AGP VS. PCI-e

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:58 pm

I have not stayed up to date on new info. Can someone summerize the differences between AGP and PCI-e? would a PCI-e Card like the x300se perform near the same level as my current 9600SE agp card?

Antonik · Post by **Antonik** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:03 am

pci-e can have higher bandwith than APG, and all new motherboards will have pci-e rather than agp.

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:50 am

AGP is (as you probably know) the older standard whilel PCI-Express is the latest and greatest. The advantage of PCI-Express (as Antonik pointed out) is that it has a much higher bandwidth than AGP and, thus, able to yield higher performance.
Architecturally, PCI-Express is a serial bus that can transmit data both ways simultaneously while I don't think AGP can (correct me if I'm wrong).

But that's not to say just because a card is PCI-Express it is automatically faster than an AGP card. As of now, even the limits of AGP x8 haven't been reached, let alone the limits of PCI-Express x16. But the potential is there so it will be done some day.

As to your question, a x300se will probably not be able to compete with a 9600se. They are both low end cards and will probably perform about the same (poorly) on the latest and most graphics intensive games, but the 9600 will probably win out over the x300. An ATI x600 or nVidia 6200 may be more equal in performance to a 9600 series card.

What do you plan on using it for and how much would you like to spend and we can help recommend a card that is right for you

Pretty soon graphics card manufacturers and chipset makers won't even offer products with AGP. Eventually the market will shift completely to PCI-Express so buying a PCI-Express video card is not a bad idea. But don't let that scare you, it will still be a while ;)

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:33 pm

Read my post titled " BIG Problem" for more info on what I am looking at. I was mostly looking for a cheap way to go PCI-E in tems of Video since I can't afford Mainboard, CPU and Video all at once. I would then upgrade my video with a good quality card later. I do play games like Half-life 2 and others so Video is important to me but Price is also VERY critical right now. Look at my Signature line for what I currently have. IF my current system will be able to use all of a X800XT in AGP then I would go that route and upgrade to another AGP mainboard with socket 939 at a later date. I guess I dont understand why the industry would make a change like PCI-E before the existing tech ( AGP) is maximized.

Antonik · Post by **Antonik** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 7:19 am

If you still need a card. http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

ati refurbs with 3 year warantees.
x800pro for 199 agp
x800xtpe for 229agp

sweet deals.

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:28 am

Antonik wrote:If you still need a card. http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

ati refurbs with 3 year warantees.
x800pro for 199 agp
x800xtpe for 229agp

sweet deals.

WOAH! That is a sweet deal. You definately can't pass up a X800pro for $199! Although you are stuck on AGP for quite a while, but if that is your plan anyway, EVEN BETTER!