Conclusions
We saw pretty much what we expected out of the benchmarks with AGP 8X. The faster AGP mode just isn't stressed by current games. I was a little surprised to see the AGP 8X cards turning in lower scores, at the same clock speeds, as AGP 4X cards. However, that's probably to be expected. AGP 8X implementations are not yet mature—especially, I suspect, in the chipset and GPU drivers that glue everything together.

The AGP 3.0 spec makes some changes that could compromise performance somewhat. For instance, the "long" transaction type present in the AGP 2.0 spec is removed in 3.0. With AGP 8X, the GPU must split up its request for larger data transfers into 64-byte requests. (I suspect this change was made to enable AGP 3.0's isochronous transfer mode.) The additional overhead associated with breaking transfers down into multiple requests could slow texture uploads, for instance.

But I'm just speculating, and probably doing it poorly. I have to wonder if AGP 8X will ever matter much to GeForce4-class GPUs, especially the MX 440 with its aging GeForce core. Who knows? Perhaps AGP 8X will help older cards stave off obsolescence for a few more months when a new wave of games with larger textures arrives. Perhaps.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter much. These products aren't exactly world-beaters coming out of NVIDIA. They are just another spin of the GeForce4 chips intended to slot into NVIDIA's lineup below the upcoming NV30 chip. With these chips, NVIDIA delivers a key "checklist" feature for big PC manufacturers to throw around on their spec sheets. That's the reason these chips exist.

As far as I'm concerned the MX 440 isn't much more compelling with its new clock speeds and AGP 8X. I'd still rather have a Radeon 9000 Pro. The R9000 has more advanced features, better image quality, and twice the pixel pipes the MX 440 has. This one is a no-brainer.

However, the GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP 8X looks pretty good. I'm pleased to see the increase in memory speed and the corresponding jump in performance, especially in 128MB configurations. Also, the GeForce4 Ti GPU stands to take better advantage of AGP 8X at some point down the road. Assuming the price is no higher for the AGP 8X version of the GF4 Ti 4200, these are all welcome improvements. But will the Radeon 9500 spoil the party?