AGP 3.0/8X "standard" really official?

Lord Evermore

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
9,558
0
76
Intel created the original AGP standard, right? And if I recall correctly, the first AGP chipsets from other vendors weren't "official", they were sort of reverse engineered, which is why they weren't very good compared to Intel chipsets for a while as far as AGP was concerned. Later on it seems Intel licensed AGP to people like VIA. Now, it seems everybody except Intel is involved in creating AGP 3.0/8X's standard. How is this possible? How are they creating a new version of the AGP standard without the involvement of the company that owns the AGP standard? How can they legally call it "AGP 3.0"; didn't Intel trademark the name AGP or something, and even if they didn't, if 3.0 isn't blessed by them, wouldn't it still be illegal to call it "AGP"?
 
Jul 1, 2000
10,274
2
0
The 3.0 spec has been published, and it is the standard. Intel has blessed it, and it will appear in the new Granite Bay chipset, which should feature Serial ATA, AGP 8X, and Dual channel DDR 333 support. :)
 

AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
2,112
0
0
:eek: Just don't go expecting any extra boost to come from AGP8x (AGP3) over AGP4x (AGP2). Cards barely need AGP4x let alone AGP8x. More to do with marketing much like ATA133 over ATA100 IMHO, doesn't hurt to have it but it does hurt to pay more for it. ;)
 

AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
2,112
0
0
:) I'd be very interested to know, but I doubt it, perhaps when Rad10000 comes out in 2003 with DDR-II it might be prove a little useful. The perf going from AGP1x to 2x was very significant (50% improvement IIRC), but 4x over 2x shows very little improvement (10%ish with top cards?). AGP3.0 spec is about more than AGP 8x transfer speed, but I would expect it to be a good 12 months before it really proves beneficial.

:( Can't find anything recent from a very quick look around, but here's something:

TomsHW (AGP 1x 2x & 4x using GF256 & KX133, AMD750 & i840-P4)

EDIT: Added link.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
7,430
0
71

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
:eek: Just don't go expecting any extra boost to come from AGP8x (AGP3) over AGP4x (AGP2). Cards barely need AGP4x let alone AGP8x. More to do with marketing much like ATA133 over ATA100 IMHO, doesn't hurt to have it but it does hurt to pay more for it. ;)

Exactly!

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
What about the 9700 / nv30? WIll they benefit from 8X?

I doubt the NV30/Rad 9700 will show any improvement. Just like AGP 4X took several generations to show any improvements, I expect the same from AGP 8X. It's a necessary improvement that will become significant down the road. Just like AGP 1X, 2X and 4X, just like DDR, etc...

Lord Evermore - all the standards seem to be laid out before anyone even has hardware on them now. Since Microsoft has made Direct X 8.1 so specific, it's pretty easy for any well funded graphics card company to make their own DX-8 compatible card, and thus a GF3/Rad8500 clone. Similarly, the specs for AGP 8X appear to be clearly laid out. The same happened for DDR333 - it was available for sale long before it was an "official" speed on any chipset. Same with PC133.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
7,430
0
71
Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
The 3.0 spec has been published, and it is the standard. Intel has blessed it, and it will appear in the new Granite Bay chipset, which should feature Serial ATA, AGP 8X, and Dual channel DDR 333 support. :)

Serial ATA, that's what I'm waiting for. The hot-swappability and ultra-thin cables have me itching for Serial ATA. Finally those cumbersome ATA cables will be no more! Finally I can attach another HD without powering down (which was possible on SCSI like 20 years ago).
 

SSXeon5

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
542
0
0
Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Q1 '03

No acually its coming Q3-4 2002, with 2.26/2.4/2.53/2.66Ghz Xeons on the 533Mhz FSB. Placer is pretty much Granite bay except it will be socket 604 for the new 533Mhz fsb Xeons. Granite bay will not offically support DC DDR333, that is for springdale and Prescott. As for SATA, that is done by the 3rd party companies because the ICH4 northbridge does not support SATA. The ICH5 Northbridge on Springdale will feature SATA support offically. Like I said, Asus and other companies will have SATA support on GB and others based on the ICH4 northbridge.

SSXeon