4X/8X - The Difference

[PCManic]

Hey All,

Well I am just thinking of purchasing the "ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 Edition Radeon 9600 256MB DDR VIVO AGP 4X/8X" video card. Now, as you can read in the title, it says 4X/8X. Does that mean that I can either use a 4X interface or an 8X interface?

Previously, I bought a video card for my system and it wouldn't even fit in properly, and it said that it was an 8X interface card. So I suppose I would need a 4X card, right?

One other question. How would I check and see what kind of interface I have, and consequently, what card I would need?

If you could answer my questions as soon as possible that would be great!

Manic

 

[vnf4ultra]

4x and 8x have the same physical slot type, but 2x cards are keyed differently. You might have a 2x slot, if so, you're pretty much out of luck, as there aren't many 2x cards available now, and the ones that are are slow.
8x supports faster speeds than 4x and has a different signaling voltage(0.8v) than 4x(1.5v). Many agp 4x boards support 8x/4x cards.

 

[LesterofPups]

Tell us which motherboard you have to facilitate a fast answer.

Here is some light reading...

http://www.abcd.com.au/v/agp_slot.htm

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,78044,pg,2,00.asp

http://arstechnica.com/ask-ars/2000/ask-9.html

 

[PCManic]

Thanks everyone. In one of the articles that LesterofPups suggested tells me to take a good look at my motherboard and see what "kind" of AGP or whatever that I have. Again, thanks!

P.S. I'll keep you all posted on my endeavors.

 

[PCManic]

Ok, I just typed the serial number of my motherboard and a couple other number configuations into my web browsers search engine and I came up with this: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bph07030

As you can see, the Graphics connector (AGP) is 4x! Success!
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One more thing though. This link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102581, states that I need "3.0Ghz or equivalent to run software encoding requirements of Windows® Media Center." On my PC, from what I can find, I only have 1.6Ghz. Would the above card still run properly? Thanks. Also, if there is any other information regarding this issue that I should become aware of, please don't be afraid to tell me.

 

[Ruder]

Encoding depends on the CPU. The card will work - your processor won't cope unless you encode in 64x32 format ...

 

[PCManic]

OK, although I really don't understand what "encoding" is. Is it something that I really need to do to make everything in my system work properly? If you could direct me to a link of sorts, that would be great!

 

[Ruder]

encoding = formatting the raw data into a viewable type of file. Principle almost like zipping files...

Links? Try Google ...

 

[PCManic]

Well after hours of consitent research, I have now just decided upon this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102605 If you choose so, tell me what you think!

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[wolfram]

How much money can you spend on a video card?
What about a 6600GT ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127170