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Thread: AGP 4X Support

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    3

    AGP 4X Support

    I am a bit out of touch with all the new graphics cards.

    Current System:
    Abit BX6r2 MB
    Celeron II 633 / 66mhz (New haven't tried to overclock it yet)
    512 MB PC133 SDRam
    40G WD HDD
    Creative Graphics Blaster Riva TNT 16MB
    SBLive +MP3
    Plextor CD/RW 12/10/32A

    According to Abit the BX6r2 MB supports 1x and 2x AGP. But they haven't answered as to whether it can support 4x. And I have no idea if the 4x boards are backwards compatible.

    Basically I am asking: What Graphics card would be supported and still be higher up on the food chain than the one I have.

    Any suggestions would be appreciated

  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Posts
    64
    My understanding is that all cards are backward compatible. So AGP4x capable card will work on a AGP 2x only slot/MB just at
    2x speed.

    What you need to look for is AGP 2.0 Compliant, which all new
    motherboards should be and new Video cards. There they need
    to match.

    Im not 100% sure what it means or if im 100% correct.

    If your the sort to upgrade your own stuff a new MB are cheaper than the new good Video Cards. A nice current MB upgrade can do wonders for you and when you recovered and ready for a Video Card you can choose any card you want cause now you have current hardware to stick it in.

  3. #3
    Ultimate Member
    Join Date
    Feb 1999
    Location
    Augsburg, Germany
    Posts
    5,910
    Not all AGP 4x cards are backward compatible - 4x is electrically different.

    This is easily recognized though, since there is a security notch so that incompatible cards won't fit. Universal slots have no notch, and universal cards have two gaps to fit any type of slot.

    regards, Peter

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    3
    Thanks for the input

    I think I need to do some research before I buy a new Vid card.

  5. #5
    Gone
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Posts
    5,713
    In regards to what peter missile said, yes they are electrically dif. But yet they arent! Confused. The agp 4x is running at 1.5v while the 2x are at 3v. Plug a 2x in my board and she'll smoke the board and the vid card no lie! But the volt and signal trace layout are still AGP 2.0 socket standard. The notch thing is O.K. to go by but not if you have a 4x only board like mine. Why? Well some of the early video cards claiming to be 4x werent at all. Meaning they ran at that speed but required the volts of a 2x! They were transition cards and not fully 4x. Put that in this board and its all over. So the notch can lie, look at some of the Asus video cards, I think one of the ones that will plug into a 4x but is 2x is the G2 Ultra (Asus's). So check with the manufacturer to be sure if its a older card going into a 4x only board. All newer ones though are fully 4x compliant like the Radeon 8500, the G3 and 4's etc.

    Another thing to look for is a the pro part! Its a longer agp socket. Theres a tab in the socket you pull to allow this card to plug in. Like mine is a AGP 4x pro socket.

    Hope that helped you some.

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