8x Video on 8x AGP vs. 8x Video on 4x AGP

[Jaeden]

Hi, all. I'm new to forums, but I've been reading things people post for some time. I'm concerned about my motherboard (Intel D845 PEBT2) because of it's 4x AGP (The only thing that bothers me other than having only 2 memmory slots.). I currently have a Radeon 9100 128 MB which runs game pretty well. So to my problem and question:

I want to get an ATi Radeon 9800 Pro (Or XT) in, say, 4-7 months. The 9800 is an 8x Video card that can be used on 4x time as well. What I want to know is, how much better does a Radeon 9800 Pro runs on an 8x AGP motherboard than a 4x AGP motherboard, gamewise (Frame Rate)? And I don't mean on games that are out now, I mean games with graphics that require a Radeon 9800 Pro to put everything on High, like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Everquest 2.

Also, what are the advantages to owning 5.1 sound? Sound Surround, anything else?

[I am the 0mega]

The disadvantages of owning a AGP 4x MoBo on an R9800 Pro? Well, nothing. AGP 8x provides absolutely 0 performance improvement over AGP 4x- games simply don't transfer textures anywhere near that large via the AGP pipeline.

The only deciding factor will be your processor, and your MoBo, along with your RAM (amount), and, if you have enough, your RAM speed.

I would go against buying any RadeonXT, as they're just overclocked, overpriced Pro versions, with slightly faster BGA memory chips.

Rudeness removed;
Since you've only been here a couple days and maybe haven't been able to read the faqs,Please let me remind you that flaming or rudeness is not allowed at this forum.
surreal
Moderator

[tony_j15]

Jaeden: as of yet, 4x is just fine for even the most demanding game. In the not to distant future(with D3 and HL2), 8x AGP will finally be of use.

[I am the 0mega]

Actually.. I seem to remember Firingsquad.com doing a bench of Doom3 with AGP 4x and 8x, and the 8x still had no difference. Of course, maybe that was onlywith a 256MB frame buffer, and 8x made a difference.. but I'm pretty sure the biggest advantage was about 1.2 fps...

[Peter M]

AGP transfer speed is of no relevance whatsoever.

Either the game scene fits into the graphics card's own memory, then no AGP transfers will happen AT ALL.

Or it doesn't - and then the performance WILL be down the drain no matter how fast the AGP transfers go. This is because system RAM today is many times slower than graphics card RAM.

AGP was a good idea when it was first thought out - back then, RAM was expensive, graphics cards had very little of their own, and the speed of system and graphics card RAM was about on par.

Today, don't bother. Just get something electrically compatible with your mainboard. Mixing 8x and 4x technology MUST be compatible by definition.

[joker_927]

HUGE difference between 2x and 4x though.

I wonder what 1x was like...