Video cards

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jmonahan
  • Start date Start date
J

Jmonahan

Hello All,

Can someone please explain about the AGP 2 , 4, or 8x cards? Are
these just faster versions on one format? I see from some of t6he
boards that there is a better video card using a pci slot. I am
confused, is this stuff in transition to another format/platform or
is the AGP XX still the preferred v ideo/graphics slot.??
Thanks,
Jim
 
The higher the number the faster the speed . Same thing as CD-rom speeds
where 4x and 8 and 24 and so forth.

Using a pci slot is a slower adapter. For awhile AGP was the faster choice
but now PCI-express is the new format that just hit the market in the few
months
 
The AGP speed is the bus speed i.e. AGP 2 will transfer data at 533 MB/sec and AGP 8 will transfer data at about 2.1 GB/sec. An AGP 2 card is fast enough to display games at the highest resolutions. The advantage of a higher bus speed is to allow the AGP processor to access system memory at higher speed if there is not enough video memory available; something that does not happen much with 128+ MB video cards.
Although newer AGP cards with higher bus speeds will also have faster video processors, the two are not directly related. The same processor that is used on a AGP 8 card could be used on a PCI card. The reason that high performance PCI video cards are made is they are needed for multiple video card systems, there being only one AGP slot on a motherboard.
The reason for the introduction of AGP was to allow faster video (AGP 1 is twice as past as PCI) and to allow other high speed devices e.g. hard drives free access to the PCI bus. The new bus, PCI Extreme I think it is called, will eventually replace both PCI and AGP, but for now AGP is the dominate format.

Hello All,

Can someone please explain about the AGP 2 , 4, or 8x cards? Are
these just faster versions on one format? I see from some of t6he
boards that there is a better video card using a pci slot. I am
confused, is this stuff in transition to another format/platform or
is the AGP XX still the preferred v ideo/graphics slot.??
Thanks,
Jim
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Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.
 
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