BF6/BE6-II Users w/G400 Please Help

[JmsAndrsn]

I'm having problems with the AGP function on my ABIT BF6 with a Matrox G400 Single Head(32 MB). When I run the CpuID program and chose the AGP INFO tab, it tells me the following information under DATA TRANSFER RATE: Supported> 1X 2X, Current 1X. I run SiSoft Sandra and it basically gives me the same reading using the "Motherboard Information" function. I have no idea why it would be doing that since the card is obviously 2X capable. I'm running it at 140 MHZ FSB(with 2/3 AGP divider)with a PIII 500E so I though maybe the card reverts back to 1X if you run it at high bus speeds like that. I turned the FSB down to 100 and it still gives the same reading. I believe this may be causing a smearing problem on my desktop when I minimize/maximize certain programs. I was using the newer "PO" BIOS but I switched back to "NZ" to see if that would make a difference but it still does the same thing. I have also upgraded to the newest drivers for the G400.
I was wondering if someone else with a BF6(or even a BE6-II since they're almost the same board) could try to check what their AGP transfer rate is(using one of the programs I mentioned above or perhaps a different one). I've come across at 2 other people with the same problem. Thanks for any help you might be able to give me.

[birdy]

Try forcing agp 2x using the PD reghacks. If it runs stable after this then great. You may find however that the card switches to 1x agp because there is noise on the memory bus which effects performance of 2x. Whatever happens you will not notice the slightest difference wether running at 1x or 2x because very few games or appz use agp especially with a 32mb card.

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p3 450@600. bx6 ver 2. 128mb unbranded pc100. iwill 2930u scsi, diamond pro pci modem, advansys 1505 isa scsi, SB Live!, pioneer dvd103s, hollywood plus dvd card, plextor 40x cd rom, ricoh 1420 cdr, ibm 13.5gb @ 7200rpm, G400 @ max settings. All wrapped up in a big case with loads of fans. Belinea 10 30 40 17" monitor

[The PIT]

I had the same problem so I used the Reg hacks. I've also noticed theres a new bios update with the ability to switch between Agp x1 and x2. I haven't tried this yet as there seems little other reason to upgrade.

[Plmr]

My vanilla dh reads 1x Hmmmmmmmmm...I forced 2x but it didnt really have any noticable payoff so I set it back...

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Abit BF6, P3 450 AT 620, G400 32meg Dh ,Promise fasttrack striping 2 Quantum ka 18gig's + 2 10gig IBM's ,Sb-live platinum ,Cambridge Fps2000 speakers ,Onstream 30gig tape ,Sony cdrw ,toshiba dvd, Lotsa fans,cables ,noise....

[Gurm]

I ditched my BF6 and BE6. They were too touchy. Instead, I'm now running a P3B-F and a P2B w/Promise U66 controllers. Much better.

The AGP issue is almost 100% due to your memory. Some people luck out. It doesn't seem to matter if your memory is from a major maker or not... it's just the luck of the draw.

If you have corruption onscreen at all, and you've ruled out BIOS settings and other hardware, that's probably your memory or the G400 itself (or a bad mobo).

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[The PIT]

I would say it's more of a motherboard problem than memory. On my system the card and memory worked with agp x2 mode while using an aopen ax6b board.

[This message has been edited by The PIT (edited 17 January 2000).]

[blackxr]

I have also had this AGP 1x problem with my G400 and my BE6 motherboard , I tried the reg hacks and it screwed things up.

My next plan of attack was booting into safe mode and removing the card in device manager , booting back to normal windows it re-detected the G400 and low and behold the thing was running in AGP 2x mode.

This has worked for me , maybe it will help you out also.

[JmsAndrsn]

Thanks everyone for all the replies.

I may have found a way to get rid of the smearing(it also gave little pink dots on some icons in the Windows toolbar,ie outlook, explorer,etc) that I mentioned in the original posing. I changed the "SDRAM LEADOFF" under BIOS section "Advanced Chipset Features" to a value of 4(it was set to 3). This appears to have fixed the corruption but I haven't used it enough since then to make sure the problem does not come back.

As for the 1X vs 2X issue, I may try removing the card in device manager in "SAFE MODE" and then reinstalling(thanks for the tip BLACKXR) and if that doesn't do any good maybe I'll try the registry hack. Can anyone tell me what registry key I need to drill down to and what to put in the key(if its something different than "2X").

[This message has been edited by JmsAndrsn (edited 17 January 2000).]

[The PIT]

Here we go

HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\
Services\Class\Display\0000\Settings\Cpu.

You need to add agpflags -1