AGP4x-RIMM4200 vs. AGP8x-DDR400

[LowLight76]

The ATI Radeon 9700 is capable of running at AGP8x. I'm currently running the Radeon 9700 on an Asus P4T533 mobo, which only supports AGP4x. This means I'm getting 1.06GB/sec maximum bandwidth to the North Bridge, which in turn has a maximum 4.2GB/sec bandwidth to my RIMM4200 memory. If instead, I chose a mobo that supported AGP8x and DDR400, then I would be getting a maximum bandwidth of 2.1GB/sec to the North Bridge, which would in turn connect to DDR400 SDRAM with a maximum bandwidth of 3.2GB/sec. Would my video card benchmark performance improve if I chose a mobo that supports AGP8x and DDR400?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well there's only a perf advantage to be had from AGP8x on paper. In the real world even more than AGP2x bandwidth is hardly needed, so AGP8x is almost pure marketing at this moment in time. Not only that but Rad9700 has a fair number of probs with AGP8x slots on mobos (just as likely a prob with the mobos than the Rad9700) so AGP4x mobos are preferable at this moment in time anyway.

As for the term RIMM4200 I'm unfamiliar with that terminology, is that the throughput as in DDR333 = 2700? Anyway I usually refer to he 2 most common RIMM specs as RIMM-PC800 and RIMM-PC1066. DDR is significantly cheaper than RIMM and DDR-PC2700 is easily on par with RIMM-PC800 while RIMM-PC1066 is only about 10% faster in actual real world perf, hardly worth twice the price over DDR-PC2700. I would expect DDR-PC3200 (DDR400) to be about equal to RIMM-PC1066, but initially DDR400 may be more problematic, more expensive, harder to find and certaily isn't yet JEDEC certified. If you need the maximum bandwidth then RIMM-PC1066 is the way to go until we see DDR-II or true dual channel DDR, but is it worth paying twice the price? I'd prefer twice the RAM at 10% slower perf myself, but then everybody is entitled to their own opinion. As for AGP8x the bandwidth is simply pointless at the moment and most likely will give no perf gain at all for at least a year or two. HTH!

 

[LowLight76]

RIMM4200 is another name for 32-bit RDRAM that operates at 1066MHz. It has a theoretical bandwdith of 4,200MB/sec, or 4.2GB/sec. Thanks for your input. I wish I could find some benhmarks for a Radeon 9700 running on a P4, AGP8x, DDR400 mobo.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Cool, I share your wish, although AGP8x will give no extra boost DDR400 (PC3200) should perf as well as RIMM-PC1066. So basicly if you're already runing RIMM-PC1066 and AGP4x you'll gain nothing by switching to a DDR400 & AGP8x combo.

 

[LowLight76]

So, you don't think I would see an improvement in videocard benchmarks if my mobo supported AGP8x instead of AGP4x?

 

[AnAndAustin]

I would really like to see some actual benchmark figures but I'm 99.9% sure you won't see any benefit at all going to AGP8x from AGP4x, and this will probably be the case for at least a year or two. If someone's getting a new mobo then sure AGP8x should do no harm ... although based on the current AGP8x cards it seems you're better off with AGP4x anyway

 

[lobadobadingdong]

I saw an article on Tom's hardware a couple of months ago on the ATI pre-released board they had, the improvement on current games was between 0.5% and 9%, However the upcoming games like DOOM III should show a significant improvement in performance using 8x over 4x AGP, estimated like 20%, possibly 25% , but......since it's not released yet who can tell for sure if this is fact or just marketing, but the benchmarks should be out on that sometime early next year.

 

[PCboy]

My brother's gonna get a P4t-533 soon and believe me, I say you stick with it. Although that motherboard did have some problems, it rocks. The 32-bit RIMM kicks the hell out of any DDR400 right now. I don't think the AGP 8X really matters... I'm running the 9700 on my CUBX-L at 2x speed and I still get smooth frames with eye-candy. If you made the P4T533 stable, then I say you stick with that. Be sure not confuse P4T533-C and P4T533...fortunately I saved one of the benchmark links...Here's one...

 

[kylebisme]

well it kicks the hell out of it in the sandra memory benchmark i see, the question though is how does it compare in real world aplications?

 

[PowerMacG5]

I plan on upgrading to a P4T533 with the RIMM4200. I was wondering, does anyone know if their exist sticks of RIMM4200 greater than 256 MB? I was hoping to put around a gigabyte of memory in my new system, but would settle for 512. Also, I have noticed that the P4T533 and 512 MB RIMM4200 is cheaper than the P4T533-C and 512 MB PC1066 RDRAM. Also, does anyone know if they are planning on releasing RIMM4200 modules greater than 256 MB a piece? Thanks for the help.

 

[LowLight76]

When Asus first released the P4T533, 32-bit RIMMS were so scarce that they bundled the memory in with the mobo purchase. So, back then you could get a P4T533 with a single 512MB 32-bit stick of RDRAM, b/c it came bundled. But now, the memory is somewhat more available through online vendors than it was back then. However, I bought my P4T533 about three weeks ago and at that time I couldn't find a single place online that sold single 512MB 32-bit RIMM4200's. There are a few entries on pricewatch.com for 512 MB 32-bit RDRAM 1066Mhz RIMM4200's, but essenstially all the vendors are doing is selling you two separate 256MB modules. I was like you, I wanted a single 512MB RIMM4200, but I swear I just couldn't find a single place that sold them online. I looked and looked to no avail. One of the things I was doing was getting the exact Samsung or Kingston part number for their 512MB RIMM4200's and just doing searches for those exact part numbers on google.com. There was always a lot of matches but I never found any places that actually sold the modules. The Samsung part number for their 512MB 32-bit RIMM4200 is MD-18R162GAF0-CN9.

Question: Where did you see that the P4T533 bundled with 512MB RIMM4200 was cheaper than the P4T533-C bundled with 512MB RIMM3200? Also, was it two 256MB RIMM4200's or just a single module that was bundled with the P4T533?

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: LowLight76

Question: Where did you see that the P4T533 bundled with 512MB RIMM4200 was cheaper than the P4T533-C bundled with 512MB RIMM3200? Also, was it two 256MB RIMM4200's or just a single module that was bundled with the P4T533?

Thanks for your help. And to answer your question, they weren't bundles. I just priced out a P4T533 with (2) 256 MB sticks of RIMM4200, and then I priced out a P4T533-C with either (2) 256 MB sticks, or (4) 128 MB sticks, of PC1066 and either way the P4T533 was cheaper with its corresponding RAM.