PCI-e or AGP?

[BrokenVisage]

I'm most likely going with a s979 mobo that has an PCI-e and AGP slot, so the big question is what kind of 6600GT card do I get. I realize PCI-e cards are less expensive and have simalar numbers to AGP, but I'm just getting back into compu-struction and know ziltch about stuff like how PCI-e compares to AGP as of right now. I'm just looking for what interface will give me the best quality for my buck, meaning I don't care if the AGP card costs a little more as long as it really is worth plunking down the extra dough for reliability. For analytical purposes I'm going with a gig of RAM and probably a 3200+ Winchester. Thanks guys.

 

[Silversierra]

I think the 6600gt was designed for pci-express. Pci-express is also faster, although graphics still haven't really maxed out 8x agp. But for upgradeability get pci-express.

 

[Silversierra]

I think the 6600gt also runs at faster clock speed in pci express version.

 

[BW86]

Get the cheaper one. So get PCI-e.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Why is it cheaper if its better though? I was also under the impression that the cliche of "you get what you pay for" applied for video cards too. I guess I'm just a little skeptical of thing I don't totally understand.

 

[Cheesetogo]

6600gt was pci-e first, so it costs more for agp because they had to make the bridge to make it work for agp.

 

[narcotic]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
6600gt was pci-e first, so it costs more for agp because they had to make the bridge to make it work for agp.

that and afterall its all about supply and demand

*get the pci-e

 

[Wolfshanze]

You'll also pay more for a PCI version of a card then the AGP version of a card... that doesn't mean the PCI version is better.

Bottom line, anytime a card is made for one platform then modified to run on an older platform, it's going to cost more and do less... as AGP to PCI cards are, so are PCI-E to AGP.

Go with the PCI-E in your case.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Can you guys recommend a quality maker of PCI-e cards? Like is there a huge disparity between MSI, XFX, and Gigabyte where you can say one of them overall is who to go with?

 

[Solutions]

Its my understanding that PCI-Ex is more expensive than AGP because the technology is newer. I'm not sure which mobo you are planning to use (I haven't heard of a "s979"...should that read 939??) but you may want to consider the placement of the video slots and whether or not using the PCI-Ex version will block one of your PCI expansion slots or not. I would think that if the motherboard has PCI-Ex & AGP then either would work just as well as the other. I am unaware of any particular advantage that one has over the other (at the moment).