Integrated AGP and card compatibility

[rob_bigdog]

I recently purchased a Compaq model 5461
with "Integrated 64-Bit Hardware Accelerated
2X AGP 3D Graphics." I would like to buy
the Matrox Marvel G400 TV, but I can't
figure out if my MB or system is compatible.
Can someone help me answer this? (Does
"Integrated" mean I'm screwed, or is there
an "as good" or "nearly as good" work
around?)

Any help will be appreciated.

-Rob Bigdog

[Fyrespray]

Well best thing to do is open your system and see if you have an AGP slot in it, if you have then you should have no problems as they wouldn't have put an agp slot in there if you couldn't upgrade the integrated card. You might have to fiddle with your jumpers to disable the built in card like with built in sound cards but it should be possible. Best place to look is in your mobo manual, if yo don't have it go to the manufactorers homepage and you'll be able to d/l it in .pdf format.

AGP slot will be above all the pci slots and look a bit like a pci slot turned round the wrong way, they are normally made with a different coloured plastic for the slot as well to make it stand out.

Fyrespray

------------------
Celery 366 @ 550,Abit BM6, 128Mb PC100 Ram, G200 8Mb, AWE64 Gold, Win98SE.

[DarkSyd]

Open it up and take a look, but odds are pretty good you're out of luck as far as an AGP slot goes.

[Thundrchez]

One of my buddies got an old socket7 (not super7) mobo with integrated video & audio. It had an SiS chipset, but I foget the exact number. (Perhaps 5598?)

His mobo did have a jumper to disable the integrated video, and we put in a Matrox Mystique in that puppy. However, it was extremely slow. If must have hit some super slow bypass mode to enable pci video cards to override the integrated shared memory device.

Does it share the system memory for video memory? If so, you are screwed. If not, you might have a decent chance of disabling it without a performance hit.

[DarkSyd]

Disabling the onboard video and finding an AGP slot to plug a G400 into could turn out to be two very different matters altogether

[Wombat]

My mother has a Compaq 5220, and it has the on-board Rage Pro (AGP 2x). It only has 3 PCI slots, and 2 ISA, (one shared). No AGP slots. It's a good bet that you're out of luck.

Sorry.