pci express systems vs agp

[puerevil]

I'm planning on building a new computer for the athlon64 sckt 939 platform. however, i'm wondering whether i should go for a mobo with pci-express or agp. i kno the answer is pretty obvious, but there's the catch.

my friend is selling me his radeon 9800 pro (128 mb) for roughly 20-40 bucks (he just got 6800 gt). naturally, its in agp format, so would it be more worthwhile to buy an agp based system along with my friend's deal, or bite the bullet and buy a pci-express system and a totally new vid card. which would be the better deal in the long run?

i'm a noob at his sorta stuff and any input is greatly appreciated...

in case anyone is wondering, i do pretty light gaming (wc3, sc:bw), web browsing, movie watching, music, and photoshop, thus performance isn't really a concern, just which option is more bang-for-the-buck.

Thanks!

 

[SrGuapo]

How long are you planning on keping this system and are you planning to upgrade it? AGP will be phased out slowly over the next couple of years (much like the older PCI). PCI-e is a bit more expensive for the motherboards, and some cards (6800gt) are all but impossible to find in PCI-e flavors.

If you are getting the 9800 pro so cheap, I would just go AGP. When/if you upgrade later, you can buy a cheap PCI-e board (they will come down in price) and prbably come out ahead financially.

 

[puerevil]

ill probably be keeping this system 2-4 years. i am planning to upgrade it, but given what i do (wc3, photoshop, movies, etc etc), i doubt i'd need to upgrade the vid card anytime soon.

 

[Darth Farter]

if you're gonna keep it: pci-e. and also nforce4. most future proof upgradability for a 939. later on you can add dual core cpu's if you want, have the sata2 w NCQ for any good & fast HDD upgrades, and the better bandwith specs from pci-e (1x) slots for new expansion cards, lots of raid possibilities etc.
a Nforce4 ultra would be a good bet imo

 

[puerevil]

thx guys!

 

[batmanuel]

Also keep in mind that the best midrange video card out there right now, the 6600GT is actually around $20-$30 CHEAPER than the same card in AGP format, which ought to come close to making up for any premium you'd pay right now for a non-SLI nForce 4 over the older nForce 3 or VIA s939 boards. If you're looking at that particular card, that is.

I'm also willing to bet that pairing a NF4 board with the new midrange A64s like the s939 90nm 3200+ chips would equal overclocking goodness.

 

[imported_brad]

Originally posted by: puerevil
ill probably be keeping this system 2-4 years. i am planning to upgrade it, but given what i do (wc3, photoshop, movies, etc etc), i doubt i'd need to upgrade the vid card anytime soon.

then definitely pass on the agp and go PCI-E.