Is a 2x/4x AGP v.2.0 slot compatible with the AGP 4x/8x slot? In other words, are 2x/4x AGP compatio

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am VERY confised with AGP, especially with the different versions-
AGP 2x/4x. AGP 4x/8x. It does not seem to make much sense to me.

Here is a synopsis of my situation and quandry. I have a PC/
Workstation built on the Tyan S1834 Tiger 133 main board (motherboard)
with dual P3 933MHz CPU's, 1.5 GB of ECC PC133 memory, 250 GB ATA Hard
Drive, and an ATi Radeon 32MB 2X/4X AGP v.2.0 Graphics Memory (VRAM)
video card. This main board (motherboard) is old but among the best
ones at the time that I had purchased it (circa 2000-2001 or so). I
have had this machine since then and have sentimental value to it that
I want to upgrade it as much as this system board (motherboard) will
allow me to do so. I am currently running Windows XP Professional SP2
on this and it performs superbly and is never too slow.

My objective is this-I currently have an 2X/4X AGP ATi Radeon 32MB
VRAM video card (as I just mentioned before) that is currently
installed in my 2X/4X AGP V.2.0 (AGP) slot. From shopping online at
pricewatch.com, I see a lot of 4X/8X AGP video cards which mostly are
the ones with 256 MB of VRAM, the type that I would like to upgrade
to. But when I look for 2X/4X AGP v.2.0 compatible video cards, they
only go up to 64MB, sometimes (but rarely) 128MB of VRAM. I would
ideally like to upgrade my video card to one that has at the very
least 128 MB VRAM, preferably 256 MB VRAM. at the best cost.
Replacing my computer or buying a new one is NOT AN OPTION.

The bottom line is that I would like to get the best video card
upgrade for my money , while ensuring that my upgrade part will be
100% compatible with the AGP v.2.0 2X/4X slot. on my Tyan main board
(motherboard). And also, going back to my original question, is 2X/4X
AGP 2.0 compatible or NOT compatible with 4X/8X AGP? What is my best
option for a good AGP video card that has 128-256 MB VRAM, that is
compatible with what I currently have, given my situation?

If anyone has answers to my questions and has a solution to my
quandry, please respond with your advise. Any good ideas,
suggestions, and advice for me will very greatly be appreciated.
Thank you in advance for reading my post and for helping me with my
quandry.

Sincerely,

Kevin Shen

 

I googled your question... Here are two sites that address the issues.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Hardware/faqs/kb/10,63.html


http://discuss.extremetech.com/forums/thread/780982018.aspx

"EDIT: AGP 2x (or AGP 1.0) runs at 3.3 volts. AGP 4x (or AGP 2.0) runs
at 1.5 volt OR 3.3 volt. AGP 8x (or AGP 3.0) runs at 1.5 volts or 0.8
volts, dependent on whether it is universal AGP 3.0 or not. As such,
AGP 4x bus supports both 2x and 8x cards. A 4x/8x mobo does not
support 2x cards. And a 2x only board does not support 8x cards. click
here for more info on AGP bus specs."