Problem with G400 Max - 1x AGP only ?

[nsw5]

Hi,

My Microstar BX Master motherboard comes with an utility that
monitors the computer system information e.g. display card properties.
-- this utility seems to indicate that the Matrox G400
Max is running only at AGP 1x --- not even 2x ???? Why is this so ????

Please help regard this and the pixelation problem.

My system configuration is as follows :-
PIII 667 BE (coppermine)
SD133 128 mb Mitsubishi ram on board
Microstar BX-Master motherboard
Sony 19' GDM F400 monitor
Window Media Player v6.4
DirectX 7.0a
G400 Max driver from Powerdesk v5.5


Thank you very much.

NSW

[paulcs]

Uh-oh. If I'm right about your problem, I only bring you bad news.

Although your processor and RAM are running at spec, 133 MHz, your still using a BX motherboard. The BX chipset, although capable of running with front side bus speeds of 133 MHz or higher, was not designed to do so. In order for your AGP slot to run at 66 MHz on a 133 MHz FSB, it would need a 1/2 divider (133/2=66), and the BX chipset on has dividers of 1/1 and 2/3.

It's not MSI's fault. It's a limitation of the chipset.

Your AGP slot is being overclocked by a substantial margin (89 MHz vs. 66 MHz). A lot of video cards wouldn't run at all at this speed. Most boards that are are capable of handling such a severe overclock will default to the AGP 1x standard. This may also account for your pixelation problem.

I'm sure you can live with AGP 1x. Because of the overclock, your AGP 1x transfers are probably pretty fast. If you're running into other problems related to the overclocking of your AGP slot, I only see two solutions:

Return your 667 MHz processor and replace it with a PIII 650. It is designed to run on the 100 MHz FSB.

Replace your motherboard with one designed to run at 133 MHz with PC 133 RAM. They will default to the 1/2 divider at 133 MHz and run at the 66 MHz spec. Both VIA and Intel make chipsets that can do this. However, there appears to be both stability and performance issues with the Camino chipset modified for PC133 RAM.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net