ATI and AGP8X

[AMD_Man]

Apparently, older revisions of the R9700 (which came out in small quanitities the first few days after the R9700 launch) weren't completely compatible with AGP8X motherboards. It's still not certain whether this is an SiS/VIA problem or an ATI problem. In any case, this was written up by Kyle on HardOCP:

ATi Statement on AGP8X:
ATI is aware of a small number of reports of incompatibility between the RADEON 9700 PRO graphics accelerator and certain AGP 8X motherboards. It is important to emphasize that the number of incidents is very low. Extensive testing has been done, in conjunction with motherboard chipset manufacturers, motherboard manufacturers and with retail available motherboards, to determine if compatibility issues exists. From these tests, it has been concluded that no compatibility issues exist with the current or soon to be released AGP 8X motherboards.

Some end users have reported issues to our Customer Service department that we are investigating. From the data that has been gathered, it appears that issues that have been reported are caused by individual board issues and are not indicative of a general compatibility issue. RADEON 9700 PRO product owners are encouraged to contact our Customer Service Department should they have an operational problem with their product.

In addition, it is important to ensure that appropriate system preparation is done prior to installing the RADEON 9700 PRO. We recommend installing the latest motherboard BIOS in the system as well as the latest available AGP drivers. Many of the 8X issues have been resolved with an updated BIOS from the motherboard manufacturer.

From what we have seen here and from what other webmasters have shared with us it does seem to be the mainboard and PSU builders "fault" that certain compatibility issues exist. We are still trying to get a grasp on this ourselves.

As for thinking true AGP8X was going to come to market without any glitches to handle is certainly a pipe dream. If we all hang in there and make sure we report the problems we see back to ATi and the company that builds your particular mainboard, we will certainly get things worked out sooner. Remember, teamwork, as a community is key for smoothing out the AGP8X road. So let's all be part of the solution, and not part of the problem. Report your problems to the appropriate support department with full system, OS, and driver specs.

Intelligence is not merely the wealth of knowledge but the sum of perception, wisdom, and knowledge.

 

[Cooldoud]

Mmmmm... it kinds of remind me, a year and a half ago, when I bought my Geforce3... "A3"... These two characters were a curse ! I couldn't bring the chip over 220/500~510 (quite good for a rev A3 I admit). But, you get used to it ! Of course when you pay 500$ for a card, you WOULD expect it to run flawlessly !
I remember at the time I bought it, nVidia blaimed the rev A3 for being "unefficient" and "unreliable"... I dont know why but after knowing this, I didnt feel that nice with my new PC !

Once again, sorry for the useless post. My life must be soooo empty that I must spend my time posting stupid topics to keep me busy