6800GT on AGP 4X

[fzkl]

I have a mobo that supports only AGP 4X and am presently using Geforce 4 MX440. I dont play games but would now like to try my hands on it. I now want to upgrade only my video card. If I add a 6800 GT and play games like Doom 3 will there be problems due to lack of bandwidth?

Please do not suggest a motherboard upgrade. I just want to know if this is possible without doing the same. Thanks.

 

[RollWave]

not at all. 4x vs 8x agp doesnt really matter. Performance difference will be MINIMAL

 

[ntdz]

if you're using a mobo with only 4x, chances are your cpu is crap too. The vid card is gonna be severely bottlenecked... :/

 

[Geomagick]

Originally posted by: ntdz
if you're using a mobo with only 4x, chances are your cpu is crap too. The vid card is gonna be severely bottlenecked... :/

There would be very little point in having a 6800gt on a slow computer. As a stop gap measure the 6600gt would be far more suitable.

 

[TGS]

linkage

If you notice AGP 8x is a theoretical bandwidth of 2100MBs, while PCIE 8x is 2000MBs.

So even at 4x AGP you are still looking at the equivalent of a PCIE x4 slot. Which here, shows it works fine. You synthetics will suffer, but real world will not.

Honestly, you can check here, and notice Intel states that two devices can be connected to the AGP 3.0 bus. Though it leaves the timing issues to the system designer. IE AGP 3.0 is capable of running a dual agp (dual 4xPCIE) equivalent setup, with the current specs.

Edit: When I moved from a 2500+ xp to a 3000+ A64 I noticed on a 9700pro a big performance jump. Everything got nice and smooth. When I added the 6800gt I could ramp up the IQ but the game ran fairly about the same as before. So on a 6800gt upgrade, YMMV with an older processor as stated prior.

Check out this link to see where you current processor would compare itself to against a A64. An inexpensive 754 or 939 board, with a 2800+ or 3000+ may get you better results than a 6800gt with your current processor. As the cost of that upgrade will be similiar to the 6800gt bump.

 

[Hacp]

I think what you need is a 6800 Vanilla..... The GT will be severly bottlenecked by your processor, as I think only northwoods and XPs are the processors that have had motherboards supporting 2x/4x...

 

[kristersaurus]

I have a 2.4 ghz p4 running a 533mhz bus, and it has a 4x agp slot. There are machines out there such as mine that are quick but for some reason lack 8x agp support. I just ordered a 6800, coincidentally.

 

[secretanchitman]

im getting a 6800GT today and i have a 2.4C northwood...you think my games will be severely limited by CPU?

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
im getting a 6800GT today and i have a 2.4C northwood...you think my games will be severely limited by CPU?

Not too bad, but a little oc'ing on that puppy will really show some dividends....

Nat

 

[fzkl]

Thank you all. I have things clear in my mind now.