AGP 4x vs AGP 8x isn't a big deal. The big deal is just that the 9700 Pro is a LOT faster than the fastest GF4ti cards. Whether or not it is worth the money I don't know; I'll have to get back to you on that when I try out my 9800Pro (yes, it's faster than the 9700 Pro, but not by all that much, so it would be a good indication, I think). That won't happen until I buy my XPC or iDEQ and my processor (one or two weeks).