PCIe vs. AGP

[bosshoss]

I am currently eyeing the 6800 gt and I wanted to know if anybody knew just how much faster the exact same card but on PCIe would be instead of AGP? Does PCIe just offer more bandwidth, more throughput, what are the advantages/disadvantages? And call me stupid but I vaguely remember reading something about an adapter for AGP-->PCIe is this true or I am a stoopid dummy? (I did watch the nvidia/intel movie about PCIe and from what I remember, about the only major advantage was that data from the vid card had a more direct line to the cpu and could bipass the chipset altogether)

 

[priyajeet]

PCIE vs AGP isnt a small addressable issue. Its better if you goto <A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=PCI+express+vs+AGP" target="_new">google and search for PCI Express vs AGP</A>

I found <A HREF="http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Features/pciexpresstech/" target="_new">1 article</A>, there are lots more. Also you can try websites of the people who actually involved in PCIE, with intel being the top dog.

<A HREF="http://www.intel.com/technology/pciexpress/devnet/" target="_new">This Intel page is the place you should look at to know about PCIE.</A> There are white paper links on the right of the page.

Dell is another major company w.r.t PCIe. <A HREF="http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/vectors/en/2004_pciexpress?c=us&l=en&s=corp" target="_new">Heres a link.</A>

ATI is the another major player. And recently (just a few hours ago) they sold their 1 millionth PCIE card. They are way ahead of Nvidia I think when it comes to PCIE. And this also might be the reason that their AGP counterparts are less in production.

As far as "about an adapter for AGP-->PCIe," I dont think there is any such thing. You might be mistaking it with AGP -> PCIE bridge that Nvidia uses. Thats basically so that they dont have to manufacture 2 diff GPUs to put on 2 Diff platforms. ATI doesnt do that and their PCIE version of R420 is the R423, ie same technology but a native PCIE solution.

<i> <font color=blue>Futile is resistance,</font color=blue><font color=red> assimilate you we will.</font color=red> </i>
<b>Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now.</b>

 

[bosshoss]

Thx priya. I am seriously debating the PCIe thing because I am shopping for a complete hardware upgrade for my PC. Do you have any idea if PCIe will be available on AMD platforms as it is an INTEL thing? I dont want to start a flame war, but I am an AMD dude and if PCIe will be available shortly I will just wait to get my new stuff. But as the informative links you sent me said, AGP is not limited by bandwidth yet, so then dont you think that AGP still has a few good years left in it? Or is it in the twilight of it's life? Would the purchase of an AGP 6800 gt be wise or an x600 PCIe be wiser? (of course I will have to go intel if I decide to go PCIe, but then I will be stuck in 32 bit)

 

[priyajeet]

<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15432" target="_new">http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15432</A>

<i> <font color=blue>Futile is resistance,</font color=blue><font color=red> assimilate you we will.</font color=red> </i>
<b>Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now.</b>

 

[EvilMike]

Falcon Northwest's Fragbox is being revamped to include a 3.2ghz p4, 1gb ddr2 memory, PCIExpress mobo, and 6800 Ultra PCIe for about $2600 (customizable) due to ship around Sept

<A HREF="http://www.falcon-nw.com/fragbox.asp" target="_new">Fragbox</A>

I believe Alienware is also coming out with it's own version of PCIExpress systems. We'll just have to wait and see the benchies to see if PCIE is just another 4x AGP to 8x or something worth waiting for.