Video Card AGP vs PCI question.

[Solodays]

what's the advantage of a AGP over a PCI? and if i have a video card that is 8X AGP, and my motherboard only supports 4X AGP, will it still be compatiable ?

 

[Fallengod]

I think all motherboards are backwards compatible. I would hope so. Check specs on their page or email them maybe and ask.

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

I'm pretty sure your 8x card will work on your 4x motherboard. I don't think the industry is that mean.

 

[Shooters]

The AGP bus runs at 66MHz and provides greater throughput than PCI which runs at 33MHz. PCI tops out at 133MB/sec while AGP can pump 266MB/sec, 533MB/sec, 1066MB/sec, and 2133MB/sec for 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x mode. Also, AGP provides a dedicated, direct connection between your graphics card and system memory.

As for your second question, yes you can run your 8x card in a 4x motherboard; however, the card will default down to the lower speed and only run at 4x which isn't really a big deal since the bus doesn't come close to becoming saturated even at 4x.

 

[Solodays]

Originally posted by: Shooters
The AGP bus runs at 66MHz and provides greater throughput than PCI which runs at 33MHz. PCI tops out at 133MB/sec while AGP can pump 266MB/sec, 533MB/sec, 1066MB/sec, and 2133MB/sec for 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x mode. Also, AGP provides a dedicated, direct connection between your graphics card and system memory.

As for your second question, yes you can run your 8x card in a 4x motherboard; however, the card will default down to the lower speed and only run at 4x which isn't really a big deal since the bus doesn't come close to becoming saturated even at 4x.

thx man! that helped alot.

 

[Corporate Thug]

i had a 9700pro on a 4x board, worked fine. AGP is faster

 

[Confused]

Originally posted by: Shooters
The AGP bus runs at 66MHz and provides greater throughput than PCI which runs at 33MHz. PCI tops out at 133MB/sec while AGP can pump 266MB/sec, 533MB/sec, 1066MB/sec, and 2133MB/sec for 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x mode. Also, AGP provides a dedicated, direct connection between your graphics card and system memory.

As for your second question, yes you can run your 8x card in a 4x motherboard; however, the card will default down to the lower speed and only run at 4x which isn't really a big deal since the bus doesn't come close to becoming saturated even at 4x.

Heh....you basically posted the exact same answer as I was going to post this morning before I realised I was late for work...almost word for word, including the values!!!!

Current AGP cards are hardly even using the bandwidth offered by 2x AGP, let alone 4x and 8x! 8x is just a marketing gimmick really, as there are no current cards that can even sustain 4x


Confused