AGP 8x v AGP 4x

[saazeel]

I'm thinking of getting a GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB AGP 8x graphics card. I was wondering whether getting an AGP 8x motherboard is worth it or should I get a 4x motherboard and just set the card to 4x AGP.? Is there much difference in the quality of graphics between 4x and 8x?

Also, is the Ti4200 a 3V or 1.5V graphics card?

Thanks

 

[DCB_AU]

Save your money.
From the magazine articles' test reports that I've read, there is minimal improvement if any.
Anyway, by the time you want to upgrade, there will be newer technology available.

DCB_AU

 

[LancerEvolution7]

Its a gimmik to sell the card for more money. The performance increase is very small.

 

[LancerEvolution7]

Its a gimmik to sell the card for more money. The performance increase is very small.

 

[upec]

I agree. The difference between AGP 8X and 4X is very small.

 

[ejsmith2]

Saazeel, this is the one time you'll ever hear me say it.

<i>Don't save your money.</i>

I've been playing Godam Mickey Mouse games with a GA-7vaxp (KT400) and a Asus a7n8x (Nforce2) for upwards of three full months, now.

I've tried two seperate Ti4200's that were only 4x agp capable. And neither would work in either board. Across several rma's on the 7vaxp board, too.

Everything I've been reading tells me you can get an older card to work. I've got a GTS working in both computers, very stable. Although, I was getting texture tearing on the Kt400 board.

Everyone else is using a 8x capable card. Spend the extra $20, and get that 8x capable card. You're not spending money for speed; you're doing it for compatability. And it's still the cheaper card out, right now, for the performance you get out of it. Just make sure you <i>disable</i> fast writes, so all that texture memory goes to use.

"I personally think filesystems should be rewritten from scratch every 5 years..." --- Hans Reiser

 

[bdaley]

Hmmm, I have a 4x R8500 on an a7v8x (kt400)and it works just fine.

Is it just a problem with 4x Nvidia cards on 8x capable chipsets?

"I'm a man armed with a fork in a land of soup."

 

[Flyboy]

Just make sure you disable fast writes, so all that texture memory goes to use.

Really? Is this true for any 128MB card? I've never heard this. Hmmm should I disable fast writes for my ATI 9700 Pro?

 

[Casper5714]

Im using a A7N8X motherboard too and I am not having any problems with my AGP 4X video card. Are you sure your drivers are configured correctly.

Also, an AGP 4x video card will offer you the same performance as a AGP 8X card. True there is a lot more bandwidth with an 8x AGP slot but there is only so much the video card needs. In the future, you will see the difference between the 4x and the 8x but by that time, you will probably want to upgrade again anyways.

Casper

 

[tuesday630]

I have the same gut feeling. That is, the games today just don't have the ability to throw as much data at the video card as would be need to show off 8X. Game developers are notorious for waiting until a feature is well saturated before developing games that can take advantage of the feature. We may all be wanting 8X... in 18 months.

---There may be more than one way to do it, but why would anyone want to remove the fur from a feline?---<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by tuesday630 on 01/21/03 02:42 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[ejsmith2]

I rma'd <i>two</i> 7vaxp boards. That's three different boards I've put my gubby little fingers one.

The first one worked kinda-ok for about a month. I was getting lockups with a Ti4200 4x card. Then the video card would even *show* the post screen. It would show it's little "bios" plug in the upper left hand corner, just fine, then the display went competely nutz. Un-usable is the keyword.

Rma'd it once, and tried the new one out. Exact same deal, except there was no "month" grace period. It just went nutz right off the bat. Tried it with a Geforce2 Ultra, and it would just *beep* at me. Put a matrox millenium 2 PCI card in, and the system worked perfectly. Stable enough for me to backup my hard disk.

Swapped that board out. This is the current one I have. It wouldn't work with the Ti4200, but it *was* working with a Geforce2 GTS. There was an enormous amount of "sparkles", like I was overclocking the memory. Except I wasn't; I was running it stock. But, for the bit of time I used it, it was fairly stable. I don't really remember it locking up.

Ordered a Asus a7n8x. It's working excellent with that *same* GTS card. No texture tearing, and I've got it overclocked quite a ways (for a GTS board). I put some little heatsinks on the memory chips a long time ago. But it will not show a single d3d game on the Ti4200. The Ti4200 locks the machine up.

The Geil memory is total ass, though. It's supposed to be rated for 200mhz 6-3-3 CAS2.5. It's only stable at 166mhz with those timings. Which, is actually about all I really expected out of it in the first place. That's the only bad thing about accepting company "samples" for reviews; of course the company is going to send good parts. That's the only thing that Consumer Reports does oustanding; they buy that stuff off the shelf, in several different cities, and have them shipped in for testing.



Anyways, currently, all those video cards are working in someone's computer. The Ti4200 and GTS I let run for 24 hours hammering out Unreal Tournament in bot mode; the Ultra gets nailed with Medal of Honor on a daily basis. So, the video cards weren't the problem. And the memory should have been out of the equation at 133mhz, just like it is right this second. The processor has passed off fine, as well. That leaves the mainboard.

Gigabyte has some <i>major</i> issues with that 7vaxp board. I ordered it (and rma'd it) from Newegg, so it very well could just be a Walmart issue (isn't Newegg owned by Walmart?).

I tell you. The biggest headache. Across two mainboards, and about 5 video cards. Whatever it is about the Geforce4 Ti4200 <i><b>4x AGP</b></i> cards, I know not. I'm just saying, if you plan on using one with one of these two boards, be prepared for headaches. Someone's gotten the 8x agp version to work fine. And I've gotten a GTS to work (more or less, on the KT400 board). So brand new, or ass old, cards do well.

"I personally think filesystems should be rewritten from scratch every 5 years..." --- Hans Reiser