AGP vs PCI-E

[lord of the mark]

Ok, Doc Spike has convinced me i should look for a PC with at least a slot for a discrete video card, so I can upgrade from IG hell.

I went to Microcenter, and theyve got a nice deal on a house brand machine(Power Spec) Only $250 for machine with a 3 ghz Celeron chip, and generally standard bargain basement specs otherwise. It has an AGP 8x/4X slot, but no PCI express slot.

Now I ambled over to the slum section of the store, where the geeks look at the discrete video cards. Most seem to be for PCI-E(the cards that is, not the geeks), but several are for AGP.

Recalling that I rarely play FPS or other visually demanding games, but want to be able to upgrade in case the IG wont play some game like Civ4 that I want, and that Im probably only going to ever buy an old cheap video card, not the latest monsters, should this be a concern? Will there likely be AGP cards available for awhile?

Also this machine has no DVD drive. Now POTMs laptop has one, so if we have to get something off a DVD we presumably can and move it from the laptop to the new desktop via our home LAN. Should this be a concern?

[Whoha]

agp is fine, and they still make gfx cards for agp. but PCI-E is far and away better. Celerons aren't the best chip either of course but again its probably fine.

[Kuciwalker]

Some games come on DVD's now, so that could be a problem.

[Standup]

I've only got two games on DVD - one was bought by mistake and the other was a 'gift' from the PR company that I never saw in the shops so I don't think games will be a problem. I'd actually like to buy more on DVD but it doesn't seem to have caught on yet so keep swapping those discs. I've just bought an all formats DVD burner for £20 so it's not an expensive upgrade if you change your mind.

There's very few AGP cards being made now and I doubt if any of the new cards will see an AGP version. It's not a big problem though if you only want to play older games. I've just swapped a Geforce3 for an FX5600 for a few pounds and it's fine for strategy games. If you want to play CIV you might have to turn down a few options - you can get high end AGP cards (well mid range) but why put a $200 card in a $250 PC?

I'd be more concerned about memory on your new rig - 512MB minimum

[Skanky Burns]

AGP is being phased out. PCI-E is the way of the future.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Standup
I've only got two games on DVD - one was bought by mistake and the other was a 'gift' from the PR company that I never saw in the shops so I don't think games will be a problem. I'd actually like to buy more on DVD but it doesn't seem to have caught on yet so keep swapping those discs. I've just bought an all formats DVD burner for £20 so it's not an expensive upgrade if you change your mind.

There's very few AGP cards being made now and I doubt if any of the new cards will see an AGP version. It's not a big problem though if you only want to play older games. I've just swapped a Geforce3 for an FX5600 for a few pounds and it's fine for strategy games. If you want to play CIV you might have to turn down a few options - you can get high end AGP cards (well mid range) but why put a $200 card in a $250 PC?

I'd be more concerned about memory on your new rig - 512MB minimum

Well yeah, most of the other machines im looking at have 512MB, and this only has 256. On the other hand its a nice deal, and the store has a nice sale on flat panel monitors too, so we could wrap up the PC and a 19 inch monitor all for only just over $400 US. Of course I could get a PC from somewhere else, and a monitor from Microcenter, but many of the other good deals on PCs involve PC+monitor packages. We've been taking too long to get this, and Id like to wrap it up while the powers that be are still inclined to a new desktop.

We may end up getting one a bit more expensive, but this is tempting, so I thought Id ask the experts here.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
AGP is being phased out. PCI-E is the way of the future.

Ok, so lets say no one ever makes a new AGP card again. Today theres a whole range of AGP cards in the stores, I think. By the time im really ready to upgrade, say 2 or 3 years from now, would it be likely that todays high end AGP cards will still be for sale, but at that time they will be cheap? Thats kind of what Im thinking. I presume that by, say 5 years from now we will have bought another machine.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


Ok, so lets say no one ever makes a new AGP card again. Today theres a whole range of AGP cards in the stores, I think. By the time im really ready to upgrade, say 2 or 3 years from now, would it be likely that todays high end AGP cards will still be for sale, but at that time they will be cheap? Thats kind of what Im thinking. I presume that by, say 5 years from now we will have bought another machine.

2 or three years from now the current crop of AGP cards will not play the games you want. Even out of the ones out now, there are few high-end AGP cards as manufacturers are switching.

Hey maybe you should get a zip drive too.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Spaced Cowboy


2 or three years from now the current crop of AGP cards will not play the games you want. Even out of the ones out now, there are few high-end AGP cards as manufacturers are switching.

Hey maybe you should get a zip drive too.

Youre asssuming, I think, that 2 years out from now I will be wanting to play the new games of 2008. Ive got a big backlog now of games that I couldnt play till a few months ago, when we got our first new PC in over 8 years. Right now Im playing games from 2001, 2002, 2003. Contemporary standard cruddy integrated graphics will play most of whats on my buy list now. What im concerned about is that in 2008, when im ready to finally play 2006 and 2007, my circa 2006 standard cruddy IG wont run it. At that point Id be buying whatever AGP card is left, which would be the highest end that was still being sold in 2006.

BTW,Microcenter DOES have a machine with a PCI E slot, AND 512 MB Ram,but its a $400 machine. Now I was already starting to accept that a machine plus flat panel monitor was going to run $550 or more, but the $250 machine gave me hope i could get away with less.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Spaced Cowboy


2 or three years from now the current crop of AGP cards will not play the games you want. Even out of the ones out now, there are few high-end AGP cards as manufacturers are switching.

Hey maybe you should get a zip drive too.

I seem to have skipped that technology Though only just, instead I bought an external CD writer that never worked, and is collecting dust

[Skanky Burns]

Now I ambled over to the slum section of the store, where the geeks look at the discrete video cards. Most seem to be for PCI-E(the cards that is, not the geeks), but several are for AGP.

Considering that is the case today when AGP card production is still occuring, the number of AGP cards compared to PCI-E cards will likely only decrease. My guess is you will have a larger range of used PCI-E cards to choose from and they will be higher-end for their price, too.

[Standup]

Well yeah, most of the other machines im looking at have 512MB, and this only has 256

256MB with Windows XP will be really painful. If you're going to economise memory isn't the place to do it.

I'd be surprised if AGP cards are still being made in two years time. On the plus though there should be lots of bargains on ebay. An AGP Geforce 7600 which is probably mid range (almost) today is about £120 new and a X1600 a bit cheaper.

Assuming you go for a FX5200 or 9550 as a basic entry level for about £30 then it's a reasonable upgrade path and judging by your games list in other threads will give you enough graphcs oomph for most games (not sure about CIV though).

[DrSpike]

I still use an AGP card myself (omfg noobzor!), having not upgraded for 2 and half years now. As it happens I run everything I want with my card (though all my specs are top of the line for when the machine was bought) but the newer FPS games are starting to get trickier and trickier to run smoothly.

Even though your specs wont quite be as good (though not a world away actually given that the card that cost me £300 is now only $88, especially if you can beef that RAM up) I am quite sure you could get an AGP card that would do everything you want for many many years, given your preferences, so I don't think that's the issue.

There is an issue about whether you want to be able to upgrade again without upgrading the board, but not sure when you would be looking to uprade again. Might be moot.

So I think you should assess the price difference (both board and card) and ask yourself whether the extra upgradeability is worth that. For functionality I don't think you'll notice a difference. The prices don't seem that much different from a quick scan online this morning, though the prices available to you through those deals may well be.

[Quillan]

I've got an AGP card as well, which was upgraded just a few months back. (I didn't feel like buying a new motherboard and video card, and wanted to get more mileage out of this one.) My current card is a 6800GS which was softmodded into a 6800 Ultra. The card it replaced was a 9800 Pro, and the 9800 Pro was a replacement for a Geforce 4 ti4200 that I bought back in May of 2002 (about 5 days after release). That was more than 4 years ago, and a quick look at eBay shows me 7 ti4200 cards for sale there, right now.

You'll still be able to get AGP cards for a while. There will come a point where they aren't manufactured at all (probably within the next 6 months to a year), and they'll only be selling existing inventory. A couple of years after that all you'll be able to find is used ones. But, I expect you will be able to find SOME version of an AGP video card for at least 5 years.

[Spaced Cowboy]

So let me see if I understand your post.

About 4 years ago or so, you bought a mobo with a "new" AGP slot and video card instead of the existing PCI vidoe card solution? Why did you go with the "new" tech then and you wouldn't justify it now. BTW there are still PCI video cards available today.