I just updated the Catalyst drivers to 4.8 on my ATI 9600 Pro and when going to utilities for ATI I am unable to set my AGP to 8X. My motherboard is capable (Dell 400SC). Is there a way to do this or a diagnostic to tell me actually what AGP setting my video card is actually running at. Thanks

Hi,what do you get when you go to start>run>DXDIAG, try there and see if you have DirectX enabled and that it says 8X AGP,Steve.PS run the test tools also, such as direct draw, 3D draw etc.

I ran the DXDIAG text and in the display section it said that AGP Texture acceleration was not available. Where does it give the AGP setting? Thanks

Right click anywhere on the open desktop. Click on Properties>Settings>Advanced>SmartGart.Greg

When I goto Smartgart and set for 8X and then apply it says that it must restart and after rebooting and go again to smartgart it says that AGP is off. What am I doing wrong? Thanks

You need to reinstall the motherboard chipset drivers (might be a good idea to reinstall DirectX after the chipset drivers).Greg

Thanks, that did it (able to set to 8X agp). Great Forum.

Thanks again, frame rates doubled from the mid 20s to around 50. Much, much better.

Greg,Been watching your replies - you seem very knowledgeable - so here goes!! Could you advise me how to install motherboard chipset drivers? I've had PCs for years and moved up from the first FS to FS 9 over the years and have used all sorts of graphics cards, processors etc. My rig is from PC World - its a 2.8 with an ATI Radeon 9800SE but, I had the back off it yesterday to install the Radeon but I can't find out what my Motherboard is. It would be great if you could point me in the right direction because I've had the PC for 18 months now so the Mobo drivers probably need updating?Also AGP is a bit of a mystery to me!!KevUK

Hi Kev,Knowledgeable??? Naw, my wife says there's just lots of empty room in my head to store stuff. :-) This is a handy (and small) tool for checking your system. http://www.webattack.com/get/aida32.shtml It will reveal alot of info for you, including the type of motherboard. Once you have that info you can go to the manufacturer's website to check for any upgrades.AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) is merely an extension of the PCI architecture. The main difference, though, is that AGP is enhanced for 3D graphics, whereas PCI is optimized for 2D. Clearly, we would rather have the 3D capabilities (which your card has).Check the SmartGart tab (see my post #3 in this thread) to see what speed your card is running at. Your card can run at up to 8X AGP speed, though you should keep in mind that your motherboard may only support 4X. No great worries there if that's the case... in the real world there really isn't much (if any) performance difference between 4X and 8X.Cheers,Greg

Greg,Thanks for the reply - I'm off now to run the system checking tool and move on from there. Thanks again,Kev

>in the real world there really isn't much (if any) performance difference between 4X and 8X.