Video Cards - AGP vs PCI express?

[bluemicrobyte]

So Best Buy as well as other stores are only stocked with Media Center edition PCs that DON'T have AGP slots. IS AGP being replaced by something else?


Which is better? AGP or PCI express?
What's the difference between PCI and PCI express?
Are new video cards being optimized for a specific slot?
Are computers even made with AGP slots anymore?
What else has happened since I last left the safety of my home?!?

[SpiderEternal]

Which is better? AGP or PCI express?
What's the difference between PCI and PCI express?
Are new video cards being optimized for a specific slot?
Are computers even made with AGP slots anymore?
What else has happened since I last left the safety of my home?!?


1. PCI Express by far.
2. One is slower...;)
3. Almost all new video cards are going PCI-E. It's just faster and more efficient than AGP.
4. The US has an ape for a president.

[TimP]

SpiderEternal covered most of the major points, here's some stuff I thought was worth adding.

PCI Express is a higher bandwidth and faster bus than AGP, PCI, or PCI-X (PCI-X is NOT PCI Express, PCI Express is usually denoted PCI-E). One major difference is unlike AGP which is essentially just a graphics card bus (it stands for Accelerated Graphics Port after all), PCI-Express is a multi-purpose bus that will eventually replace PCI also, much like PCI replaced ISA. There are different sizes of PCI-Express buses depending on the bandwidth needs of the device. PCI-Express x16 is the largest bus and is used for video cards. Other sizes are x1, x4, and x8, each with different bandwidth capacities. PCI Express x1 network cards and other devices are starting to show up now. Generally most motherboards today will have one or two PCI-Express x1 slots and one PCI-Express x16 slot (or two on some high end boards for SLI).

To be honest, I was amazed how fast AGP got removed from motherboards. There are a handful of motherboards that support AGP and PCI-Express, but unless you have an expensive AGP card that you recently purchased and plan on using in the new machine, just ditch the AGP slot.

[loads_of_fun]

5. Are computers even made with AGP slots anymore?

well, if you mean pre-built comps then

i dont know but, i'm building a comp and
the mother board i got has a AGP slot,
so i guess so

[TimP]

It depends on the processor and the chipset generation. As far as I know, almost all LGA-775 Pentium 4 and Pentium D boards are PCI-Express only. Socket 939 Athlon 64 boards based on the nForce 4 chipset are also mostly PCI-Express. The Socket 478 Pentium 4 boards all had AGP and the Socket 754 and earlier 939 Athlon 64 boards also have AGP. What motherboard do you have loads_of_fun?

[loads_of_fun]

It depends on the processor and the chipset generation. As far as I know, almost all LGA-775 Pentium 4 and Pentium D boards are PCI-Express only. Socket 939 Athlon 64 boards based on the nForce 4 chipset are also mostly PCI-Express. The Socket 478 Pentium 4 boards all had AGP and the Socket 754 and earlier 939 Athlon 64 boards also have AGP. What motherboard do you have loads_of_fun?i have an ASUS P4P800SE Socket 478 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131484)
Intel 865PE ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131484) (got
it to build my comp)

[TimP]

It's Socket 478 so that would explain it.

[bluemicrobyte]

Alright, so in the past 24 hours I've learned of the death of AGP and the comming of PCI-express.

arrr, I'm screwed because I don't have a PCI-express slot and therefore I need a new motherboard.......... again

arrr, I can't use my ATI All In Wonder 9800 PRO on a new computer...... arrrg

arrr, I spent an hour last night trying to convince my dad (who is NOT a comptuer person) that there was such as a thing as an "AGP" slot and now I have to explain that there are no such things as AGP slots anymore.

arrr, now I'll need to buy a PCI-express video card to upgrade this new comptuer

=================================================

So how does an ATI x200 or x300se compare to an ATI Radeon 9800 pro? Most of the new models I looked at had an x200 or x300 installed in them, and I'm not dishing out 500 bucks for a new PCI-E card anytime soon so the x200 and x300 better be good......

Can an x200 run WoW? Can it run CS:source? Can it run doom 3? These are the three tests which it must pass....

[TimP]

I'm not sure of the super highend video cards like the GeForce 7800 come in AGP version, but you can still buy extremely powerful AGP video cards. PCI Express cards are competitively priced with AGP cards, and are cheaper in some cases. You can get a very nice PCI Express video card for under $200. I'm not sure where the X200 and X300 fit in ATI's video card line, so your best bet is to look for benchmarks.

[loads_of_fun]

Ibut you can still buy extremely powerful AGP video cards.in fact i recently bought an AGP 256
MB DDR video card for my comp

[bluemicrobyte]

I understand that you can still get good AGP cards -- the main question that remains is how does the x200 and x300se compare the a radeon 9800 and other video cards?

[xodkrm]

I highly recommend the GeForce 6600 GT OC or GeForce 6800.
I find em affordable & reliable at the same time.

[WeekendLazyness]

Does this mean my ISA modem is obsolete?

[bluemicrobyte]

I highly recommend the GeForce 6600 GT OC or GeForce 6800.
I find em affordable & reliable at the same time.

1) The x200 and x300 are OEM cards, I can't change or chose them.

2) How does the GeForce 6600 and 6800 compare to an ATI 9800? I may be upgrading my own card to an nvidia card soon. (as in is 6600 about the same as an ati 9800, or is it much better? or is a 6800 the same or much better?)

[Neo]

Just an FYI I don't think PCI-E cards have shown that much of an increase in graphics abilities over AGP cards.

PCI-E is futureproof, but AGP is still just fine.

-Neo

[TimP]

The GeForce 6600GT is noticeably better than the high end Radeon 9800 (the 9800XT) and the 6800GT/Ultra demolish the 9800.

[bluemicrobyte]

edit: since I don't think this has been said yet, the new card I'm shopping for in this post is separate from the x200 and x300 issue. I'm looking for an nvidia card for my own computer mainly because I'm sick and tired of ATI's crashing and lockups and startup issues and [insert multiple swearwords here]. EVERY single crash or startup lockup I've experienced in the past few months has been caused by the ATI card or its drivers (and trust me, I've tried prety much ALL their drivers). Anyways....

Alright, so I've located the 6600 GT OC model and the 6800 model..... looks like the 6600 is a better value and has some better numbers too...... maybe I'm missing something? Looks like the 6600 is a prety good deal to me and I should pick it up this weekend..... I paid nearly 300 bucks (with power supply) for my radeon card and this 6600 is better (a little) and it's only 170.....

Feedback ASAP is appreciated since theres currently a 60 savings sale thing on the 6600 card that ends this saturday (which is tommorrow, if you're reading this on friday)

My current card (the equivelant, at least) is on the far left column. The 6800 is in the middle, and 6600 on the right. My comments are in red.

CLICK EACH PART OF THE IMAGE TO MAKE IT BIG ENOUGH TO READ!


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[Dark_Warhawk]

I will make this simple.
If you want to play at high resolutions with AA and AF, you get the 6800gt if not or if money is tight just get the 6600gt and go with BFG. Problem is you going to have a hell of time finding a 6800gt in AGP and if you do, you will over pay for it. I paid 400 bucks for mine but that was a while ago, well before the new cards came out

[bluemicrobyte]

Alright well I picked up the 6600 GT OC and it's running quite nicely - no crashes, lockups, or other evil ATI-like errors :) and the performance is also slightly better than my Radeon 9800 card.

[Dark_Warhawk]

Ya I just saw this thread, I need to stop by more often I guess. You really could not go wrong though both cards are very good.