Video cards : need advise on USED cards...

[ZIYAD A. M. AL-BATLY]

Okay... This is getting a *little* silly and a lot of *embarrassment*
for me.

On Fri, 2005-06-03 at 14:15 +0300, ZIYAD A. M. AL-BATLY wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-06-03 at 04:03 +0200, Vincent Trouilliez wrote:
> > Hi Ziyad,
> > 
> Hi Vincent...
> 
> > Thanks for the technical info, much welcomed.
> You're welcome, though, I was wrong a little.  Read below.
> 
> > I checked my motherboard's user manual, it says, I quote :
> > 
> > - Supports AGP v2.0 2x/4x (1.5V only)
> > 
> That's correct.
> 
> > So it's strange. Although it says v2.0, it also says that in x4 mode, it
> > needs 1.5v, which looks from your description like v3.0 ?
> > So there is a ray of hope that my AGP slot is compatible with v3.0
> > (hence modern) x4 cards ?
> AGP v1.0 works with 2.5 Volts, AGP v2.0 works with 1.8 Volts, and AGP
> v3.0 works with 0.8 Volts.  Thanks to you, I discovered I was wrong and
> did a little search.  Thank you.
> 
> > Obviously the ultimate test is to stuff such a board in there and see
> > what happens, but sadly I can't afford to buy a dozen cards, even cheap
> > and used, to fry them one after the other until I find one that
> > works ! ;o)
> As I said in a previous mail: You probable wont hurt your AGP card or
> your mainboard.  AGP has a mechanism to check for the version and to see
> if it's compatible before operating.  The best thing to do in your
> situation is: a) to make the seller either give a full money fund return
> guarantee if the AGP card didn't work with your system or bring him/her
> your system and let him/her do the testing, b) search the Internet for
> compatibility between you mainboard and the AGP card you want to buy.
> 
> > 
> > This is all getting a bit of a nightmare. Lots of trouble to identify a
> > card that maybe will, or maybe won't, work on my obsolete motherboard...
> > probably for not much improvement.
> That's normal, and you have my sympathy.  I was there once and it's
> really a nightmare.
>  
> > Hmmm, I guess it's wisest to give up and wait a couple years, when I
> > change the motherboard, hence can just get any card out there and plug
> > it in without much thinking...
> As a wrote above, ask the seller to test the system for you and to
> guarantee the compatibility between the different devices.
> 
> > Well, at least I tried. Thanks guys for all the technical info....
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Vince
> > 
> > 
> I would like to apologize to you and the list for my previous BIG UGLY
> error about AGP voltages and the confusion that might resulted from it.
> I should have done some searching before I wrote that last mail.
> 
> Sorry everybody.
> Ziyad.
> 
As I continue to read more, I found that there are different variants of
AGP voltages: 3.3, 1.5, and 0.8.  I'm not sure how these Voltages relate
to AGP rates, although I'm pretty sure there *is* some kind of a
relation.

I found these links to be very helpful:
     1. http://www.directron.com/15agpguide.html
     2. http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_AGP.html


Sorry again for the mistakes I made.  My apologies to Vincent and the
rest of the list.
Ziyad.