AGP Slot Video Compatibility Question

[ts-webmaster]

I bought a Geforce2 400MX (64MB) video card today. Its an AGP card. It says on the box that it supports 2X and 4X.

The computer I installed it in is an AMD-400mhz, which is quite old but it has an AGP slot. Problem is i don't know if the AGP slot is AGP 1 or 2. If the AGP slot is "1", will this card work with it?

I've already installed the card and i got video but the computer crashes like every 5 seconds.

Does this make any sense? I was told by two people that AGP 2X and up are not compatible with AGP 1. I was told by another guy that AGP cards are backward compatible. Who is right?

Thanks in advance!

[diurnal]

Welcome tswebmaster
Never heard of agp 1 and 2, not sure if there is such.I heard of agp pro and agp, thats it. But if is a 4x card it will work if the motherboard is only 2x compatible. Also the lockups could be cause by the agp miniport driver. You need to find out what your chipset of your motherboard is , its probably via or ali. After that they have a driver called a 4in 1 driver and this should fix the lockups./

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Sledgehammer will save the day!

[ranchdog]

Not knowing which Motherboard you have....

With a 400Mhz AMD it will be a Socket 7. Here's where it gets touchy. The GF2 may/may not be compatable. As in asking way too much of the Mboard system.

The 400 chip will be marginal because of clock speed and design. The K6-2 was good in its day but we find ourselves shoving too much at them with today's upgrades.

The GF2 is an excellent card. However, it takes excellent RAM to be happy. About 128MB of quality RAM. Herein lies another problem. Your Mboard may only function with 64MB. Because of Cache problems.

A Mboard manual is really needed. Determine the Mfg. of the Mboard and download a manual from thier website if possible.

AGP settings can be made in CMOS(BIOS). Example: Advanced Chipset Features. AGP Mode. A. Set AGP to 4X. B. Set AGP to 1X2X. AGP capabilities of a video card are backward compatable. An AGP slot is just an AGP slot.

The problems you are having seem to be a driver issue for a beginning. Try going into Safe Mode. Go to Device Manager and remove the GF2. Shut down PC then boot up again. Allow windoz to ask you to re-install your drivers.

Go to Control Panel/Display and check your display setting and see if you are trying to overdrive the monitor as to more than it can handle.

With the Socket 7 Mboard chances are good you will have an Intel chipset. Please do not download the VIA drivers unless you do have the VIA chipset.

Let us know how you are getting along. The Posse will add more I'm sure.

Luck.



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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[ts-webmaster]

thanks for the help.

The video card I bought is made by Abit, its the Siluro GeForce 2 400MX to be precise. I don't know if it is VIA or ALI, how can u tell that?

Do you recommend we use the latest Detonator Drivers by Nvidia?

"Go to Control Panel/Display and check your display setting and see if you are trying to overdrive the monitor as to more than it can handle."

How will i know if i overdriving the monitor?

In the meantime, i will checkout what kind of motherboard it is...

BTW, it seems that it mainly crashes when we are on the internet...Any thoughts?

[YODA74]

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif Belongs in audio/video,not in after hours http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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[Whyzman]

As usualYoda you are right!! That's all, nothing more to say. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!

Whyzman

[ranchdog]

I was asleep at the wheel.

It's Sunday morning....

Maybe we can get pete to move this one.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[iisbob]

.. An AGP slot is just an AGP slot.
..

Forgot about the Pro slot , didn't you? It isn't used much anymore, one of those brief brainstorms of providing more power to the AGp Bus and cards. You can still use a standard AGP card in it however.

Going in wiht ranchdog on the rest of this, as nice and dependable as the K6-2 series were, today's video cards, even lowend ones like the Geforce2 mx series, require more interaction from the CPU and memory than these 3-4 years older boards can now comfortably handle.

Some ways around this would be to get a larger Power supply, set your AGP aperature to 64mb's ( make sure you have at least 128mb's of memory to begin with ) and enable your AGP port to 2X if possible ( unless it's 5 years or older it should be a 2X port-haven't seen a 1X in a long time ).

Get this program, WCPUID (http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html)
it'll give you your exact CPU chipset/motherboard chipset/speeds and AGP settings.



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iisbob
"Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It's not fair that some men should be happier than others."
-- Oscar Wilde

[ts-webmaster]

thanks for the link to that program...and sorry for posting in the wrong discussion.

I'll run that program on my friends computer and let you know what the results are...Thanks!

[ts-webmaster]

ok we used that program to diagnose what kind of system he has...Here were the results.

AMD K6-2 (model 8)
Socket 7 (PGA socket)
Internal clock: 400 Mhz
MMX Supported;3dNow! Supported;

AGP Information
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AGP Spec Revision - 1.0 Enabled.
Data Rate (Status = 1x 2x) (Command = 2x)
Side Band Addressing = Disabled
(everything else under AGP info is left blank on that screen from that program)

So here's the problem, the computer keeps crashing like crazy.

What are the chances that it is overheating?
What are the chances the the power supply isn't "tough enough"?

Please help...What do you recommend?

[ranchdog]

The AMD400 had some compatability issues.

Go into CMOS(BIOS) and disable Cache option and see if this doesn't help.

Luck.

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[oldlefty]

I'm looking for advice on AGP compatability and this thread has confused me. My motherboard is about 3-4 years old and has "an AGP slot". I just bought a video card that I found out is "AGP 2.0". From what I read in the Visiontek troubleshooting section, A 2.0 won't work in a AGP 1.0 slot. The newest boards have a "universal AGP slot" which is supposed to be backward compatable to all AGP cards, but the hangup is if, like me, you have a 2.0 card and a 1.0 slot.

You're supposed to be able to tell by looking at the slot- there's a divider about 1/3 of the way along. If the "short" part of the slot is nearest the back if the machine it's a 1.0. The newer ones look like they don't have a divider.

Do I read this thread correctly to say that you CAN run an AGP 2.0 card in a 1.0 slot? Thanks.

[iisbob]

..Do I read this thread correctly to say that you CAN run an AGP 2.0 card in a 1.0 slot? Thanks..

It was never an issue of the AGP slot's compatibility; it's the video card's that have the problem with sometimes running at the 1X speed of the older AGP slot's.

For instance, i have a system with a 6 year old Epox Intel chipset motherboard with an AGP 1X slot, i also have a 1 year old Hercules Geforce2 MX 400 ( supports up to 4X AGP Bus ) and it works just fine at the older 1X standard; yet i have a 4 year old ATI Rage Pro ( 2X ) that absolutely refuses to work properly in the slot ( at least until i had upgraded the drivers on it ).

Basic AGP chart; 1x=266MB's per sec data transfer rate, 2x=533MB's, 4X=1 GB per sec, new 8X=2.1 GB's per sec transfer rate. These are calculated by taking the 32 bit PCI bus width ( which AGP is still PCI architecture; just dedicated bus to your system memory for graphic's) X the bus speed ( 66mhz ) then divide by the actually single wire width ( 8 bits ).

See this article in Tom's Hardware Guide (http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q1/000214/).


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iisbob

CPU= 5mhz
Memory= 16 K
Storage=10.2MB's
Video=Onboard S3 4K
Modem=14.4 baud
Sound=ISA Yamaha 8bit
Mouse=2 button MS
Monitor=ACER 12.5"
OS= WIN 3.1

My ultimate gaming system http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by iisbob (edited 01-13-2002).]

[oldlefty]

Thanks, Oh Master Geek! I read the Tom's article, good stuff. Here's the message in Visiontek's FAQ that got me worried:

"Q: One of the system requirements of my new XTasy card says I need an AGP 2.0 compliant expansion slot, how can I tell if I have this?

A: If your motherboard is from early 2000 or before, there is a good chance that it may not have an AGP 2.0 compliant socket. One way to tell is to look at the AGP slot. It should appear to have a small division with a shorter section and a longer section. If the shorter section is towards the back of the machine where you plug in your monitor, this is most likely AGP 1.0. If the shorter section is towards the front of the machine, or there is no division at all, it is most likely AGP 2.0 compliant. Check with your motherboard manufacturer or PC manufacturer to be certain."

My Abit BX6 V2 motherboard manual says it supports AGP 1x and 2x, and from the quote above it is an AGP 1.0 slot. From what you're saying, I should be able to use my new Visiontek Nvidia GTS-V card in the slot even though it says in the system requirements AGP 2.0? So does the requirement then really mean that the card will run, but you will only get x, 2x, or 4x, but only the highest of which the board is capable of?

Thanks again for the education!

[iisbob]

Look at the bottom of your vid card; does it have three seperated pin sections? if so, it is 1.0/2.0 compliant and should work just fine.

The AGP port will run at the maximum your motherboard will support-can't garauntee you your vid card/motherboard will work-that's never %100, but all things being equal you shouldn't have a problem-go for it, worst case you wind up having to return it and get a different card.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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iisbob

CPU= 5mhz
Memory= 16 K
Storage=10.2MB's
Video=Onboard S3 4K
Modem=14.4 baud
Sound=ISA Yamaha 8bit
Mouse=2 button MS
Monitor=ACER 12.5"
OS= WIN 3.1

My ultimate gaming system :)

[oldlefty]

Bingo! I put it in tonight and it runs like a charm (so far...). F1 2000, instead of laughing at me as it had in the past, leapt out of the monitor and ushered me in. Thanks for the help.