What's the difference between AGP and PCI-E video cards?

Question

I'm into gaming and I've heard the AGP video cards are outdated.
oh Also how much would a motherboard that supports the PCI video card cost?

Answer 1

You have heard wrong. Although PCI-Express is the most popular choice, AGP is still good.
I personally use a AGP Sapphire Ati Radeon x800 pro which is probably in the top 5% of video cards in household existance on my socket 478 motherboard.
The most popular motherboards are the 478 and the LGA 775. Note that the latter is the one that is most likely capable of PCI-E. The price range for Asus motherboards of the latter can range from 80ish to 190ish..note that there is no maximum price.
Personally I wouldn't bother getting a 775 motherboard or pci-e until pentium 5 comes out. If your interested in easily swapping out parts, stick with the 478 and agp. If your wanting to show off how good your computer is, as a gamer, but not having a clue what I'm really talking about, then 775 and pci-e is your best choice.

Answer 2

While AGP video is slowly dying, it's not dead yet. There are still some good AGP cards available. The difference is that there are no high-end AGP cards anymore. In the low and middle ranges, they do as good as PCI-E cards.

If you've got a faster processor, like a 3.4 Ghz Pentium 4 or better, or any Athlon 64, and aren't interested in gaming at 1600x1200 resolution or higher, with all in-game settings maxed, and using quite a bit of AA and AF, then you wouldn't be missing much by staying with AGP.

If you've got a slower processor, with slower RAM, it would be worth just building/buying a new PCI-E system, instead of putting much money into an outdated system. In other words, if you'd need to replace anything except the video card, it doesn't make much sense, monetarily.

If you choose to keep your AGP system, all of these cards will provide acceptable performance, with higher performance in the more expensive models, obviously. These are the best cards in the slightly more than $100 class: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCompare.asp?Category=38&Nty=1&N=2010380048+1069609639+4017&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48&CompareItemList=N82E16814131427%2CN82E16814125039%2CN82E16814102057%2CN82E16814102606 This is by far the best deal of the more expensive AGP cards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046

Answer 3

AGP runs at 8x max and PCI-E runs at 16x is the simple answer. Depending on the system, you may or may not be able to notice any difference. Keep in mind that no board has both, so if you are getting a new board with PCI-E, you are probably getting a new CPU too, maybe also switching from an IDE to SATA HD, etc. Right now, they are probably not *too* far apart on performance, but I'd definitely recommend going with a PCI-E board if you are in the market for a new board. It will cost more now, but in the future, you're going to have to make the change, might as well do it now.

Answer 4

PCI-E is the way of the future, PCI-E runs at a speed of 16 times, AGP only runs at 8 times, and now PCI-E is becoming the standard so you could probably get a MB for about 200 bucks or so. I would check out www.ncix.com, I have had most success with them for computer parts

Answer 5

Hi. Both AGP and PCI-e are good solutions for gaming today. I use AGP because the Mobo I use dos not have a PCI-e slot. The Mobos cost is similar.

Answer 6

K. I'll try this one.
Go to techsupportguy.com
Seriously. Yea, AGP is pretty much outdated, especially if you want to play any kind of newer game like Medal of Honor, Etc.
As for why? ... Man I really don't know yet! lol
Other than the slots!
Go to that site though. Your answer will definitely be there.
As for the motherboard that will support what you probably want to do? I've got one. Also have Paypal! lol

Have a good one!
[e-mail]

Answer 7

no, pci-e (pci express) is a different slot type than agp. they are different shaped slots in the motherboard. only the newer motherboards have pci-e slots. if your motherboard only has an agp slot, then you can only install an agp slot type video card.

Answer 8

PCI Express (PCI-E) is definitely faster because it has more bandwidth available. Check prices on the net.
You can only take advantage of a PCI-E card if your motherboard FSB is 800Mhz or faster.