Are AGP Graphics cards the best for a PC? What other options do you have? What is a good card at the moment?

Answer 1

a.g.p or accelerated graphics port are last generation cards and have been around for the last 10 years
they come in several sizes or bandwidths(x1,x2,x4,x8)although only the later 2 are used these days
although pci-express cards are the latest type of graphic cards a.g.p are still a very popular graphic card and many companys still produce models in the agp interface
the main reason for users opting for pci-express over agp is the amount of bandwidth,pci-express has x16 bandwidth which is twice the bandwidth of the best agp card,howevr i use a agp card still (nvidia ge-force 6600gt) and this produces fantastic frame rates and will play any modern game
the best card at the moment is the pci-express card the nvidia geforce 8800gtx,although this card costs over £400 but will play games on all the highest settings
if your system only has agp ,dont worry there are some crackin agp cards coming out lately,for example the a.t.i radeon x1950pro(http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-137-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=403),this is the fastest agp card in existence,with 36 pixel pipelines and a massive 580mhz core clock(g.p.u) this card will give any pci-express card a run for its money
the main problem when changing graphic card is you need to upgrade the motherboard and memory,most agp motherboards use ddr ram so when you buy a new pci-express motherboard then you probally need to buy ddr2 ram,and depending on what c.p.u you previously used then a cpu upgrade may be needed
so if your p.c is currently using agp then stick with it,they are still good cards,but when the time comes to go for pci-express then you probally would be better of buying a new system,it will work out cheaper and you get a warranty which you dont when you build a p.c yourself
for a excellent system take a look at this http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=114571,this is aexcellent pc from mesh computers,probally the best manufacturer of p.c,s around ,this pc will give you everything you need,includinga 256mb pci-express geforce 7600gs,and a dual core processor running at 2.40ghz(x2=4.80ghz)
also this p.c has a s.l.i(scalable link interface)motherboard,this gives you the option of adding a second graphics card at a later date,doubling the graphics power and effects,this also comes with windows vista premium
this is a problem you will encounter with agp cards,you can only use one at a time,no one ever produced dual agp cards,and i am sure they wont bother now pci-express is here
finally there is one other interface used in graphics cards,the old trusted pci-bus,and as most p.c,s come with at least 3 of these then this is a option for users with no agp or pci-express
the bandwidth with pci-bus though is much lower ,around half of the power of the lowest agp speed(x1),but you can still play some average games with one of these cards,take a look at this pci-bus card...http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=159186,this is a nvidia fx5200,a middle of the road card that will play most games,and these cards are quite cheap aswell
final thought:a card such as the agp radeon x1950pro will play games as good as any pci-express p.c so investing in this will dramaticly improve your p.c,s performance,and will make light work of any game
i hope this has helped
good luck mate

Answer 2

no, pci express x16 is the fastest type of graphics slot there is. AGP is a year behind. If your talking about the best and fast graphics card, there is SLI, which means 2 graphics card on 1 motherboard. The best card there is now is the nVidia 8800 GTX at a 7xx mb video memory. There is also ATI x1950 XTX. But i heard that ATI will come out with a r600 that will overpower the 8800 GTX.

Answer 3

no, they are not but they are your only choice if you only have
agp in your motherboard

the best is PCI-express as now it delivers the best performance
and a wide range of products that are more popular

if you want to play dx10 games-coming in some time only yo vista- you should wait for ATI and nVidia to release the cards
or buy the 8800 which is expensive

or you could buy a card that will support vista but not dx10
and still has good value, id recommend X1650 XT from ATI
and 7600 GT From nVidia

but if you only have Agp then go for the X1950 pro from ati

Answer 4

AGP cards are generally faster but it really depends on what applications you are using,if you are just using your PC for internet and general home use then a 128mb. card is OK,however if you want to do high end gaming then a 256mg. upwards is what you need,the NVidea cards are quite reliable and are proven performers,you could try crucial.com as well as they do some excellent cards at good value prices and even have an advice section you can refer to for your own particular PC.

Answer 5

If you have an available PCI slot it will. Don't try to run both at the same time however.

Answer 6

Not even close, PCI express will crush it!