PCI Express vs AGP

Shintsu · July 16th, 2005

Ok, PCI Express is as easy to find as AGP is, and people always claim it is so great, but my question is, how much? Is PCI Express like a night and day difference between AGP or am I best off just sticking with AGP? Thanks, this will help me decide what I should get next, a new AGP Graphics card, or a PCI Express motherboard.

War Hawk · July 16th, 2005

AGP is on its way out. Most cards can't take full advantage of PCI-E's capabilities right now, but give it time. I'd get a new PCI-E mobo if I were you.

***GreatGrizzly*** · July 16th, 2005

pci-e can theoretically go twice as fast as agp. agp was capped at x8 but pci-e can go up to x16

its the new thing, so if you can afford it, get it,

i remember when pci was the new thing

Stargate_Guy · July 16th, 2005

PCI-E 16x to AGP 8X is almost (if you can remember) AGP 8X to AGP 4X. Not too much of a performane increase, But keep in mind AGP will not last much longer. Nvidia's already stopped making AGP cards. If you get the PCI-E MB I'm guessing that you will have to upgrade your processor also. It depends on how much money you want to dump into your project. The benchmarks between AGP and PCI-E versions of the same card are not that different. That might change in a year or so though.

*The.Doctor · July 16th, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shintsu

people always claim it is so great, but my question is, how much? Is PCI Express like a night and day difference between AGP or am I best off just sticking with AGP? Thanks

Its not really so great, yet. But in the future when graphics cards and games start making use of the extra bandwith PCI Express offers then its speed will show. also one of the main advantages of PCIe is SLI mode.

If you already have a pretty good AGP setup it would be a waste to upgrade now IMO, save your money for when you need to upgrade again, then get PCI-Express.

And you shouldn't need a new processer at all, unless yours is slow and you want to upgrade. There are PCI-Express boards out for Intel: Socket 478 and LGA775. and AMD: Socket 754 and 939 which should cover any fairly new system.

carl4286 · July 16th, 2005

It has roughly twice the bandwith as AGP 8X (I think its 4.2GB/s instead of 2.1GB/s, or close to that) however I'm pretty sure if you took two of the same card, one AGP 8X and one PCIe x16, and ran a benchmark of the two cards, there wouldn't be much difference.

If you get a fairly high end card, like a 6800GT or a 6800Ultra, it will probably last you another 2 or 3 years of fairly high end gaming. However, if you are considering getting anything below a 6800GT for your new graphics card, it won't last you more than a year, at which point your new graphics card wont most likely support AGP 8X.

To sum it all up, if your planning on getting less than a 6800GT or Ultra, go with a new PCIe x16 motherboard instead. If you have the cash now, stick with AGP and get a 6800Ultra or 6800GT (an AGP 8X version).

***Hmmmdonut*** · July 16th, 2005

Cards aren't near the bandwith limit on AGP 8x. Honestly I feel that the hardware is moving a lot faster than the software that powers it. No game for the next 3-5 years will be able to use the extra bandwith.

The one signicant difference between the 2 is AGP can only send info one way. PCI-e is can send info both ways at the same time something that probably will be important in the future, but for now all it is a theory.

Keep your AGP board for now. By the time your card is obsolete your whole system will be needing a overhaul. Then is the time to upgrade to PCI-e.

Although If you are planning on building a computer then it woudl be wise to go pci-e.