agp versus pci

[mikebl]

i've heard that one or the other is going to be obsolete in the next year or so. is this correct?

[RoyGBiv]

1. You're talking about graphics, right?

As in a graphics card interface?

The original PCI standard already is pretty much obsolete as a graphics card standard. AGP replaced it, and I suspect what you're hearing is that AGP is going out the door. PCI-E (PCI Express) is essentially the new standard now for currently built machines, although AGP is still popular with low-end and some mid-range systems. When I built the system I currently use most of the time, AGP was the standard and PCI-E was very new. A year later, PCI-E is everywhere and AGP is getting harder to find, both in terms of the card itself and the interface on the motherboard.

[democracyindanger]

2. Crimony.

The box I built two years ago has 8x AGP, and you're calling it low- to middle-end now. Damn you.

'Course, I was part of the minidisc craze for a while, so I guess it's my own fault.

[jayfish]

3. There Are Still Some Good AGP Cards Available,..

just not the super high-end cards. Nvdia make a 7800 part for AGP that is a real good performer. PCI-E holds a theoretical advantage over AGP but as of now it's not been taken advantage of. Right now it's all marketing. The same thing happened with the switch from VLBUS to PCI.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2686

Jay

EDITED TO ADD LINK

[RoyGBiv]

4. I hear you ...

I'm in the same position. I unfortunately skimped a bit on the motherboard when I built this system. There's nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't support dual-channel operation for the memory, so the potential of my high-end, paired memory sticks is being wasted. Recently I had decided just to upgrade the motherboard and quickly realized all the currently available solutions either have PCI-E as the graphics interface or are lower quality boards overall if they are using AGP. So, because I got the high-end (at the time) AGP card, I'd have to get a new graphics card as well as motherboard if I actually want to upgrade in a way that doesn't lose me other features of my current board.

I think these people who run these companies have meetings about this sort of thing and conspire to make all this happen. In my nightmares, Bill Gates runs them.