PCI-X vs. AGP

[Vassago1]

I'm considering buying a new rig, and I'd really like to have it all...but is this feature really worth waiting for? I'm leaning towards no, since the last switch (PCI to AGP) was a whole lot of nothing as far as I can tell. How many games really use the main memory in the way AGP was designed for?

It doesn't seem like there's any A64 mobos out there that support PCI-X yet, and PCI-X vid cards also seem to be a paper launch. The only reason I can see waiting is the next generations of cards will move to a PCI-X first, AGP second over time. Of course, by the time AGP is totally gone, it will probably be time to buy a new box, but I thought I'd see what the experts on this board think.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[nick1985]

as of now there is no speed difference at all.

 

[Bar81]

IT'S PCI-E

 

[imported_tss4]

Most processing of video is done locally on the card and most of the textures are stored on the video cards memory, so the faster PCI-E bus doesn't by you but maybe a 5% speed increase. NOt worht it...yet. Maybe in a year.

 

[Vassago1]

I've seen it both ways, but thanks for responding without adding anything meaningful.

Thanks for the comments...that's about what I figured it was...

 

[Mik3y]

PCI-X is just 64-bit pci. PCI-e is entirely different.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Mik3y
PCI-X is just 64-bit pci. PCI-e is entirely different.

 

[Vassago1]

Well, then the several articles that were talking about PCI-X in the video PCI express context were playing it fast and lose with the abbreviations...my apologies.

 

[nitromullet]

In terms of choosing one over the other in a new rig at this point, you have to consider what kind of rig you want and how soon you will probably upgrade again. If you plan on keeping your cpu/mobo for 2-3 years, I would go with a pci-e system. That will ensure that you will be able to upgrade the graphics card next year, but that limits you to going with Intel right now. If you upgrade your cpu/mobo more often and want to get the best bang for the buck rig right now, go with an Athlon64 rig with an AGP slot. A third scenario is that your current rig isn't all that bad. If this is the case, upgrade what you can. maybe cpu, memory, and vid card, and then wait unitl the whole pci-e, BTX, DDR2 (or 3) thing has settled down a bit before you do a full upgrade.

As you've already noticed, there is no real performance benefit to pci-e over AGP at this point. However, Intel seems to be pushing fairly hard to drive AGP out, so video card makers will follow suit. Furthermore, once there is an nVidia chipset that supports pci-e for Athlon64, there won't really be a reason for ATi or nVidia to come out with top-of-the-line cards in AGP. It is guaranteed that the next gen top tier cards will be pci-e, but not necessarily AGP.