Anyone help with this BFG card problem? (4x vs 8x)

[FluxCap]

I posted a link in the Hot Deals:

DEAL

I want to find out if I open this card it will be 8x. Anyone get one recently?

 

[Viper96720]

Won't matter if it is 8x.

 

[FluxCap]

Why not?

 

[Yehikamek]

Well, even the 4x AGP channel hasn't been maxed out yet, so you won't see any real performance increase.

 

[Viper96720]

Found this 4x vs 8x. The 8x wins most by just a frame. Don't think you'll notice the frame difference. Unless your superman or something. Ti-4200

 

[Jeff7]

Maximum PC did a comparison using a Radeon 9700 card - first they set it to 4x, then 8x. The system actually performed a tiny bit faster at 4x in 3 out of 4 tests; it tied on the 4th. They attributed it to margin of error (run a benchmark once, then again, then reboot, and run it again; you'll have 3 different numbers). So it looks like even a Radeon 9700 can't really saturate the AGP4x bus yet; if you'd try throwing anything really complex at a GF4 Ti4200, the card itself would process it all so slow that it wouldn't matter if you have AGP 4x or 8x - the game would still be completely unplayable.

 

[BFG10K]

Don't worry about it; any slight differences are just benchmarking noise.

 

[BenSkywalker]

So it looks like even a Radeon 9700 can't really saturate the AGP4x bus yet;

Actually the R9700 can easily saturate AGP 4X, even a GF3 could. Of course, there aren't any games that do so, so it won't do much for you right now.

 

[FluxCap]

Wow, great information. When do you think the first games that will take advantage of 8x will be out?

 

[BenSkywalker]

When do you think the first games that will take advantage of 8x will be out?

Probably about a year after AGP dies

AGP 8X has numerous issues currently in terms of developers trying to use it(when I say use it I mean for something besides a SYA texture backup). You need to have a system with either dual channel high speed DDR or RDRAM in order to provide enough data for the rest of the system and the AGP bus at the same time. Currently you are likely to find the amount of rigs that match that criteria to be quite a bit lower then those of us with high end video cards(P4 systems with PC133...).

Utilizing AGP8X will be titles that are pushing vertex data through the roof or those that start utilizing 3D textures etc, things that we aren't close to seeing. Now, with all of that said, AGP8X can provide you with a performance boost today under certain, and rather rare, circumstances. That may end up being an extra 5FPS for half a second once a week though, so it isn't really worth it for a gaming rig if it is going to cost you extra. If it is no extra cost, then absolutely go with AGP8X.

BTW- AGP8X is worth it if you are using it for a MCAD/Viz setup with a decent board. It is not a useless technology. What will likely end up happening is that all of us enthusiasts will be running SPCI boards for some time when AGP 8X starts to be exploited by games. It will certainly be useful at some point, but not in the reasonable lifetime of a board for those of us who post here

 

[FluxCap]

Thanks Ben !!!

I think I may just go pick up that 4x card today !!!

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

So it looks like even a Radeon 9700 can't really saturate the AGP4x bus yet;

Actually the R9700 can easily saturate AGP 4X, even a GF3 could. Of course, there aren't any games that do so, so it won't do much for you right now.

I stand corrected then.
Yeah anyway, isn't the memory bandwidth of the Radeon 9700 over 17GB/sec or something like that? ATI's site says the bandwidth of AGP8x is 2GB/sec.