some AVGA specifics

[shorthair]

Does anyone here know if the AGP version AVGA is x4 or x8?...what 'x's the PCIe version is?  Those who've gotten either, why did you?

[Chris G]

I bought the PCIe version since my mobo does not have an AGP slot.  (Plus Andy said it was faster. 

Not sure about the "X" factor.  I'm sure Andy would give you a quick response if you emailed him.

EDIT:  If I remember correctly, the product description specifies which board the AVGA is based on, so I bet you could figure out the specs based on that.

[Bobbler]

AGP 8x I assume as its a Radeon 9250.
PCIe I am not sure but its a Radeon X550

Not that matters much, its hardly chucking around much in the way of graphics in mame. They are really only budget cards that have had a custom BIOS put on them. I believe the X550 is good enough for the likes Half Life 2 at respectable frame rates.

I went for AGP as it means you can get a cheapo second hand motherboard in your cab or use an existing older one. It also gave me the simplest solution for getting a PC onto a proper arcade monitor.
Ideal solution for my needs, put the PC together for next to nothing by stripping some parts from my old Shuttle XPC which was AMD based, bunged it in the cab with a miniPac and job done!

[ahofle]

I have the AVGA2, AGP version.  I also believe it's 8x (and 4x compatible) since it's based on the Radeon 9250.  I simply chose this version because the extra machines I have at home (used for MAME) are all AGP based.  Great card though.

[Chris G]

Also see:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63938.0

[shorthair]

Also see:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63938.0

Ah, thankyou.  Yeah, I haven't decided if I want to upgrade the processor in my PIII (my question in the PIII 600' thread), or just get a new set-up with PCIe x16....or stick with AGP cos over here ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_card ), it seemed that AGP x8 was faster cos of higher clock rate.

[Bobbler]

Also see:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63938.0

Ah, thankyou.  Yeah, I haven't decided if I want to upgrade the processor in my PIII (my question in the PIII 600' thread), or just get a new set-up with PCIe x16....or stick with AGP cos over here ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_card ), it seemed that AGP x8 was faster cos of higher clock rate.

Seriously mate, there is no difference between them performance wise for Mame, just go with whichever matches the port in your PC I would say.

[rockin_rick]

There is another consideration regarding AGP vs PCI-e and that is GPU cooling.  AFAIK, the AGP is passively cooled with a heatsink only, no fan, while the PCI-e has a fan.  I despise graphic card fans due to noise and failure (and am on a silent PC kick - which also makes sense for the mame cab), so I'd choose the AGP unless I had to have the PCI-e.

Rick

[Chris G]

There is another consideration regarding AGP vs PCI-e and that is GPU cooling.  AFAIK, the AGP is passively cooled with a heatsink only, no fan, while the PCI-e has a fan.  I despise graphic card fans due to noise and failure (and am on a silent PC kick - which also makes sense for the mame cab), so I'd choose the AGP unless I had to have the PCI-e.

Rick

That's a good point - I wasn't aware the AGP version wouldn't have a fan.  The original fan on my AVGA card was horribly noisy.  Turned out to be bad (Andy sent me out a free replacement pronto).  The new fan is much quieter and doesn't bother me at all, but it is audible.

[shorthair]

Yeah, this is something I'm concerned with, too, but forgot till you mentioned it.  Computers before, say a few/several years ago are LOUD. And I've heard a bit about this fan trouble on cards and am inclined to steer clear of that. Except if I get a new computer, then for the sake of the future, it might be best to go PCIe.

[diverdown]

I have the AVGA2, AGP version.  I also believe it's 8x (and 4x compatible) since it's based on the Radeon 9250.  I simply chose this version because the extra machines I have at home (used for MAME) are all AGP based.  Great card though.

ditto