AGP Voltage
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Thread: AGP Voltage

  1. #1
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    Exclamation AGP Voltage

    It would appear that different derivatives of AGP cards can permanently damage your motherboard, especially if it has an i845 or i850 chipset. i.e. my ATI Rage IIC card has 2 slots in the edge connector as does my Voodoo 5500. I assume this is to indicate that they are 3.3V AGP cards. My MSI MS-8820 (nVidia Geforce2 GTS) card has 3 slots in the edge connector which I assume is to indicate that it is either a 1.5V or AGP4X card (not sure which).

    Apparently AGP1X and AGP2X cards are all 3.3V and all AGP4X cards are 1.5V. The 3rd key in the AGP4X motherboard connector would prevent you using an AGP1X or AGP2X 3.3V AGP card in a motherboard that has an AGP4X 1.5V AGP slot connector.

    Apparently ASUS V300C (SiS 305) card also has 3 slots in the edge connector which would indicate that it is a 1.5V AGP card. It will also allow the insertion of this card into the motherboard AGP slot connector as the edge connector has the 3rd slot which will allow it to fit over the key in the motherboard slot connector. The ASUS V300C is however a 3.3V AGP card and thus blows the chipset on a motherboard that uses the i845 or i850 chipset.

    What defines the voltage of the AGP slot connector on the motherboard? Is it the specification i.e. AGP1X, AGP2X or AGP4X or is it the chipset that the mobo uses?

    Does the 3rd slot in the edge connector indicate AGP4X or does it indicate 1.5V?

    Are all AGP4X cards 1.5V?

    If one cannot use a 3.3V card on a AGP4X mobo can one use a 1.5V card in a mobo that uses a BX or VIA chipset or will the AGP card be damaged?

    Can anyone shed more light on the voltage differences of AGP1X, AGP2X, AGP4X and the different mobo chipsets?

    Which combinations are safe to use and which combinations will cause damage?

  2. #2
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    This is a good ? and have never thought about it I would be interested in the answer if there is one.

  3. #3
    Registered User Darren Wilson's Avatar
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    Most cards will only use 1.5v if ran in AGP4X mode. If they are run in 1x or 2x mode they should if they follow AGP specifications, run at 3.3v.

    For example. The Radeon I am runing currently operated fine on my old BX board running at AGP2X, yet I am now running it at AGP4X on a VIA KT133A chipset. If I remember correctly the only 'recent' card that has problems with certain AGP slots is the VooDoo 5 which don't work in AGP-Pro slots unlike other cards or similar spec.
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  4. #4
    Registered User Gabriel's Avatar
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    Cool

    Check this out for more details:
    <a href="http://www.hardwarebook.net/connector/bus/agp.html" target="_blank">http://www.hardwarebook.net/connector/bus/agp.html</a>

    Cheers,
    Gabriel
    Real stupidity beats Artifical Intelligence
    Avatar courtesy of A D E P T

  5. #5
    Registered User Ruslan's Avatar
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    By the way, many of AGP videocards have built-in stepdown voltage regulator (from input 3,3v to 1,5v or 2,7v - depends on model)...

  6. #6
    Registered User Darren Wilson's Avatar
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    I just came across this <a href="http://www.hardtecs4u.com/reviews/2001/agp4x_e/" target="_blank">article</a> in which it states 'that i845 & i850 boards can be destroyed by using non-1.45v AGP cards'. This warning has come from Epox, Powercolor & Intel, and Epox are well known for their 'power issues' & Powercolor are not known for making the greatest of Video cards, & Intel are probably covering their back just in case . Obviously if this was 100% true then all i845 & i850 boards would suffer the same problem.
    I can honestly say that any non-AGP4X cards that I have seen tried or tried myself have been absolutely fine on the i845/i850 combination.

    The saga continues......

    In fact this reminds of the old Riva128ZX & i440LX scenario a few years back in which Asus P2L97 boards couldn't give enough voltage out to the Riva128ZX chipset on their V3300 cards, which required a sodlered wire to a motherboard chipset to generate enough voltage. Yet some people actually got the cards working without the voltage modification.
    Darren Wilson is the ....... MONKEY HUNTER..... Coming to a big screen near you soon!!!

  7. #7
    Registered User MacGyver's Avatar
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    [quote]Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
    <strong>In fact this reminds of the old Riva128ZX & i440LX scenario a few years back in which Asus P2L97 boards couldn't give enough voltage out to the Riva128ZX chipset on their V3300 cards, which required a sodlered wire to a motherboard chipset to generate enough voltage. Yet some people actually got the cards working without the voltage modification.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Funny that Asus can't get their own video cards to work with their own motherboards. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

  8. #8
    Registered User Ruslan's Avatar
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    [quote]Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
    <strong>
    In fact this reminds of the old Riva128ZX & i440LX scenario a few years back in which Asus P2L97 boards couldn't give enough voltage out to the Riva128ZX chipset on their V3300 cards, which required a sodlered wire to a motherboard chipset to generate enough voltage. Yet some people actually got the cards working without the voltage modification.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Right now we have in our office ASUS P2L-97 with ASUS V3000 AGP videocard and PC-133 64Mb sticks of memory,P2-300 (O'C to 333) (last for MacGyver,who has same board ) running just fine.

  9. #9
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    Today it was the turn of an Aopen P4 mobo. Client ordered P4 system but my techie couldn't get the AGP card to fit the mobo AGP slot. The sales manager of my supplier argued that you only get AGP or AGP Pro slots and that keying of the AGP edge connector had nothing to do with it. Well, I invited him over to take a look. When he arrived I explained that he needed a 1.5V AGP4X card with two key slots in the cards edge connector for it to work and he definitely should not send me a SIS 305 chipset card. The client arrived to fetch his system, which of course was not ready. The supplier's sales manager rushed back to his office to fetch another AGP card. To make amends for the delay I took the client out for a bite to eat. When we returned an hour later the whole P4 system had disappeared. Apparently the supplier's sales manager had returned with an AGP card, plugged it into the system and proceeded to turn the power on. Nothing happened for a short period. The system did not even begin to post. Then a thin whisp of very expensive smoke curled into the air. Scratch one mobo, SIS 305 AGP card and apparently even the power supply was damaged. Top marks for the supplier who returned about 15 minutes later with an assembled sysetm including new mobo, power supply and AGP card )

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