D845PEBT2 & 8X AGP

[Tullphan]

I just received my Intel D845PEBT2 motherboard & 2.53 P4 as part of the recent Intel promotion.
The motherboards manual states that it supports only 1.5V AGP 2X/4X graphics cards.
I went to their website here to make sure the specs haven't changed & noticed that the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro was the video card installed on this motherboard as one of the periphials used for the chassis test.
I've been thinking of replacing my ATI Radeon 8500LE with something comparable or better that has DVI (possibly the 9500 Pro?), but don't know what to do now. Does this motherboard support 8X or not? Does anyone have this motherboard? If so, what video card are you using?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Trashman]

No, that board does not support AGP 8x.
But, all new video cards such as the ATI 9700 pro and 9500 pro that state they are AGP 8x, are all "backwards" compatable to AGP 4x/2x...so yes, either card will work in that board.
Check out the specs of the Radeon 9500 Pro, under system requirements....LINK.

 

[Tullphan]

Will there be a voltage issue to worry about? It said it supports 1.5v AGP cards only.

 

[Trashman]

Video cards have like voltage regulators on them, so a card that claims to be an 8x AGP but is backwards compatable to 4x/2x AGP, will adjust the voltage to make itself compatable with whatever your board supports. So if you have a board that only supports 2x AGP@3.3V, that card will adjust the voltage to be compatable....your board being a 4x AGP, the card will adjust to 1.5V. Down the road a bit, when you decide to get a motherboard that supports 8x AGP the card will adjust the voltage to 0.8V.