This is actually part of a post I started in general hardware, but I thought I might be a good idea to post this part of my question in this forum too:

Second problem. When running sandra, it says that my current agp data rate is not optimized. I have my agp setting in the bios set to 8x, but when I pull up 3dmark01's system info>motherboard info> agp capabilities, it says 8x(4x enabled). Does this mean my card isnt running in 8x agp??

here is what sandra says when I double click the tip:

"Tip T2525 - Current AGP data rate not optimal, i.e. less than chipset’s maximum AGP data rate. E.g. current AGP data rate is 1x while the chipset and the AGP card both support 2x. You should get better performance with a higher data rate but this depends on the application.
Fix: First, use the PCI & AGP Information module to confirm that the AGP card also supports the maximum chipset data rate. If it does not, don’t worry about it. For non-Intel chipsets, make sure you install the latest version of their AGP mini-drivers. You should update the video card drivers as well. Some non-Intel chipsets can only work in 1x mode with some video cards."