AGP 4x vs 8x


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evq

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Jul 27, 2004
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Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting a 6600GT AGP graphic card(8x), but my mobo uses a 4x AGP slot.
Will there be a very big performance decrease cos of my mobo's 4x AGP?
Cos I dun wan to waste $$ on a new mobo.
Thanks in advance!
 

evq said:
Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting a 6600GT AGP graphic card(8x), but my mobo uses a 4x AGP slot.
Will there be a very big performance decrease cos of my mobo's 4x AGP?
Cos I dun wan to waste $$ on a new mobo.
Thanks in advance!

No point if your MB does not support your add ons,..it will be a waste of mula.

Nowadays MB uses PCI express that means a 16X pipeline for graphic cards, but graphic card must be PCI express slot la..

Ask Wai for advise...he is the tech guru. :thumbsup:
 

if ur motherbrd only have take in 4X, buy 4X can lah...
why spend the money to buy 8X

don't buy thing, thinking of may be can upgrade later..
what happen the upgrading is some yrs back.
what happen 8X is cheaper
what happen no motherbrd support 8X, then u need to buy 2nd hand motherbrd.
what happen....
 

It depend how long more evq intend to tahan the current system and what is the purpose of him buying this GFX....I give 2 scenario...

1. If evq intend to strech his dollar hoping that this card can last until his next system upgrade then I would say no, save the dollar for future PCI-x and buy a second hand AGP :think: Becoz by then, say in a year time PCI-x will be the mainstream interface so no point holding on to an expensive AGP card and drooling over SLI in nforce4 or nice i9xx motherboard :think:

2. If evq just want a powerful Graphic then no choice because you can't find a decent 4X graphic card nowaday..I think the best 4X card was a G4-TI but a Radeon 9600pro and above or even Nvidia FX5900 series can chew it for breakfast......so although the 6600 is running on 4X.....it should still able to churn out some respectable figures in benchmark of coz the potential is limited by the smaller 4x bandwidth :dunno:

Still I will not spend so much on a AGP now.....just my $0.02 :lovegrin:
 

Some example how much the 8x and 4x interface is different...

2~3 yrs back I have a G4 MX440, running 3Dmark2001....the score was 5118 on a Abit BH7(o/c Celeron @ 2670, Ram 512MB) in 1024x768@32bit

However the score was 6248 after I changed to a MSI Neo2 mainboard which support 8x with the rest of component almost the same....so I got about 20% more when using a 8x bus.....however I can tell you hounously that I did not notice any significant different despite the speed gain in the benchmark.....even playing game like D2 or Simcity4 sees little diff.....untill I dump the card to a Ti4200.....the speed gain is so much obvious :lovegrin: And the score in 3Dmark2001 was wopping 10687 :D
 

Bottomline is... there is
NO SPEED DIFFERENCE!
 

tao said:
Bottomline is... there is
NO SPEED DIFFERENCE!


just to add on : it is just a matter of bandwidth in 4x and 8x.... 8x is like maciam 6500 on a dedicated line whereas 4x is like a 6500 shared :)

ok... maybe not too good an anology... keke

but bottomline, the better card u buy, the better the performance. :)
 

since 4x AGP are found on older boards like 845 chipset, the performance of cos will be slower than the newer 865/875 chipset with hyperthreading, dual channel DDR....etc

but gaming performance hightly depends on the graphic card, since 6600GT is not really top of the end card, it will not make any different whether it is AGP4x or AGP8x

it is quite difficult to test if there is any performance drops if you compare AGP4x on 845 vs AGP8x on 865. FYI, i am running a X800XT PE, which is the fastest card u can get from ATI, on a 845 board. i can't tell u if the bottleneck is the AGP4x slot...may be when i am free then i plug it to a 865 board..and then force the board to run in 4x and 8x mode and compare the different.
 

problem is that PCI-E is replacing will AGP... if you are planning to change M/B in say, 2 years time, your choice of M/B with AGP slots will be very very limited (and likely a non-intel chipset).

Since TNT2 ultra, I had always been using Nvidia until recently, when i realised that the ATI solutions were far more efficient (require far less cooling - better for quiet PC).

if you have enough RAM on the graphics card for the textures your games support, eg: 256Mb, then AGP 4x or 8x will be even less of a difference.
 

Thanks for the advices & comments guys! ;)
I'm using 2.66Ghz & 1Gb DDR333 RAM, 8500LE. Pretty much happy with this setup. Only I can't play those graphic intensive games. That's why thinking of getting a new card to add some juice.

Dun think I will upgrade this system unless BTX form mobo is a norm etc. 2, 3 years? :think:

Any recommand on 6600GT card? Or others in below $400 range? ATI etc?
Thanks!
 

MSI FX6600GT is great for games. I got it for $439 @Fuwell very recently.
 

YOL925 said:
MSI FX6600GT is great for games. I got it for $439 @Fuwell very recently.

Wow, why is MSI so ex? Leadtek is only $350, Galaxy is $400.
What is the clock speed? Bundle softwares?
 

yes, right now cards based on the 6600GT offers the most bang for your bucks, most value for money and video playback quality is as good if not better than ATi's. Leadtek is good, they make stable and reliable cards.
 

evq said:
Wow, why is MSI so ex? Leadtek is only $350, Galaxy is $400.
What is the clock speed? Bundle softwares?

Why MSI more ex? I really don't know. It's one rock solid card with great 3D performance, that I know. Well, you can find out all about this card here.
 

Got a good AGP 4X card but hope to find one AGP 8X Mobo when upgrading else a waste of $. Brought that card for $650. Hercules 64MB GTS2 :(
 

YOL925 said:
Why MSI more ex? I really don't know. It's one rock solid card with great 3D performance, that I know. Well, you can find out all about this card here.

Read the review from the link u provided, impressive!
Btw, did u overclock it as in the review? Stable?
I never overclock any of my hardware before, is it difficult to do so?
 

evq said:
Wow, why is MSI so ex? Leadtek is only $350, Galaxy is $400.
What is the clock speed? Bundle softwares?

YOL925 said:
MSI FX6600GT is great for games. I got it for $439 @Fuwell very recently.


u sure the other two are 6600GT?

not sure the latest price now, but all cards basically performs the same lar...all using the same chip and design

i will look at them based on:
1. price
2. bundle
3. cooling
4. warranty

i dont go for certain brand :bsmilie:
 

evq said:
Read the review from the link u provided, impressive!
Btw, did u overclock it as in the review? Stable?
I never overclock any of my hardware before, is it difficult to do so?

I did and achieved good and stable result but I leave it at stock speed in order not to heat up the system on a long term basis. OC is very easily controlled with the MSI card... with their D.O.T. you can change the settings or do auto-OC' with great stability.

Anyway, I don't go for brand... as long as it works for me, it's good for me. YMMV :)
 

Wai said:
u sure the other two are 6600GT?

Yes, both are 6600GT.
My two friends got one of each. However both using 8x mobo.
Galaxy performs better than Leadtek in 3Dmark2001, maybe due to the default OC settings & it uses 1.6ns memory. No games though.

Can see that MSI's bundle is also impressive.
Now only left with Galaxy & MSI to choose from. :think:
 

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