Video card question (pci vs agp)

[tommy]

I was wondering if the agp slot is a better slot for a video card then a pci slot, i was told by someone that i would get better perfomance out of the agp slot with the same card. I have the ATI Radeon 9200pci.

[SamSom]

well that is true AGP has a differnt pathway to your computer which allows it to go faster. But this days there is  new PCI cards out there that outperfroms the AGP standard because of the limitations that AGP has. but as for your question in my opinion the early AGP were faster and more reliable then the PCI cards.

[MonitorGuru]

For the most part, it's the chip and memory and directx level the card supports that makes the performance. Bus speed/type no longer matters (because they've maxed them both out--that's why PCIExpress is now out). ESPECIALLY for Mame.

[tommy]

I meant more for pc games not mame, i went to my local computer store and i couldnt find a pci card better then the 9200, but an agp card i found better , the 9800 and so on, my computer dosent have an agp slot so it seems im stuck with this pci  card.

[DaveJ-UK]

AGP = Advanced Graphics Port. It's designed for the job, whereas PCI is a bus designed to support 1001 different add on cards. Much like CD/DVD speeds, there is AGP 1X, 2X, 4X and 8X.

The PCI-Express bus urinates all over AGP in terms of what it's capable of, but at the moment maybe only one or two video cards utilise any of that additional bandwidth.

[AceTKK]

if you're motherboard / processor are so old that there is no AGP port I'd suggest upgrading those first before worrying about the video card.  You'll see a much greater benefit upgrading the "backbone" of your system than just the video card.  Often, good deals on CPU/mobo combos can be found at Fry's electronics, newegg.com, etc.

-Ace-

[tommy]

Its really not that my system is so old witch it is, celeron 1.70 but its the brand name i chose(Dell) they dont make there motherboards with a agp slots that i know of anyway. There onboard graphics are not removable, so if i wanted to upgrade

[DaveJ-UK]

The only Dell systems I've seen that don't have an AGP slot are those tiny little desktop's they supply to colleges, offices, etc. but the profile of the case is too short for any kind of expansion card anyway. At least in the UK anyway.

Dell only use quality parts from what I've seen, Intel mobo's and CPU's.

[tommy]

The only Dell systems I've seen that don't have an AGP slot are those tiny little desktop's they supply to colleges, offices, etc. but the profile of the case is too short for any kind of expansion card anyway. At least in the UK anyway.

Dell only use quality parts from what I've seen, Intel mobo's and CPU's.

It must be a uk thing then,  there is no agp slot on my Dell 2350 desktop ive upgraded all i can without changing the motherboard , im going to build a computer from scratch but i could still use some things from this pc hard drive, dvd drive and such.

[AceTKK]

Dell uses proprietary motherboards and power supplies on many of their systems.  It sucks.  If you want to stick with what you've got I'm pretty sure the most powerful PCI-based graphics card is the 9200.  If you're serious about PC gaming your best bet is really to start over.  You'll be able to salvage a lot of parts from your current rig; the hard drives, optical drives, and possibly the RAM (if it uses DDR RAM) will all transfer over.  You'll need a new m-board, processor, case, and power supply.

-Ace-

[tommy]

It does use ddr ram (removable) i have a 128 and a 512 in the only 2 slots available, witch is fine i havent run into a game that need more, like i said i ran doom 3 fine witch seems to be the latest game hard on hardware, i just need a motherboard upgrade.

[DaveJ-UK]

All the sockets on the back of Dell's are in weird places so you'll probably need a new case/PSU too, unless you can find another Dell one.

[MonitorGuru]

Not all Dell's are bad.

Their entry level (2400 and 3000) systems (previously 2350)'s do not have AGP.  They have standard power supplies, and are not "overrated" (e.g. a 250  watt Dell is generally thought to be as good as a 300/350 from a generic provider)

Their 4600/4700 series (and the matching server versions: 400sc/420sc) have full 8x AGP slots.

Their 8300/8400 series have AGP (8300) and PCI Express (8400).

Unfortunately, most people buy the cheap entry level 2400 with Celeron 2.4 GHz (Northwood based) CPU and onboard Intel Video.  These are very limited systems.

Buy a 4600, 4700, 400sc, 420sc, 8300,8400 and you have AGP or PCI express, enough expansion slots, powerful P4 Hyperthreaded CPU's, etc...

You can put new mobos into dell 8300/8400 cases. You can put smaller slot mobo's (3 slot) into the 2xxx, 3xxx and 4xxx series.

[DaveJ-UK]

You can put new mobos into dell 8300/8400 cases. You can put smaller slot mobo's (3 slot) into the 2xxx, 3xxx and 4xxx series.

I have a 4300 and a 4500 which will only take Dell Mobo's. The connectors on the back are all in the wrong places.

[tommy]

I was thinking of just getting the newest processor for my system , that and my vid card should speed things up a bit.

[DaveJ-UK]

Don't spen too much. I have a Celeron 1.7 which cost next to nothing and it runs almost every game just fine.

This topic has been discussed many times before, use the search facility.