Legit Reviews

2005/5/16 --- New bridge card allows user to use AGP-8x card in a PCI-Express Mainboard Innovation Alert! Albatron's "ATOP" breathes new life into AGP-8x VGA cards

Albatron Technology, a leading IT solutions provider, recently announced the world's first AGP-8x to PCI-Express bridge card. The "ATOP"(AGP-To-PCIe) bridge card will allow a user to use their existing AGP-8x VGA card in a mainboard designed for PCI-Express resulting in considerable savings in upgrade expenditures.

Because the AGP 8x standard has been around for a while and continues to provide more than adequate graphics performance, there still exists a large base of users with very capable AGP 8x VGA cards. Until now consumers have been hesitant to upgrade to a mainboard with the PCI-Express standard because it would also mean having to purchase a new PCIe VGA card. With the ATOP card you can now upgrade to a PCI-Express mainboard, continue to use your existing AGP-8x card and worry about purchasing a new PCI-Express VGA card at a later time.
Your AGP-8x card simply piggybacks on the ATOP card's AGP-8x slot located on the top edge. The ATOP card is then plugged into the mainboard's PCI-Express slot. The only other installation requirements are replacing the bracket on the AGP-8x card with an ATOP bracket and installing the appropriate driver.

The ATOP bridge is the perfect solution for cost conscious users caught in the middle of the PCI-Express, AGP-8x transition. With the ATOP, you can have the best of both worlds in addition to reducing expenditures and extending the life of your original investments.

deadly-app wrote:Ummm, looks large, and large = pushing your agp card into your sidepanel...

More Albatron ATOP info
A few days ago we reported, that Albatron has an AGP-to-PCI-Express converter card ready.

Now we know more about it.

The converter is only compatible with the following AGP Video cards from NVIDIA: MX4000, FX5200, FX5700, FX5700LE, GeForce 6800, GeForce 6200.

Since the card uses a bridge chip, performance is degraded a bit. In most cases not much, but sometimes up to 10%.

Installation requires that you remove the AGP card's slot bracket and screw it to the bracket of the ATOP.

The D-Sub output on the ATOP overrides any D-Sub ouput on the video card. Other outputs like DVI and TV-Out remain usable on the AGP card.

The ATOP card will be initially bundled with the AGP6200A VGA card. In the July 2005 time frame, the ATOP card will be available as a separate product.