Epox 8RGA+ onboard GF4MX questions

[frozentax]

Hi,

I'm trying to find out about the onboard graphics performance of the 8RGA+. I'm not too familiar with IGP, how does this work? The only specs listed are that it's a GeForce4MX, I assume for memory it uses system memory? I currently have a Geforce2MX 32MB card, would performance increase be noticable? Is performance of an nforce2 based IGP motherboard less than that of a motherboard without IGP? Thanks for the help!

 

[Mem]

I assume for memory it uses system memory? I currently have a Geforce2MX 32MB card, would performance increase be noticable? Is performance of an nforce2 based IGP motherboard less than that of a motherboard without IGP? Thanks for the help!

Yes it uses system memory, it will be faster then your GF2 MX,I would say it depends on the games,resolution etc you use for gaming,as for comparing nforce 2 IGP to non-IGP nforce 2 boards,the easiest answer would be just to say remember you also have an AGP slot on your board just like non-IGP nForce2 boards, so say you installed an AGP card (for example ATI 9500 on both)the performance would be the same.

So performance is about the same if the ram/graphic cards are equal.

 

[Confused]

When using onboard graphics on the nForce2 boards, be sure to use Dual-Channel memory mode, as this will increase performance greatly over using single-channel 🙂

Other than that, the onboard GF4MX will be better than the GF2MX 🙂


Confused

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The IGP will smoke the G2MX, there's a guy in the madonion database that scored nearly 6900 with the IGP 😎 I've managed 5900 myself by using coolbits to overclock the core speed with the board running 200mhz synch mode. The guy with the 6900 has his FSB@166mhz and is most likely water or Prometia type cooling the IGP and is also probably running asynch with the ram@ 150% of the FSB speed to throw more bandwidth the IGP's way while keeping the FSB at a speed that lets him overclock the IGP's core to the full 400mhz available through coolbits. I've run the SL-75MRN-L I have through the paces using the Det.. 44.03's and it plays Max Payne, UT2K3, Blackhawk Down, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell all very well@8x6 with moderate game details and AA&AF turned off.

 

[frozentax]

Thanks for the replies. Someone gave me advice to keep my GF2MX and go with a non-IGP board, as IGP decreases performance about 10%. However, I figure I can just get an IGP board and use my GF2MX if I find it necessary? Who makes the better performing IGP board - Epox, MSI, or Asus (all the ones I know of)? I plan on having 2 sticks of 256MB ram, so dual channel will be utilized.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: frozentax
Thanks for the replies. Someone gave me advice to keep my GF2MX and go with a non-IGP board, as IGP decreases performance about 10%. However, I figure I can just get an IGP board and use my GF2MX if I find it necessary? Who makes the better performing IGP board - Epox, MSI, or Asus (all the ones I know of)? I plan on having 2 sticks of 256MB ram, so dual channel will be utilized.

I don't know who told you that but tell them to put the crackpipe down 😉 You run FRAPS while gaming with that gf2MX and you won't get near as good of frame rates or run 3DMark2001se even overclocked to max stable you ain't gettin' near a score of 6000. As to the 10% performance decrease that's not the whole story, the IGP does take some of the bandwidth away from the system but compared to running SPP in DC-DDR with a GF2MX it'll still spank it in gaming since your planning on DC-DDR. There's no question in my mind that you will be much better off with the IGP than SPP and GF2MX especially since you can always get back the small bandwidth loss due to the IGP sharing memory just by upgrading to a AGP vid card, but for now the small bandwidth loss is far out gained by the difference in 3D performance. BTW, If you don't go with the Epox have a look at the Soltek SL-75MRN-L as it sells for under $100, does 200+ FSB synch mode in DC-DDR, and has active northbridge cooling which will help you get more performance out of the IGP when overclocking the FSB and core speed than passive cooling will.

 

[billandopus]

Great info. Thanks guys, i've been looking for this info too. Still sitting on the fence - thinking Epox 8rga+ or the Soltek or the AOpen(s) ...

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Epox or Soltek if I was lookin', BTW the 75MRN is back in stock@Newegg for 99$ shipped. I just put a Barton in it last night and broke 6000 in 3Dmark2k1se.