Quick question, I have a ACER S58M motherboard, how to do tell what speed the AGP slot is? I'd like to buy an 8X AGP GPU but am not sure if it will be compatible, I cannot find a full spec of the board anywhere on the net.
My System: SuperMicro P6SBA Motherboard, Win98SE, PIII 600Mhz, 256MB Ram, Voodoo 5 5500, SB AWE 64 Gold Sound Card, Roland LAPC-I
You should be able to tell what type it is by the amount of notches. See this wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Graphics_Port
The actual speed is generally not that important, because most cards can also run at reduced speeds. So an 8x card will generally be able to work at 4x speed, or even 2x.
The thing that is important is the voltage.
It's a bit difficult to tell, but it looks like there are no notches in the slot in your picture, so that would make it a universal slot, which works with both 1.5v and 3.3v cards (in theory AGP 3.0 should be able to use 0.8v, but in practice all cards should work fine at 1.5v).
IIRC No software will take advantage of 8x AGP. 4x AGP is more than enough.
Software only uses what hardware can produce.
As AGP4X was fast enough for the top VGA cards there were no benefits of AGP8X support.
Requests also possible
Thanks for your help guys, yes it is a universal slot I have so looks like my card will work. Many thanks again for your help 😀
My System: SuperMicro P6SBA Motherboard, Win98SE, PIII 600Mhz, 256MB Ram, Voodoo 5 5500, SB AWE 64 Gold Sound Card, Roland LAPC-I
wrote:Software only uses what hardware can produce.
As AGP4X was fast enough for the top VGA cards there were no benefits of AGP8X support.
Then why were some video cards reworked to support AGP 8x, like the GeForce 4 Ti which was available in both 4x and 8x versions? Wouldn't it have been a waste of money for nVidia to do that if there was no practical benefit over the older 4x cards? What would be the difference between a GF4Ti 4600 and 4800 if AGP 8x added no benefit?
The standard was there, and nVidia would not allow their products be perceived as outdated.
wrote:wrote:Software only uses what hardware can produce.
As AGP4X was fast enough for the top VGA cards there were no benefits of AGP8X support.
Then why were some video cards reworked to support AGP 8x, like the GeForce 4 Ti which was available in both 4x and 8x versions? Wouldn't it have been a waste of money for nVidia to do that if there was no practical benefit over the older 4x cards? What would be the difference between a GF4Ti 4600 and 4800 if AGP 8x added no benefit?
AGP 8x versions are faster, but just how much faster depends a lot on the system you put it in. I have Leadtek A250LE (AGP4x) and A280LE (agp 4x) cards - identilcal specs GF4 Ti4200 - and the 8x version is a bit faster then the 4x version on late socket A systems. 10% in some cases. When overclocking the 8x card gains a wider margin.
wrote:Thanks for your help guys, yes it is a universal slot I have so looks like my card will work. Many thanks again for your help 😀
not necessarily. Late agp cards suck as the ati x800 x850 are x8 only. meaning they ONLY work in an 8x slot. the slot you have pictured is a 2x or 4x slot.
It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.
wrote:AGP 8x versions are faster, but just how much faster depends a lot on the system you put it in. I have Leadtek A250LE (AGP4x) and A280LE (agp 4x) cards - identilcal specs GF4 Ti4200 - and the 8x version is a bit faster then the 4x version on late socket A systems. 10% in some cases. When overclocking the 8x card gains a wider margin.
Interesting, what kind of test gives such difference?
3dmark01 and especially 3dmark2003. Memory intensive tests with lots of textures make the biggest difference.
