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