T42: ATI9600 AGP 8x or 4x? Please verify, TIA

[ludu35]

hello all,
Plan to get a T42 soon, but after checking throu IBM website and TABOOK, i saw a confliction between two on ATI 9600 issue. Which one is correct? Does all ATI9600 in T42 comes with AGP 8x or 4X? Please verify. Thanks
LD

[fargusmax]

I'm pretty sure they're all 4X.

[ludu35]

I'm pretty sure they're all 4X.

how come they all printed AGP 8X on its website ??? That is weird ...

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840

[fargusmax]

They are 4x.

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/mobile/855pm.htm

The chipset wasn't designed to support 8x. Apparently one of the "shortcomings" that Intel was addressing with Sonoma/Alviso

[ludu35]

They are 4x.

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/mobile/855pm.htm

The chipset wasn't designed to support 8x. Apparently one of the "shortcomings" that Intel was addressing with Sonoma/Alviso

So i guess IBM misquoted on all T42 w/ATI 9600 models on its website huh

General
Model name 2378FVU
Description ThinkPad T42 (IBM Think Express Program)
IBM Web Price* $1,649.00



Operating System
Operating System Title Microsoft Windows XP Professional


Architecture
Bus type/architecture PCI
Bays Ultrabay Slim
Indicator light Yes
Cover material Magnesium
PC Card support 2 Type I/II or 1 Type III


Display
External display supported Yes
Simultaneous external display Yes
Screen type description TFT
Viewable image size (diagonal) inches 14.1
Screen illumination Backlit
Max colors or gray shades 16777216
Maximum Resolution 1400x1050


Graphics
Video RAM std/max 64MB
Description ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600
Graphics type SXGA+
Video RAM type DDR SDRAM
Max resolution 2048x1536 16777216 colors
Max colors (with max video RAM) 16777216
Graphics bus interface AGP 8X
Video on Planar Yes

[Conmee]

The ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 and up (and FireGL T2 and up) are ALL 8X AGP... that isn't a misprint by IBM.... BUT.... it IS misleading to an extent...

As fargusmax has mentioned, it's the Intel chipset that only supports up to 4X AGP, so it really doesn't matter that IBM puts an 8X capable ATI GPU in ThinkPads using the Intel 855PM chipset... it'll only be capable of 4X bandwidth/speed.

As for Sonoma, since it supports PCI Express, it really doesn't 'address' this AGP shortcoming, since AGP is no longer supported. All GPUs going forward will be PCI Express, including the Intel 900 integrated graphics component.

Daniel.

[ludu35]

The ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 and up (and FireGL T2 and up) are ALL 8X AGP... that isn't a misprint by IBM.... BUT.... it IS misleading to an extent...

As fargusmax has mentioned, it's the Intel chipset that only supports up to 4X AGP, so it really doesn't matter that IBM puts an 8X capable ATI GPU in ThinkPads using the Intel 855PM chipset... it'll only be capable of 4X bandwidth/speed.

As for Sonoma, since it supports PCI Express, it really doesn't 'address' this AGP shortcoming, since AGP is no longer supported. All GPUs going forward will be PCI Express, including the Intel 900 integrated graphics component.

Daniel.

Thanks alot Daniel ....