Question about PCI-Express

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UprightCitizen

Hello my brother bought a PCI Express video card (6800 GS) but I believe his
computer (Compaq Presario S6900NX) only has AGP and PCI slots. Will this
card work at all here or does it need to be exchanged for a AGP card? Thanks
 
The Presario S6900NX has an AGP graphics slot.

PCI-Express is completely incompatible with that (won't fit physically), and
it's also incompatible with the old PCI slots.

Yes, he'll have to exchange it for an AGP version.

(Unfortunately, the AGP version of the 6800GS is similar to the old AGP
plain vanilla 6800. The PCI-E 6800GS is closer to the AGP 6800GT, which is
significantly better. I have read claims that adventurous souls have
unlocked the AGP 6800GS to a full 16 pixel pipelines, up from 12. That would
be nice, if risky.)


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
So which would you say is the better card the 6600 GT (the 6800 GT seems
expensive) or the 6800 GS agp version? Thanks again
 
It looks like they're roughly equal.

A 6600GT has 8 pipes at 500 MHz, for a fill rate of 4000 Mpixels/s. A base
6800GS (AGP) has a 350 MHz clock, and 12 pipelines, for 4200 Mpixels/s.
Their memory clocks are about the same. Some manufacturers clock the AGP
6800GS at 400 MHz, so it would pull farther ahead, but it's a more expensive
card.

It's possible to get 128 MB versions of the 6600GT for less than $150
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=)

(link may wrap)

It's not clear to me that having 256 MB or more on a midrange card is
useful. The GPU may not have enough power to be useful at resolutions where
that much RAM is needed. Others may have experience there that I lack. (I
was very fond of my 256 MG 6800GT.)

If your brother wants the most powerful AGP card that's available as new
retail stock, a 7800GS looks like it, at least for nVidia cards (16
pipelines, up to 460 MHz GPU clock). It's a $300+ card, which is
ridiculously expensive, except when compared to a 6800 Ultra from 18 months
ago. (It looks like they'd have similar performance, although the best
7800GS cards ought to be better, in terms of raw performance.)

I'd suggest also looking at the ATI Radeon X8xx line, but if NewEgg is
typical, the AGP versions of those must be getting scarce. AGP seems to be
dying, though whether it's due to lack of customers or the vendors simply
not making products, I don't know.

UprightCitizen said:
So which would you say is the better card the 6600 GT (the 6800 GT seems
expensive) or the 6800 GS agp version? Thanks again
Click to expand...
(snip)
 
I'd also have to recommend looking at the ATi X1600PRO or just the
plain one at newegg.com. This is a very nicely priced card and comes
available with 512mb of memory for not too much more. Memory may not
be that much of a performance booster though, so the 256mb is probably
good enough. It competes with the 6800GS and is a little better than
the 6600GT from NVIDIA. The X1600XT from ATi is an PCI-express only,
so look at the PRO.
 
I had no idea that X1600 series cards were available in AGP. I see that they
are (www.newegg.com), at pretty respectable prices (lowest $129, for a 256
MB model from Sapphire).

At 500 MHz/12 Pipes, it ought to be worth considering.
 
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