[Leaplist] Need a vid card for a week or so -- don't blow your mainboard AGP slot

[Bryan J. Smith]

I normally wouldn't post to the list, but I don't want anyone to blow
their mainboard's AGP slot.

You see, there are different voltages for AGP cards and mainboards
that apply to AGP 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.  I have personally fused AGP pins
in a slot by using an old AGP 1.0 Matrox G200 in AGP 2.0/3.0
mainboard slots, ruining my AGP slot.  The Matrox G200 attempted to
draw 3.3V from the slot which could only provide 1.5V and bam, that
was that.  I was lucky the whole mainboard wasn't ruined.

As such, one needs to be extremely careful not to use a 3.3V AGP card
in an only 1.5V capable AGP slot mainboard, or the mainboard will be
ruined.  Going the opposite, using an 0.8V AGP card in only a 1.5V
capable AGP slot mainboard will probably ruin the AGP card, or in the
best case, it just won't work (if the card has some safety logic). 
I've seen the latter happen to people personally as well.

I documented the different AGP 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 specs and voltages
here:  
http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/11/agp-agp-pro-pci-and-pci-x-voltage.html

They still vary, as 1.0 is 3.3V, 2.0 is 1.5V and may be 3.3V tolerant
(optional) and 3.0 is 0.8V and may be 1.5V tolerant.  One of the
reasons I still keep my 3.5 year-old GeForce 6800GT is because it was
an AGP 3.0 (0.8V) card with 2.0 (1.5V) tolerance, unlike most "8x"
(3.0) cards produced in the last 3 years.

So _take_care_ to check those old AGP cards when you give them away. 
The newer Athlon 64 mainboards with AGP are going to be 3.0, and may
only support 0.8V or, optionally, 1.5V.  If you throw an old 1.0/3.3V
or even a 2.0/1.5V card in there, you may blow the mainboard.  So,
what AGP cards are you offering?


-- 
Bryan J. Smith       Professional, Technical Annoyance
b.j.smith at ieee.org  http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith
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       Fission Power:  An Inconvenient Solution