Only have a 2x/4x agp slot in my dell 2

[cutter0001]

As mentiioned above I only have a 2x/4x slot in my dell computer. I am wanting to get a new 256 mb video card. Can anyone suggest what type of card I may get. Can I use 8x agp cards in this slot? any help in this matter would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.

 

[cdogg]

Yes. If your mobo supports both AGP 2x and 4x, then it must have a AGP Universal slot. Universal slots are compatible with AGP 8x cards, which can run at 4x speeds.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[dakota81]

It doesn't have to be an AGP Universal Slot, the slot may only support 1.5V cards and not 3.3V cards. However, that's irrellivent because the new 8x cards are 0.8V and tolerant of 1.5V. Moral of this story is you'll be fine with an 8x card.

For which video card; if you're set on wanting 256meg ram, you better go with a high-end Radeon 9800 or GeForceFX 5900. For the mid to low range video cards, you have to consider that any game that will require the complexity to fill the 256meg probably is not well suited for these gpus anyways. Taking the extreme example, there are available GeForceFX 5200 256meg PCI cards! What a waste! For a good mid-range gaming card I would highly suggest a Radeon 9600 Pro 128meg card.

 

[cdogg]

Yes, I should have rephrased that and used voltages instead. If a mobo supports 4x, then you know for sure that it also[/b] supports 1.5V. 8x cards support both 0.8V and 1.5V. Therefore, you should have no problems with motherboard compatibility...


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[TheGoatMan]

Extra memory means more textures. the more the merrier I think.

 

[cutter0001]

nVidia GeForce FX 5200 AGP Video Card is this a good card it is 8X with 256mb will it do ok in my 2x/4x slot? or would ATI Sapphire RADEON 9600 256mb DDR AGP Video Card with 8x AGP + DVI + S-Video Out be a better card?

 

[TheGoatMan]

9600 definitly. The 5200 really sucks. Make sure you get either the pro or xt.

 

[pmonett]

I concur with TheGoatMan, if your choice is either FX5200 or R9600, definitely go with the Radeon.
I have an R9800 Pro and I am quite happy with it. I have been an nVidia fan ever since the TNT2, but the FX range has severely disappointed me. A friend of mine has an FX5600 with the same mainboard and CPU as I do, and the framerates he gets in the same games are at least 40% lower than mine.
On the other hand, I would avoid going all-out for 256MB on the graphics card. Sure, more is supposed to be better, but there are simply no games today that take advantage of so much space, and on an AGP 4x board you'll be wasting money.
I know, Doom III and Half-Life 2 will be demanding, but I am sure 128MB will get you by just fine.
Besides, if its bragging rights you want, then you need a Radeon 9800 XT. Now that will give you the overboard feeling you're looking for !

Pascal.

 

[cdogg]

I agree. Without AGP 8x, 256MB isn't going to much different than 128MB. Faster GPU clock speed, number of vertex & pixel shaders, and memory speed play more important roles in overall performance than does memory size over 128MB.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[SYAR2003]

I been doing some research the last days.
And i have come over something very interesting.

All the manufactured All in Wonder 9800SE has 256bits memory access and 128MB fast ddr ram .
It's equal to the 9800Pro except for the blocked pipelines.
And the cooling solution.
With the right drivers theese last four pipelines can be accessed .
And whats neet , its half the price of a 9800Pro/xt.
And very close in performance with the modified drivers.
Check this out

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD02NTU=

I'm definatly getting one of theese , and putting my
TI4200 over in my sons PC.

 

[TheGoatMan]

Here's your choices. If you don't plan on playing any newer games and want alot of power pick up a ti4600. These cards were awesome. Its a pity they are now obsolete. For now stick with a radeon. But word is the Nvidia NV40 will completely turn the tables as far as ATI's reign on the market.

 

[jznightmare]

i have a i845 chipset and a 1.5v agp 4x (keyed at 1.5v). and i'm planning to get a radeon 9600 pro and i noticed that it has only one notch. it looks like it's keyed at 1.5v .

based from your posts, it would work with my motherboard. right???


so is this card (radeon 9600pro) a

AGP 3.0 ???

or

Universal 1.5v AGP 3.0 ???

how can i know which of the two is the radeon 9600pro ?

these two are the only ones (in 8x) that is keyed at 1.5v. the Universal AGP 3.0 is keyed at 3.3v and 1.5v.

based on this site

http://www.ertyu.org/~steven_nikkel/agpcompatibility.html

agp 3.0 is keyed at 1.5 and supports only 8x and 4x at 0.8v signaling voltage.

universal 1.5v agp 3.0 is keyed at 1.5v and supports 8x,4x,2x,1x at 1.5v and 0.8v signaling voltage

if the card happens to be an agp 3.0 @ 0.8v, will it work at in a 1.5v agp 2.0 @ 1.5?

i'm really concerned about the signaling voltage of the card. because i might damage the motherboard and the card.

thanks.

 

[cdogg]

I'm not sure about the explanation you were given about AGP 3.0, but here's what I do know:

All current AGP 8x cards on the market right now are able to run at either voltage - 1.5v for AGP 4x or 0.8v for AGP 8x. And as far as I know, all Radeon 9600 Pro cards are AGP 4x/8x compatible.

Your description of AGP 3.0 doesn't really make sense:
"[blue]agp 3.0 is keyed at 1.5 and supports only 8x and 4x at 0.8v signaling voltage[/blue]"

What does it mean to be "keyed at 1.5" but only supporting 0.8v? The voltage must always be 0.8v when running in 8x mode.


I would rest assured that any 9600Pro out there will work in a universal 4x AGP slot.

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle

 

[jznightmare]

i've reading a lot of material concerning this compatibility, and i don't know if i want to try it because some sites say that the motherboard and the video card would get damaged, some say it would not be damaged. i don't really know who to trust.

so you mean the signaling voltage will automatically adapt to my mobo @ 1.5v even if it's always been at 0.8v

 

[cdogg]

I understand the caution - it's a good thing to have that seems to be scarce among consumers nowadays.

I can tell you that AGP 8x cards were released long before AGP 8x slots were available. Because a lot of people want to upgrade their video card without upgrading their motherboard, manufacturers made certain that 8x cards were backward compatible with 4x slots.

If we are in agreement about that, then there is really no reason to discuss voltage. 4x is always 1.5v and 8x is always 0.8v - end of story. Since 4x/8x cards can run at either speed, then they also support either voltage.

The only thing you have to be certain about is whether the card is backward compatible with 4x. As long as it's stated in the specs, you should have nothing to worry about. The argument that you could damage your motherboard really came about when universal 4x slots first came out. Those slots boasted 1x/2x/4x compatibility, but if you owned a 2x card it wouldn't work in that slot. Why? Because those universal slots were keyed at 1.5v and some AGP 2x cards ran at 3.3v. Mixing the two would surely ruin the motherboard. However, the important point here is that you can almost always run newer cards in older slots, but not always older cards in newer slots. Newer 4x/8x card in a older 4x slot should be OK.

If this still doesn't convince you, then contact the vendor and the manufacturer of the card. Verify with them first. You can't be too safe I suppose, especially if 8x card vendors have started requiring only 8x slots (which I haven't yet heard of).

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle

 

[jznightmare]

the manufacturer of the card, powercolor, said in response to the email that i sent to them that, the card would work according to what i understood from the mail. this is what the reply said,

"this vga card have supported requested spec. . "

thanks for your answer, cdogg.

 

[cdogg]

anytime[tab]