anyone advise or help as she's been trying to play some games (nothing too complex) but they stutter badly, for example Ford Street Racing.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Umm, maybe I'm being a knob here but isn't the 9250 a 4x card? If the card only communicates at 4x speeds there's no way to force it to run at 8x.

 

[Jamous]

Lol, I did check the Connect/ Gecube sites as it is one of those and both say 8 x.
But I may be wrong though

 

[akirru]

Does it really make much of a difference? Especially with that card.

 

[Mongy2130]

When I had a Socket A board I had to install some driver to enable the 8x if I didnt it got stuck at 4x if i remember it was a KT400 ViA chipset http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/VIA-AGP-driver-440.shtml

 

[Mana]

dont worry mate, the difference between 4x and 8x is like 1-2fps ish. nothing to worry about dude.

 

[Dutch Guy]

Maybe the mobo is AGP 8x compatible meaning you run a AGP 8x card in the mobo but it will run at AGP 4x

Anyway the difference is minimal at best with a slower AGP card so if it works without issue it's fine.

 

[melbourne720]

Yeah, the AGp bandwidth was never fully exploited. The reason the game is stuttering is because the graphics card is too slow. You could pick up a 9800 Pro and it would be an improvement, or any of the following:-

AGP Cards:-

9800 Pro(S/H), 6600 GT(S/H), 7600 GS (£78), 6800 GS(S/H), 6800 GT(S/H), X800 XT(S/H)…, 7600 GT (£118)…, x1950 Pro (£141)

 

[Cairnsey]

Ahh, The infamous AGP graphics card list!!!

 

[melbourne720]

Ahh, The infamous AGP graphics card list!!!

I thank you

 

[Tute]

Both the PCIe and AGP card lists should be posted in a sticky somewhere so they're easy to find.

 

[melbourne720]

Both the PCIe and AGP card lists should be posted in a sticky somewhere so they're easy to find.

Am working on it, I'll see if I can put something together today.

 

[Raves]

Yeah no noticeable difference between AGP 4X and 8X.

Also as a side note, Anadtech ran an article about the Asrock Conroe mobo that supports AGP, PCI-e and DDR, DDR2 - they found that AGP 8X is better than PCI-e, and that DDR400 > DDR2 533.

Its all marketing hype and planned obsolescence.

 

[Cairnsey]

Yeah no noticeable difference between AGP 4X and 8X.

Also as a side note, Anadtech ran an article about the Asrock Conroe mobo that supports AGP, PCI-e and DDR, DDR2 - they found that AGP 8X is better than PCI-e, and that DDR400 > DDR2 533.

Its all marketing hype and planned obsolescence.

I don't think AGP8x is better than PCI-e, AFAIK gaming performance is on par but when it comes to video decoding the higher bandwidth of PCI-e means it performs a lot faster.
The DDR thing appears to be true, but within a margin of error, i.e they performed the same, or the difference at best, is negligible. It's for that exact benchmark that I'm buying the said ASrock board, keeping everything else and buying a e4300. total of £150

 

[Jamous]

Well done guy's good advice again,
Thanks!