AGP 8x/4X compatibility

[weewegs2543]

My friend has a motherboard with an AGP slot that (we think) is a 2x/4x slot. So I have two questions: first, if we wanted to find out the exact specs of the motherboard, where would we look on the motherboard to find a number that we could use to look up the specifications online, and what site would we use to look mobo specs?

Second, and more important, are AGP 8x/4x cards compatible with 4x/2x mobo slots? It's okay if they're compatible at 4x, we just need to be sure that putting an 8x/4x card in a 4x/2x slot won't fry anything.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[JPB]

An 8x card will run in 4x...will be fine...as long as the voltage is 3.3 ( or something like that which makes it universal )

Is this a prebuilt computer? Or was the motherboard purchased and installed ?

The make and model of mobo should be somewhere around the agp or pci slots...that's where they usually are. As far as specs...probably just have to google it...

 

[StrangerGuy]

8x/4x AGP cards will always work in 4x/2x slots.

And also know the fact that, if the card can fit into the slot, it will definitely work.

 

[PianoMan]

I could be wrong, but didn't the voltage specifications drop with the newer cards? In that case, putting in a newer card into an older slot (with the original higher voltage) could be a problem - the older slot may not recognize the voltage requirements of the newer card.

It's been awhile, but I remember cautionary statements about such way back when.

PM

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: x80064
An 8x card will run in 4x...will be fine...as long as the voltage is 3.3 ( or something like that which makes it universal )

Is this a prebuilt computer? Or was the motherboard purchased and installed ?

The make and model of mobo should be somewhere around the agp or pci slots...that's where they usually are. As far as specs...probably just have to google it...

AGP 4X is actually 1.5V (3.3V is AGP 2X). The general rule is that AGP is backwards compatible by 1 step, so as long as the slot supports AGP 4X, an AGP 8X card will work fine.

I'm pretty sure if you put an incompatible AGP 4X/8X into an AGP 1X/2X slot, the computer will just give the beep code for "no video" . It's only putting an old AGP 2X card into a newer 4X (or 4X/8X) slot that can fry a card.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: x80064
An 8x card will run in 4x...will be fine...as long as the voltage is 3.3 ( or something like that which makes it universal )

Is this a prebuilt computer? Or was the motherboard purchased and installed ?

The make and model of mobo should be somewhere around the agp or pci slots...that's where they usually are. As far as specs...probably just have to google it...

AGP 4X is actually 1.5V (3.3V is AGP 2X). The general rule is that AGP is backwards compatible by 1 step, so as long as the slot supports AGP 4X, an AGP 8X card will work fine.

I'm pretty sure if you put an incompatible AGP 4X/8X into an AGP 1X/2X slot, the computer will just give the beep code for "no video" . It's only putting an old AGP 2X card into a newer 4X (or 4X/8X) slot that can fry a card.

Assuming video card and motherboard adhered to AGP specs, you cannot even insert an AGP 8x/4x card into an AGP 2x/1x slot in the first place because the connectors are keyed to prevent 8x/4x cards into 2x/1x motherboards and vice-versa.

 

[Peter]

8x AGP gear MUST, by order of the AGP standard, be backward compatible to 4x mode. So, possible engineering fvckvp on either end aside, plugging an 8x card into a 4x/2x mainboard will work.

The other thing to mind is the card's power consumption and thermal output. Make sure these are being taken care of.