TrashPanda wrote on 2022-12-03, 03:39:You are over complicating this and getting confused with all the bullshit terms the fabs used, if the manual mentions anything t […]
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You are over complicating this and getting confused with all the bullshit terms the fabs used, if the manual mentions anything to do with AGP via PCIe then its emulated AGP regardless of how they implemented it or what they called it. The host of problems comes from not actually being AGP and thus missing a range of features, if you find a AGP/PCIe board that the fab has a list of compatible AGP cards then you can be almost 100% sure its fake AGP.
If you want a Hybrid board with true AGP and PCIe then look for any board with the Via PT880 Pro/Ultra chipset, it was the last chipset made that supported AGP, PCIe and Windows98.
The 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2 and 4CoreDual-SATA2 are both true AGP boards and the two most people use, I believe there was also a similar 939 model for AMD called the Asrock 939Dual SATA2 but I cant remember what chipset it used right now, pretty sure it was a ULI chipset. There may be other boards using these chipsets so keep an eye out for them, I have both the 775 and 939 boards listed above and they are rock solid boards and make for a overkill Windows 98 setup.
As for AGP-8X having issue with older AGP cards is mostly to do with the newer slot not 100% supporting features of the older AGP standards and also physical slot design and voltage support changes, Wikipedia has a great article on AGP which can clarify these changes.
Here let me give you my perspective:
1. P4Dual-880Pro:
Website - "PCI Express Graphics (@ x4 mode) and AGP interface to adopt both PCI Express and AGP Display card"
Manual - "Do NOT use a 3.3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard! It may cause permanent damage! For the information of the compatible AGP VGA cards, please refer to the “Supported AGP VGA Card List for AGP Slot” on page 8 and 9. (has a section for PCIe GPUs too)
Result - PT880 chipset, no mention of AGI, PCIe x4 mode.
Question - not a single word about AGI, yet it has a recommended AGP/PCIE GPU list, so is it fake AGP?
2. P4Dual-915GL:
Website - "ASRock AGI Express and AGI 8X interface to adopt both PCI Express and AGP Display card"
Manual - "The AGI [ASRock Graphics Interface] slot is a special design that only supports compatible AGP VGA cards. For the information of the compatible AGP VGA cards, please refer to the “Supported AGP VGA Card List for AGI Slot” on page 8 and page 9. For the proper installation of AGP VGA card, please refer to the installation guide on page 16." (has a section about PCIe GPUs too)
Result - not PT880 chipset, this does mention AGI, PCIe x4 mode.
Question - obviously this is a fake AGP, it's not a PT880 Pro/Ultra chipset, and AGI is mentioned, right?
3. 775Dual-880Pro:
Website - "PCI Express Graphics (@ x4 mode) and AGP interface to adopt both PCI Express and AGP Display card"
Manual - "Do NOT use a 3.3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard! It may cause permanent damage! For the information of the compatible AGP VGA cards, please refer to the “Supported AGP VGA Card List for AGP Slot” on page 9 and 10." (has a section about PCIe GPUs too)
Result - PT880 chipset, no mention of AGI, PCIe x4 mode.
Question - not a single word about AGI, yet it has a recommended AGP/PCIE GPU list, so is it fake AGP?
4. 775Dual-915gl:
Website - "ASRock A.G.I. 8X slot to adopt AGP8X/4X VGA Card (1.5V only), an unique VGA upgrade interface on i915GL platform"
Manual - "The AGI [ASRock Graphics Interface] slot is a special design that only supports compatible AGP VGA cards. For the information of the compatible AGP VGA cards, please refer to the “Supported AGP VGA Card List for AGI Slot” on page 8 and page 9."
Result - not PT880 chipset, this does mention AGI, PCIe x4 mode.
Question - obviously this is a fake AGP, it's not a PT880 Pro/Ultra chipset, and AGI is mentioned, right?
5. 775Dual-VSTA:
Website - "1 x PCI Express Graphics slot (@ x4 mode) 1 x AGP 8X"
Manual - "Do NOT use a 3.3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard! It may cause permanent damage!" (but it DOES have a section about PCIe GPUs)
Result - PT880 chipset, no mention of AGI, PCIe x4 mode.
Question - how come this has PT880 Pro/Ultra, but unlike the 2 mobos above, hasn't a list of supported AGP cards in the manual, and yet has PCIe card list?
6. P4V800D-X:
Website - can't find original - "System bottlenecks are eliminated with balanced architecture and peak bandwidths up to 6.4GB/s.
This motherboard supports PCI Express x16 and AGP8X slots to provide ultimate flexibility for graphics card upgrade. The PCI Express x16 slot running at PCI Express x4 speed outperforms PCI interface with its exceptional high bandwidth up to 2GB/s."
Manual - zero mentions of AGI, or any hint of a need for a supported GPU
Result - PT880 chipste, no mention of AGI, PCIe x4 mode.
Question - so apparently this one is "the realest" AGP mobo?
Do you feel me, I understant that non-PT880 are "fake", but why do some PT880 have a list in the manual and some don't, and knowing old manufacturers' manuals, they've might've just omitted it/forgotten about it.
There shouldn't be a list for AGP cards for 880PRO mobos, but only VSTA doesn't have one. Add the fact that P4V800D-X also has 0 mentions of AGI nor GPU recommendations, I dunno what to think of it all.
There's also GA-8VT880P Combo, PT880, says full AGP 8x, PCIe x4, and some recommended PCIe GPUs, nothing else.
Biostar PT880 PRO-A7C has AGP8X, but it has PCI-Extreme!?
PS: Why do people here go for those Core2Dual, by the time Core2 was popular, PCI x4 was becoming an issue. Also, it's WXP/Vista only.