How to force AGP 1x in WinXP?

[JesTa784]

Yup, like the topic said, need to force 1x for my G400 or else it crashes in all 3D apps/games. (been like this ever since i bought the card... even with different motherboards and os)

[omegaRED]

Use MTSTU http://www.murc.ws/cgi-bin/dl.cgi?si...l=mtstu418.zip

[Clevor]

Just what I was about to ask.

Hey JesTa784, you answered a question I was just about to ask Matrox themselves. I bought a used G400 MAX and it was kinda cheap for a used card even here in Japan. I couldn't read the Kanji on the box but something was scribbled in about 3D.

Since my card is like yours, I thought I bought a bum card (explains why it was cheap). Maybe the Kanji said "3D doesn't work". But the card works fine in 1X. But you need the tweaking utility to force this. Some people claim it's the motherboard's AGP slot at fault.

I figured all the cards out of the factory had to guarantee 3D working at the rated speed: 2X or 4X, and that maybe my card was overclocked by the previous owner and was now showing signs of abuse.

But from what you say, I guess not. And Matrox is probably telling people that if it works at a downgraded AGP speed, it doesn't qualify for warrantee replacement.

I also don't understand how Matrox graded the 2X and 4X cards. Is there specifically a hardware difference (you would think), or did they test each batch of cards and sorted the ones that did do 4X and added the "4" to the serial number?

[JesTa784]

OmegaRED: I tried both MTSTU versions 4.00.18 and 4.01.03 (from matrox's website.. this one worked for win2k, but not xp)

They both don't work. I've also tried setting AGPflags settings but doesn't seem to work either.

For some reason PowerStrip 3.01 seems to work, but it's unstable. When i reboot or try to switch on the fly, it works 50% of the time.

Good thing I don't play very many games anyway =P

But it's still a problem that bugs me. Always have.

Clevor: I bought my G400 DH vanilla right when it came out, brand new, and I've always had to force AGP 1x, i'm not sure why. I'm pretty sure it's the board though since i've gone through countless PD versions, 2 motherboards, and 4 os'es (98se, ME, 2k, XP).

It kind of bugs me that Matrox won't quality it for warrantee replacement since it is a pretty big issue. Especially for those who like to switch around Os'es and such...

Hell, maybe it's time to upgrade a video card???

[Kastuvas]

My G400 also sufers from the same problem AGPx 2 works in a desktop but crashes on any game AGP x4 doesnt even boot in to windows.

Im geting windows xp in a few days and if i wont be able to force AGPx 1 then im in big trouble because i play games a lot. Maybe official Matrox xp drivers will fix this problem.

[Clevor]

I know the feeling: I just reinstalled Windows 98 and couldn't figure why the first game I tried locked up. Dummy! Hadn't installed the Matrox Tweak yet to force 1X AGP.

But I wouldn't worry, at least Matrox is still around (I am still running a Voodoo5 card I still adore). They may not be as expedient as 3dfx was, but I'm sure they will come up with a fix soon.

[JesTa784]

That's very true.

I have full faith in Matrox too.

Hell, even for a card over 2 years old, it's still running games just fine for me. AND i can overclock to MAX speeds w/o problems.

[Greebe]

The reason for forcing a lower AGP transfer rate is due to noise on the bus. This is caused by poor MB dsign and/or noisy peripherals thrashing the signal.

There are two versions of the G400 upto 2x and upto 4x versions... the latter is G4+MMDH4A32GR (note the "A") and was produced only after the first 4x capable MB were available on the market. The 2x version has a "H" in the "a"'s place.

BTW there is no difference in gaming performance between 2x and 4x... and negligible (<0.5%) drop when going to 1x mode.
Certain benchmarks are the only thing affected by the transfer rates.

[JesTa784]

that's strange though, like i've said, i've gone through basically an entire system change and I still have this problem.

first system I had a intel 440bx based mobo (ECS)
second system which i'm running now is a Asus K7M-RM

Yeah I know that 1x, 2x, and 4x is all marketing gimmicks, that's why I haven't actually sprung for another card. It's just that any 3d app/game gives me a hard crash in 2x mode.

i dunno, gimme another motherboard and i'll see if it's just noise on the bus

[WayneHu]

My G400DH/32MB's AGP 2x only works at 82 MHz AGP FSB. At 66.6 / 89 MHz, it is not totally stable unless using AGP 1x. I have tried it with 4 BX board, 1 KT133A, and AMD760. The results are totally the same. It probably has some timing issues.

I bought it on Aug or Sep, 1999. It should be the first production one. Before that, I used Millennium G200, and it worked at AGP 2x with all my BX boards.

[omegaRED]

So JesTa, how exactly doesnt it work? (MTSTU)

I had some problems trying to run my Vanilla G400SH in 2X AGP in Win2K ... meaning i used MTSTU to set AGP 2X, then reboot, and AGP was again at "Default" setting, meaning 1X.

Turns out it must have been some driver related bug, because once i installed 5.52 drivers (was running 5.33 before), AGP defaulted to 2X AGP ... so like you could try using the 5.33 drivers, which forced 1X AGP on my machine ...

BTW Are you using the 5.52 drivers or drivers that XP installs? (i wouldnt know for sure, i heard XP has a compatible Matrox driver integrated in it)

[JesTa784]

WayneHu: I bought mine around then too, basically when the board first came out, when it was still $200 for vanilla

OmegaRed: It just doesn't work...don't ask me why, i try to change the agp speed to 1x, but after i restart, it just defaults itself to 2x again. I guess the current versions' just not setting the correct registry settings.

I'm trying to use the utility on the 5.71 drivers and the one XP came with. The driver XP comes with doesn't even have opengl enabled.

[omegaRED]

Well do the 5.33 drivers work in XP? If they do, that could be the solution to your problem.

[g_goncalo]

Well, i've been testing WinXP RTM for 2 week's now, and like lot's of people, my G400 vannila only works @ agp x1.
I've used all the matrox progs and nothin, only AGP x2 and crashes. I'm treid the latest beta 6.71 (??) with support for for XP, and nothing. So i've treid the latest certified drives 5.52, and they work great. I can use the matrox tools, and they are fast.
Sorry for my english.

[JesTa784]

g_concalo: could you please describe how you installed the 5.52 drivers? I've tried installing them and I still can't force agp 1x with the matrox utility.

I'm thinking maybe it's because I didn't completely remove MS's G400 default drivers. How do I completely remove these without them automatically install? Usually i just install right over these drivers.

Thanks