AM2 Mobo + AGP?

[KRa104]

Does anyone know or have any predictions if there will be a socket AM2 motherboard with an AGP slot? People have pointed out that the ASRock 939dual has an AGP slot (+ PCIe) and you can get an adaptor which will let you use an AM2 CPU, but it seems like all these modifications will cause a pretty significant decrease in performance. I would consider buying a new PCIe video card, but I just bought a nice new AGP card a few months ago (old card died and had to be replaced, current mobo is AGP). There's got to be a lot of people with good AGP cards who don't want to have to replace them when they upgrade to AM2. Well, if worse comes to worse, I'll stick with the 939 chips and hopefully the prices will have come down alot.

-Ken

 

[jaguarskx]

The answer is no. That was tried with socket 939 mobo and AGP performance was at best medicore. I remember reading reviews where the loss in performance was as high as 50%.

The only exception is the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, which is capable of providing about 95% of actual performance. How did Asrock do that? They used the ULi 1695m chipset. They were ULi's only customer for the chipset unfortunately. ULi has been recently aquired by nVidia.

 

[KRa104]

Thanks for the reply, so what would your recommendation be for upgrading the CPU+mobo if I still need an AGP slot? I am reluctant to buy a socket 939 chip if it is going to be old technology in 2 months, but at the same time a new video card isnt really in the budget. It seems that if they're still selling AGP video cards then it would make sense for them to have an AM2 mobo that can support them. But maybe that's just my biased perspective . Also, the performance difference between an AGP card and PCIe isn't too significant, its just a newer technology, so I don't see an immediate need to switch everything over.

-Ken

 

[jaguarskx]

Sorry, but if you want to upgrade and keep your AGP, then your only choices (For AMD) are socket 754 and 939.

If you want to transition over to Conroe or AM2 you will need to upgrade to PCI-e video.

You're only hope is that maybe, maybe Asrock will some how be able to come out with an AM2 mobo that can use an AGP card. But they need to rely on a chipset maker to design a chipset to allow that to happen.

If you don't want to go with the S939 route, then stick with what you have and save up money for a PCI-e GPU. Then upgrade to AM2 or Conroe.

 

[pat]

The answer is no. That was tried with socket 939 mobo and AGP performance was at best medicore. I remember reading reviews where the loss in performance was as high as 50%.

The only exception is the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, which is capable of providing about 95% of actual performance. How did Asrock do that? They used the ULi 1695m chipset. They were ULi's only customer for the chipset unfortunately. ULi has been recently aquired by nVidia.

ULI AGP performance is on par with any AGP chipset and surpass some chipset too.

This is a REAL AGP port, not a faked one like some solution.

To OP, if you really want AGP and AM2, I'm pretty sure that at release time, there will be only PCI-e solution available. It is all about chipset. If there is chipset that support AM2 and has AGP support, then board may appear on the shelves. But don't hold your breath on that. It may take time and even never happen..

The only solution here is the Asrock board, with the riser card for AM2. Just do the math when everything will be available.

 

[KRa104]

Thanks to all for the replies, while the ASRock 939Dual mobo would be a good alternative, I have found a better option. Since my AGP card is new (<90 days old), I'm going to try to use the eVGA's step-up program and switch it for a similar PCIe card. I had originally planned to buy a PCIe card when I upgraded, but since the old one died early, I had to get an AGP.

I'm still not so sure about taking the AM2 route, since it's brand new I might want to wait until the kinks get worked out. Also, some of the early reviews haven't showed a significant performance increase over 939. I know that it would make future upgrading easier, but next time I upgrade it will probably be yet another new achitecture anyways.

-Ken

 

[linux_0]

jaguarskx and Pat are correct :-D

The ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 is your best ( and only ) bet. Other boards with AGP do not have a true AGP slot like the ASRock does.

You can get the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Open Box ( board ONLY ) for $37 delivered from newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081R

Good Luck! :-D

 

[Qwertyleo]

The answer is no. That was tried with socket 939 mobo and AGP performance was at best medicore. I remember reading reviews where the loss in performance was as high as 50%.

The only exception is the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, which is capable of providing about 95% of actual performance. How did Asrock do that? They used the ULi 1695m chipset. They were ULi's only customer for the chipset unfortunately. ULi has been recently aquired by nVidia.

You are utterly wrong I own the board, and can tell you that has not happned