Using a AGP x8 card in a 4x slot

[Subyland]

Hello all,

my video card is dead. My board will only take AGP cards and is rated, according to the manual, at 4x. Problem is most card seems to be 8x. Will it work? And if yes, which model would you recommend? The radeon X1950 or the GeForce7600??

 

[masqueraid]

Almost certainly, but you won't get the best performance from it - it will run at bext at about 25% of it's best available speed.

The main issue with compatibility is that 4X slots and cards have a normal operating voltage of 1.5V and 8X run at 0.8v.

Ideally if you are going to use an 8X need a card you need a "universal" card that will recognise that it is plugged into a 1.5V slot.

For the definative explanation look here

Both the cards you suggested should have no problem with a 4X slot although normally you should check the specific manufacturer details as the models are generic and refer to the main graphics chip on the board not the complete board construction. Any of the major brands will be compatible.

You can then plan the upgrade to a motherboard that suppords 8X (or sell it an move to PCI-E 16 !!)

http://www.playtool.com/pages/agpcompat/agp.html

 

[Subyland]

Thanks for the link. I am still a bit confused. I have now established my board has an AGP Pro universal slot rated at 4x but the manual doesn't say anymore. The board is a MSI K7D-Master-L.
The radeon card considered is this :http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=168&pid=g&grp=2 or its cheaper sibling the radeon 1650 pro http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=162&grp=2

I am opened to other graphics cards as long as performance is good enough at 1600x1200 and preferably with a twin monitor capability.

 

[GazCaff]

Considering how cheap it would be to upgrade you motherboard, it might be worth considering doing that too.

 

[masqueraid]

Both the Sapphire cards will work as 4X but if you want dual monitor you really aren't going to get the best out of either of them with your motherboard. Still it will be better performance than your previous card.

 

[Subyland]

Considering how cheap it would be to upgrade you motherboard, it might be worth considering doing that too.

Things aren't that simple...changing motherboard means changing processor...and since I have a RAID SCSI card which goes in a 64bit PCI slot we're looking at even more expenses as pretty much the whole PC would need to be renewed !

 

[GazCaff]

Things aren't that simple...changing motherboard means changing processor...and since I have a RAID SCSI card which goes in a 64bit PCI slot we're looking at even more expenses as pretty much the whole PC would need to be renewed !

What CPU are you running? Other than the old SCSI card you should be able to find a mobo offering 8x AGP for buttons. I'll bet a little bit of searching will find something with the old PCI slots for you.

 

[Subyland]

I have a couple of Athlon MP. But I need the RAID card as all my HDDs are SCSI.

 

[GazCaff]

I have a couple of Athlon MP. But I need the RAID card as all my HDDs are SCSI.

I see you're right, we're talking hens teeth here.