4x card in an 8x agp slot?

[bubba freaktree]

can you do this?

i just got an asus A7V8X-X mobo. i don't like the card they shipped me (it's an 8x).

i'd like to load in my matrox G450, since i really like the picture on that card.

can this be done? i'm wondering if 8x means only 8x, or that it can support 8x and lower.

[wogg]

No worries, 8X is backwards compatible with 4X AGP.

It's the AGP spec you gotta worry about (I think we're on AGP 3.0), but that hasn't changed for a while.

[maggotcontrol]

That's fine. G450 works wonderfully on the KT400 chipset.

Yoshi
www.studiokobari.com (http://www.studiokobari.com)

[bubba freaktree]

thanks so much guys.

Yoshi, you're the man.

you figured out what chipset my mobo has!

i didn't even know the graphics card relates to the chipset in terms of compatability.

each day we get a little smarter... http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif

[MBeetz]

So just because the card is AGP doesn't mean you can put it in any Motherboard with AGP slot?

Im asking because i bought a Matrox G450 LX card and i tried installing it on my ECS K7S5A MB but it won't turn on. My monitor won't click on so i had to reinstall my NVidia card.

The Matrox G450 shows AGP Support as: AGP 1X, AGP 2X, AGP 4X
The MB shows it has 5 PCI slots, 1 4X AGP slot, 1 AMR slot.

Could i be doing something wrong or are they just not compatible?

[maggotcontrol]

Well, theoretically all standard AGP 8x cards will work on older boards as they're basically backwards compatible. It's just that sometimes there may be the ocassional driver problems or even voltage incompatibilities. I just happened to have tested that particular video card with many chipsets that's all. : )

I don't know of any compatibility issues with the G450 and the K7S5A. In fact, I did test this too without problems. Try clearing CMOS first and then retry it with the G450.

Yoshi
www.studiokobari.com (http://www.studiokobari.com)

[This message has been edited by maggotcontrol (edited 08-19-2003).]

[bubba freaktree]

I have an ECS K7S5A Pro mobo with Matrox G450 Millenium edition. Works *great*!!!

In fact, when I first installed it, I didn't even have to install any drivers until I wanted to try out the dual monitor features.

And now (thanks Yoshi!) I installed the G450 (which is a 4x) into my Asus 8x mobo, and it works great too! Way better than the one they shipped me with, even though "that one" is 128meg/8x/blah blah blah.

I'm baffled why your G450 doesn't work, because I have the same exact system and mine works fabulous.

Originally posted by MBeetz:
So just because the card is AGP doesn't mean you can put it in any Motherboard with AGP slot?

Im asking because i bought a Matrox G450 LX card and i tried installing it on my ECS K7S5A MB but it won't turn on. My monitor won't click on so i had to reinstall my NVidia card.

The Matrox G450 shows AGP Support as: AGP 1X, AGP 2X, AGP 4X
The MB shows it has 5 PCI slots, 1 4X AGP slot, 1 AMR slot.

Could i be doing something wrong or are they just not compatible?

[MBeetz]

Glad to hear yours is working ok Bubba, im still not sure why my system does not recognize it. Now i can't return the Matrox card and i guess im stuck with it.

I have a question though is yours AGP or PCI? The one sent to me was AGP and i keep thinking if thats where the problem might be at.

Could an outdated Bios be the problem? Also, im not too familiar with CMOS, how would i go about clearing it. Im gonna keep trying till i can at least get it to turn my monitor on. Thanks everyone.

[bubba freaktree]

what i've found is all cards should 'work' enough to get the picture on for boot.

the picture might stink until you load the drivers and set your 16 bit blah blah blah.

try uninsalling all the drivers to you nvidia card and regressing back to 256 colors. make your video driver situation "completly generic and boring" with nothing loaded from a 3rd party manufacturer like your previous card.

then see if the ecs will boot up all boring with a basic picture on your g450. then see if you can sneak in the driver install cd and get it all going full-tilt.

if you have a spare hard drive around, you could wipe it clean and then reload your operating system and have your computer boot up thinking it's the first time for everything.

i know that sounds crazy. but the g450 has been nothing but gold for me, and i have the exact same motherboard as you (except mine is the "pro" version, whatever that means).

a guy on this newsgroup named "trock" has my same mobo/videocard setup. in fact i copied him.

so i'd really try to give this card a fighting chance before you decide to punt it. i really think it's a case of your computer being in no-man's land because it the other card was previously installed.

try a "virgin" reload if you can. clean hard drive, no audio pci cards, nothing. boot and install clean. get your video happening, then reintroduce your sound card, programs, etc.

that may mean plunking down $50 for an extra hard drive, but we all should have at least one extra drive around for safety, troubleshooting and backup anyway.

[bubba freaktree]

also,
is there a way to pop the matrox card in another computer to test it?

could be a dead card. doubtful, but anything's possible.

also, i saw you card is an "Lx" version... is that the one with one port vga, second port s-video?

if so, that's different than my card.

[MBeetz]

I happen to have a spare drive stashed away so im gonna take your advice Bubba and reformat and reinstall.

I did try the card on a Gigabyte GA7DX board on a different comp but the problem continued and to answer your question the card is the LX model:

Type of Video Card: 2D/3D Video w/TV Support
Connectors: Video - 2 x 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - RCA Composite Video
AGP Support: AGP 1X, AGP 2X, AGP 4X http://www.compuvest.com/web/Description.jsp?ItemID=15254

One last thing, i noticed that the card's gold connectors (the ones that go into the motherboard) was not one continous strip, they were divided into three sections with a small gap in between each. Prior to this all the AGP cards i had seen had 1 strip that popped into the MB.

Is this rare? It seemed like although the card fit perfectly, the (connectors) were not filling up the AGP slot entirely. Just figured i'd ask, thanks for your advice though Bubba im gonna go ahead and try this out...let you know how it goes.

[bubba freaktree]

I THINK I SOLVED IT FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!

CAPS LOCK INTENTIONALLY ON!!!!!!

you *have* to plug the monitor into the matrox blue 15pin vga port that is "furthest away from the motherboard" (closest to the top edge of the card). if you are staring at the back of your computer, and your tower is standing vertical, it will be the vga port "on the right".

you get no picture on the other port until you install the drivers and enable dual monitor functions.

[bubba freaktree]

my g450 has slotted gold connectors too. and the geforce card i'm returning also has slots. so it's normal.

[This message has been edited by bubba freaktree (edited 08-21-2003).]

[MBeetz]

I'm afraid to say that nothing i've tried has made this card from hell perform its simple duty, i took your advice Bubba and performed a clean install on a different drive and still no signs of life.

I tried pluggin up to the port away from the MB, and even tried the closer one. Cleared the CMOS, uninstalled the original video cards drivers, (prayed), tried it with both cards installed, and nothing.

I guess maybe the card IS dead, so im goin to call the dealer and exchange it for another (same model).

I thank everyone for helping me fight this demon and since i know some are running pretty much the same system i have with the same card, im gonna go ahead and wait for the second coming and battle with a new card. It just sucks i gotta pay for shipping again... oh well.