Which is better? Since I haven't worried much about computers until I got these new parts for Christmas, I hadn't heard anything about PCI-express. An internet search provided little information. So, whats so good about it, and how does it compare to AGP. I've noticed that graphics cards that are PCI-express are much cheaper then their AGP counterparts, but have no idea why.

PCIX has double or more the bandwidth of APG8x!!!

PCIX probably will soon replace APG, thought it dont have cards.

Nvidia has a card that u buy 2 of them and hook them up with a SLI connector and it works like 1 card together to power one screen! (PCIX of course)

yeah, i hate having the post new topic button in threads too

can u move this thread under the thread called PCI-X vs APG. pls ty

And this couldn't have gone in the PCI Express vs AGP why?

PCI-E has a bigger bus size, so technically it's better. Nothing as of yet can fill the AGP 8x bus size, so no real reason for it.

PCI-E components are cheaper so they can draw more people in. I'd go PCI-E, then get a 6800GT PCI-E, or 2 6600GT PCI-E and go SLI with an nForce4 socket 939 motherboard.

AGP is quickly getting outdated, despite the fact that there's plenty of room to work with it. Sometime next year the last AGP cards are supposed to roll out.

Yeah.

All three at the same time. lol. That splains it.

We'll see when Tony forks out his money because <game> won't run.

o_O

So umm...basically they're just cheaper, and thats about it for now until we can find something that would fill up their bus? Guess I'd be better off going PCI-express since I need to save money...

It'll be easier to go 939, because it will be a socket that's around for a long time, and if you go nForce4, PCI-E and SLI will be something that's around for a long time as well. Cheaper in the long run too.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Yeah. PCI-e is the new "standard". Basically, it's really nice to use two express cards together, so they work to create 'one image'. That's also how it's faster. I must say; from reviews, PCI-e looks kickin'. I say it's a good bet, just get a good mobo for your card(s).

What's funny is that this has more replies than the thread that the original post was intended to go in.

That's because the other thread requires the poster to think. This thread does no such thing.

You left out the part about replacing an ancient, slow and inefficient bus and communications network for the entire system.

Explain. I've never heard AGP8x called "slow and inefficient"

I was talking about PCI and the rest of the system. I'll see if I can find the Bit-Tech article explaining it all.

PCI I can see. A maximum of 33mhz? No thanks sir.

The rest? Hrmm...find that bit-tech article

pci-e is not only faster (having a higher bus speed) but it can communicate in both directions at the same time. virtually making it 2 times faster still.
it's many times faster than agp and therefor many many times faster than pci.
emon was right in stating that it'll replace an outdated slow and inefficient architecture.
agp has been around a long time. time for an upgrade already.

scoll down a bit and watch the video.
http://www.intel.com/technology/pciexpress/devnet/animations.htm

I just got an Asus A8V motherboard (the one you suggested Yoshi). Its a socket 939, and the power supply even came with adapters for a PCI express. How convienent...

One other quick question. Do PCI-express cards just plug into a normal PCI slot? The information I saw about them says both yes and no...

I still don't have an AGP port.

Still running an Apple IIe?

I'm not finding any PCI-E supported boards that have Socket A. So if I want to go PCI-E looks like I'll have to go Socket 939 (AMD 64-bit processors). Using DJ-Yoshi's nForce4 SLI recommendation, this and this is what I pulled up. I have not done a through search on these boards yet.

Lesse what these parts tally.
Using this board and this chip and this card, I am looking at about $590 worth of upgrades. Granted I can get more budget oriented motherboards. I'm just using given recommendations.

Where as I can get this card for only $219.

I was not aware that there was a push to fade out AGP. Yes AGP is old. But even if I were to budget for chip/board. It would still cost me more than if I were to buy an AGP card. I don't want to spend more for a performance difference that is negligable.

roflmao

I still want an answer to my question:

Is PCI-E in its current form going to last at least as long as AGP 8x did? Or is there a chance of it being upgraded, say within the next year?

from what i've read and heard on tech-tv, pci-e is the form factor for the next generation of cards.
it's here to stay for awhile.

Yeah, but wouldn't you just hate to see PCI-E 2x slots a year after you buy one?

Interesting side effect of the two threads merged where DJ Yoshi debates himself.



To which he responds:



That couldn't have been planned better!

mentioned this in another thread in the hardware forum....

on the last generation of cards there was no performance difference between AGPx4 and AGPx8

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040310/pcie-02.html

I can't find any article to see whether there is any difference with the current generation of cards but i've read on other forums that unless you have an XT PE or Ultra you'll only just be hitting the limit of AGPx4 with plenty of room left in AGPx8.

the push to PCI-e is a good thing on the whole because its always good to have spare bandwidth and I believe SLI is a reason enough to do it alone, but if your thinking of upgrading your card again in 2 years time there is no real need to do it now as AGP still offers enough bandwidth....unless your looking at a SLI setup....

[edit] just another link I found that although more based on the transition from AGP to PCI-e mentions that you'll only need the bandwidth offered by AGPx8 and PCI-e if you indeed to do real time HDTV editing...

http://www.actiontrip.com/features/videocardsoftodaytomorrow.phtml

[/edit]

[edit x2]

yesh, even I didn't expect this, these folks just for fun tried out a X800XT PE in a PCI-e x4 slot which has equal bandwidth to a agp x4 slot, there was only a difference at most of 1 fps........go agp x4.....

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=xeon64mb&page=5&cookie%5Ftest=1

i'm quite interested in the performance of AGPx4 btw because thats all I've got in my motherboard and I've ordered a Asus 6800gt (proper GT not GE) 256mb...

[/edit]

Except no. PCI-E boards come with a PCI-E 16x slot. There's no reason to go beyond this, as even gigabit ethernet can't take advantage of the PCI-E formfactor, and that's one of the biggest concerns with PCI-E

And I'm wondering how the hell that got posted 2 times in a row. Because I meant to say it to the other guy's thread.

From what I've read, the threads were merged.

So, does the PCI-E work in a normal PCI slot, or does it need a special slot? (I'm in a hurry so I skimmed this and didn't see it, so if it was already posted, sorry)

Exactly which is how he ends up telling himself he doesn't know what he's talking about. Classic!

PCI Ex is totally different from PCI and there are in fact different types of PCI Ex slots.

yeah PCI does work in PCI-e....according to this

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/pcie.ars/5

and this

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1087&page=4

for some reason the last link makes firefox go extremely slow.....

There's abit of a difference between software/OS compatability and whether or not you can jam a card designed for one slot into another.