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View Full Version : Agp 4x Bandwith.....

AlanSr
10-17-01, 02:24 PM
With all the new GF3 cards commin out, are we gettin close to the limit of agp 4x?
Kingslayer
10-17-01, 03:56 PM
The limit of bandwidth for 4x AGP has never even been close to being touched. 4x AGP is basically a waste, there are so many other bottlenecks on motherboards that you aren't fully utilizing 4X AGP.

4x AGP is way before it's time.
Wa11y
10-17-01, 03:59 PM
Originally posted by Kingslayer
The limit of bandwidth for 4x AGP has never even been close to being touched. 4x AGP is basically a waste, there are so many other bottlenecks on motherboards that you aren't fully utilizing 4X AGP.

4x AGP is way before it's time.

But it's good to have it! With DDR and 4XAGP, we now need 4XPCI so we can start REALLY flyin'!
o770
10-17-01, 04:57 PM
it seems there is a problem with the software dealing with AGP too. W2K for ex can work with AGP a lot better than any previous version.
Pitspawn
10-17-01, 05:24 PM
I did a couple of calculations. Correct me if Im wrong but...

1xAGP = 256Mb/s
2xAGP = 512Mb/s
4xAGP = 1024Mb/s

Lets take a game like Tribes2. Lets run it at 1600x1200x32bit. What is the theoretical max framerate with 4xAGP?

1600*1200*4 (4 bytes in 32 bits) =
7,680,000 bytes (7.6Mb)

1,024,000,000 / 7,680,000 = 133.333fps

Yes so 133fps @ 1600x1200x32. Your right. I cannot see how going up any higher than 4xAGP would be worth it.
Yodums
10-17-01, 05:53 PM
haha I agree wit Pitspawn and the fact that we wouldn't need to touch anything above 4x
Pounder2000
10-18-01, 06:59 AM
and yet they are bringing out AGP 8x with the Thoroughbreds...
Kingslayer
10-18-01, 10:31 AM
Sure AGP 4x can put through alot of data. But there are still components on the motherboards that data passes through that can't.
Pitspawn
10-18-01, 09:07 PM
Yeah, like RAM. Hardly any AMD based ram hits the 4xAGP speed of a gig per second. If you saw that sort of memory shifting, you could guarentee a decent benchie against any intel rig.

Its not memory bandwidth that is the downfall of framerates on graphics cards atm. The problem lies with the low core speed and the ram speed. It amazes me that even with the release of the new Ti500, the core speed is STILL lower than the GF2 Ultra's 250Mhz core. The ultra was launched like 9 months ago, quite scary. The ram being used is only clocked at like 500Mhz (250Mhz DDR) That is quite weak considering that you can get DDR RAM only half the speed (266Mhz/300Mhz)

Personally, I would like to see more advancements in gfx rather than cpu/mem etc.

The problem atm is that no application needs the pure speed of Mushkin 2400 DDR ram or XP 1800+ cpus. The problem is that even the GF3 Ti500 doesnt cut it for framerates at 1024x768x32/high settings in upcoming games. Apparently, Doom3 is being designed to run at 30fps on a GF3!!!!!

Imagine what fps you will get on a GF2 :eek: