Solder an AGP connector?

[Ichinisan]

I was looking at the Gateway 300s value PC. After looking at the product tour on Gateway's Website, I noticed that the expansion slots are about half the width of a normal expansion slot (the metal plate). I also noticed ("inside view") that it does not have an AGP connector on the motherboard, but has the solder points (with solder already on). I think Gateway chose to eliminate the AGP port because they did not feel like creating custom half-sized versions of decent video cards as they had to do with the SB Audigy and other "options" for the 300s.

1. Would the BIOS disable AGP, preventing me from soldering an AGP connector and using it?

2. Would any AGP connector do, or must it be "rated" for 2x, 4x, or 8x?

3. Are there any ATI Radeon or Ti-class NVIDIA cards manufactured for half-sized slots? (many network cards are designed with small PCB's and removable plates for use with rack-mount servers)

If the BIOS is a limitation, perhaps the members in HT would be able to help...

 

[ZippyDan]

i had a similar question a long time ago... i had an FIC Pentium 200 motherboard that supposedly supported USB in later revisions. my board had solder points on the mother board for a USB header and i wondered if i could add USB that way. the FIC tech told me solder points dont mean anything. but maybe he was lying

~ZIppy!

 

[edro]

Ask this over at Sudhian.com's forums..... or maybe Mini-ITX.com's..... I am sure they have discussed it before.

 

[Ichinisan]

Bump for some of my other questions...