AGP or PCI Express

[willg99]

What makes PCI Express so special? Is it really any better than AGP 8x? Why couldn't they of called it AGP 16x instead? What's the deal with this new graphics controlling port?
Which is best for gaming?

[MJCfromCT]

PCI Express is the wave of the future. Slowly but surely, AGP will be phased out. That being said, AGP cards can certainly hold their own (currently).

[willg99]

What makes them different from AGP slots?

[MJCfromCT]

http://www.gen-x-pc.com/pci_basic.htm

That explains a lot of the differences. PCI-Express has double the bandwidth of the AGP 8X bus, but that being said, PCI-Express video cards aren't getting double the performance (yet).

[willg99]

That clears up a few things. Thanks.

[MJCfromCT]

No problem :t

[Midknyte]

This should have been in the video card or motherboard forums. you would get more responses if you put the thread in the right place. :t

[willg99]

I figured it to be more of a gaming issue. Since that's what it runs off of.

[bubbalou32]

It looks like all the newer video cards that are designed for PCI-E which have an AGP counterpart which is more expensive (IE:6600GT PCI-E vs AGP). This appears to be due to the addition of an AGP converter stuck onto the PCI-E version.

Is this how the videocard industry is pushing us to PCI-E?

A closer look:
http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041119/

[Tech^salvager]

PCIe isn't just replacing AGP, hopefully it will be replacing PCI. Its not just a graphics port.

[willg99]

Thats weird. But it makes more sense now.

[BadBadNeil]

It is unfortunate that no one has figured out how to smaller SMALLER pc components. I'd like to have a graphics card at least as smaller as a mini calculator, seems like things are getting bigger...

[willg99]

Yeah I now I can't use one of my SATA Connections because my graphics card is too big.

[MadPistol]

heh. Have you see the PCIe 1x slot? those things are not only faster than PCI, but their about 1/4 slot size. Talk about down sizing.

[ShaunMood]

Any body see a agp to pci-e converter/adapter... i need one of those... i got an x800xl agp 4x/8x and an a8n-sli board... i cant return the card so im kinda in a jam

[BadDriver]

Originally posted by ShaunMood
Any body see a agp to pci-e converter/adapter... i need one of those... i got an x800xl agp 4x/8x and an a8n-sli board... i cant return the card so im kinda in a jam

I have seen this asked before around the net. From what I have seen there is no such thing in the world, "yet".

I don't even know if it is possible to make one. The interfaces are just totally different.

[Someone Stupid]

Things are getting smaller, just the stuff they can srink needs stuff that doesn't shrink so well - capacitors and power regulators. Not to mention the whopping heatsinks everything needs now.