so i have been scouring the internet for a while trying to tack down voltage information about AGP slots, and i think i have everything i need, but i am paranoid so.. i figured i would see if anyone has any other information or can correct my understanding. i want to upgrade my graphics card, currently i have a radeon 9200 in my agp slot, i am planning on replacing it with an x800 xt (i would go for an x850, but that seems to require 2 slots because of the fan, and i dont have any space for that ) i have an 8x agp slot. the reason i am so paranoid about this is that in my motherboard manual it says "only 1.5V AGP card is supported. if 3.3V AGP card added, the motherboard will be damaged." so i have been paranoid about voltages and have the following information, please correct anything i have wrong: all cards that run at 8x only use 0.8V, 4x or 2x (cant remember which) uses either 1.5V or 3.3V, depending on the card, and the other speeds i am not worried about. so the question is, if i end up getting ANY 8x AGP card, that should mean that it will only be drawing 0.8V from the motherboard (as i understand it) so i have nothing to worry about, only if i were getting a 4x or 2x card i would need to worry. in short, if i get the x800 xt agp card, my mother board will be fine? someone please either set me straight or confirm what i have said, the last thing i want to do is damage my motherboard. thanks in advance. -upho
It can get a bit confusing I know but IIRC AGPx8 is only 0.8v, so if both your motherboard and card are this then you will be okay, just set your BIOS to x8 although AGPx8 motherboards should be auto-sensing between 0.8 & 1.5v. As you say you will only have a problem with older x1 & x2 cards.
thanks so much, that really takes the worries off, im excited about my upgrades, this will put me at: ati all-in-wonder x800xt 2.6GHz P4, 800 fsb 2x1gig ocz dual channel ram @ 2-3-2-5 timing, pc3200 350W, quiet power supply next on the list is setting up a raid arrangement and backup system, i had my HD die last year, and i dont want to lose everything again. so... yea, thank you
