AGP 8x Video card: Difference on AGP 4x vs. AGP 8x mainboard

Hi everybody,

I just want some confirmation on this fact.
I have a S-478 P4 1.5 Ghz CPU with 512MB PC400 DDR RAM and thinking about upgrading my GeForce2 Ti 64MB video card to either a GeForce 6200 or 6600 128MB/128bit.

Problem is, my mainboard is a P4M266 that comes with AGP 4x slot.
Since the new video cards are AGP 8x, I'm wondering if the difference between AGP 4x vs. 8x will be significant to warrant a change in mainboard as well.

In short - is there a big difference putting an AGP 8x card into an AGP 4x slot vs. AGP 8x slot?

ps/ upgrading system to play BF2

 

shouldn't feel a diffrence at all.

 

Omegamerc,

Its good to know this! Thanx a bunch for the quick reply!

 

The thing about multiplayer gaming is the main work is done by your cpu calculating where all the other players are and what they are doing,upgrading your video card will not help you play bf2 any better,it may reduce the performance due to the video card hogging more cpu power,if you would like to make your computer more competitive I would recommend a cpu upgrade,then worry about how pretty everything is.

A 1.5ghz p4,you are gonna struggle even when playing against a moderate number of opponents.

 

Rikky,

That's a good explaination. So, I guess for the time being, I'll play more on my own or LAN.

By the way, what is your opinion in regards to ATI cards being more CPU hungry than nVidia cards?

I installed RivaTuner and tried it on my GeForce2 Ti 64MB last night.

I'm lost.

I want to learn how to use this software so that I can save some $ buying a GeForce 6200 instead of a 6600 and opening the additional pipes using this software.

Anybody got a good link to a guide on how to master this software?

Thanx guys!

 

Unless you are strapped for cash, don't bother with a 6200. The 6200 is basically similar to a 5200 video card. Yes, it is faster then the later, but not really worth the money, IMHO. Oh, and to heck with the TurboCache.......

 

although you can make a 6200 -> 6600 the ram chips are much slower then the 6600. No real diffrence between nvidia and ati.

 

"I want to learn how to use this software so that I can save some $ buying a GeForce 6200 instead of a 6600 and opening the additional pipes using this software.

Anybody got a good link to a guide on how to master this software?"

I don't mean to sound condescending, but this is the sort of thing that if you have to ask you shouldn't attempt it as you'll most likely wind up with a fried card.

 

IMHO, Upgrading to a 6600 (not 6200 for reasons already explained) will BOOST YOUR VIDEO performance... For instance, an upgraded card (in BF2) will allow you to see farther (the fog is farther away). And what Rikky said, no offense, about the vid card hogging CPU power, is incorrect the video card has its OWN GPU for that, the CPU does figure out all the math and where the characters are and that goes along with you being able to see farther. The vid card uses power from the PSU to power its GPU, sure the PSU may not have enough power but purchasing a newer PSU isnt too expensive and actually, believe it or not, may boost performance (if you need the extra power.

Anyone correct me if im wrong. (i may have not explained my thoughts as i wanted to)

 

Well sure there is. ATI is better

 

Ahem, my Self Proclaimed Genius' thought on that is as follows :

Dear Askantik,

Nuh-Uh, nVIDIA is better!

Sincerely,

Sleepygamer213

 

PLZ dont dig up the old ATI vs. Nvidia thing...... ATI = image quality Nvidia = speed ....In most cases ...as for AGP / PCIe speeds look here ....

 

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041122/pcie-analyse-09.html link fixed.

 

No offense taken I would have rather not explained this as my position is still toward buying a new cpu/mobo combination,what you have wrote may confuse others ,By power I mean clock cycles "work time",nothing to do with the power supply,a 6600 really needs a 3ghz cpu to make the most of,so apart from the fact it would be a waste of money a 1.5ghz cpu wont have the power to feed the 6600,this can cause a stuttering effect as the video card waits for the cpu to feed it,because everything you see on the screen first has to go through the cpu,then to the gpu,if the cpu is the weak link,the video card will not have the information it needs to turn into a picture.

This puts extra strain on the cpu,leaving it less time to work out other things like the the in game physics,which can reduce performance compared with a lower end card,especially in multiplayer games which are very cpu intensive,although increased performance in single player games may be seen with a 6600.

 

Rikky,

Erm, oh my. Now my 1.5Ghz will ruin my upgrade plans?!

Sigh... ok, if I don't upgrade my CPU, which video card will be optimum? a FX5200?

Thanx again everybody for writing in... really appreciate it!

~Pyrate~ : Oh, i tried RivaTuner on my GeForce2 Ti 64MB - didn't fry it, but it did hang a few times...

 

BF2 doesnt even support the 5200,here are the minimum specs,the minimum is what you ignore,its a silly underestimation of what you need to make people buy the game,you need at least what is in the recommended section to start having fun,sorry

 

Oh great. Now I'm stuck.

Well, just to share... I put in a FX5200 128bit/128MB AGP into my S-478 P4 1.5Ghz, 512MB DDR (PC3200) PC and managed to run the BF2Demo. Load time was around 1-2 mins and i can play it - the system slows down a lot when vehicles or a bunch of ppl showed up. Playable? Erm, just barely.

Its because of the result above that gave me "hope" that putting in something "faster" than the 5200 will improve the experience somewhat. I am also planning to purchase another 512MB DDR (PC3200) to make the 1GB recommendation.

Am I really being overly optimistic? Or do you guys think I will fail miserably (meaning, the performance of the 5200 is the limit on my system, no matter what I do - unless I upgrade my CPU)

?

 

Nice one ,did you take note how many other players were on the server?

 

Oh sorry. Need to clarify. Running the BF2Demo on standalone. Didn't connect to any server.

I'm not sure by default, how many bots are in the game...

hmm....

?

 

Thanks Omegamerc whats with the http:// in the insert link thing any way ?? And as far as CPU speed your 1.5 is prolly a thoroughbred and if it has [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]DLT3C stepping It can overclock to 2.3GHz EZ.....And for a video card thare were referb 9800 pros on www.newegg.com for 90$ and thare is a good chance that youl get one that will flash to a 9800 xt....
[/font]

 

Ok NOW im getting confused.... I play BF2 with a 5200 just fine, i play on 64 player servers and i get no chop/ artifacts at all... Ive got a PNY Verto GeForce FX 5200 128mb oh.... its got a 256-bit graphics core.... Well i was planning on selling my 5200 to get a new vid card... but i dont know. As for graphics settings i think they're on medium? Im not sure... I think EA games and DICE might need to reconsider their requirements list... I can enjoyably play BF2 too... Some of my friends play it on my comp too, (one of them has like a $5000 comp he got for his birthday.... man, i love that comp sooo much!!! he just put a 7800 in it too!!!) But he says my comp can handle bf2 good too...

 

yeh my bad"or eas bad" after a little more research turns out you can use any card with pixel shader 1.4,they just quoted the ones they believed gave acceptable performance

 

Check out the ATI Radeon X800 series cards. Mmmm

 

Don't cry about it.