Video card Question

[ThePope]

Im looking to upgrade my WAY outdated GeForce MX 440 to a GeFORCE 6600 GT. Do i need to upgrade my motherboard? It has a PCI slot. But the 6600 GT requires a PCI express slot.

[ysbreker]

Then you need to update your motherboard. pci express cards don't fit into pci slots. but if your motherboard doesn't have pc express does it have an agp slot?

[ThePope]

Im not sure but i do not think so. But with the 6600 GT it will only fit in a PCI express port, so no matter what i will have to upgrade.

[Huz]

Is PCI Express better than AGP? Hmm.

[ysbreker]

yes, it's the folllow-up of agp

[Twilo]

It's a plot to get you to buy new crap. Intel are always doing that.

[Alex]

PCI-Ex is technically more advanced than AGP in that it effectively gives you twice as much fire power than older cards could handle. However, those figures are based on nVidia's own PR and have not been prooved to bare much resemblance to real world results.

I would suggest you hold out on getting that beefy card just yet as it is only the first of this breed. It's generally better to see what cards are favoured or rejected a few months after the new technology has been introduced.

That's what I'm doing anyway, especially considering the fact that it's gonna need a whole new motherboard.

[Simon]

AGP's days are probably numbered, but I'm going to give it until at least next Spring before I change motherboard again. There's no urgent call for an ultra-new video card just yet, and that's the only thing my current motherboard won't be able to take if the next-generation is not AGP. It's always dangerous to jump on new technology as it might not become the standard.

[Ryam BaCo]

nowadays no game profits of the higher speed of pci express. it's as useless and hyped as 8xagp was.

what about your other hw, such as cpu, memory,...?

[Erwin_Br]

  ysbreker said:

yes, it's the folllow-up of agp

Do you also happen to know if you can put an 8x AGP videocard into an 4x AGP slot?

--Erwin

[Erkki]

I'm 90% sure you can. I think mine is 8x and in a 4x slot.

[Huz]

  Erkki said:

I'm 90% sure you can. I think mine is 8x and in a 4x slot.

Mine too, bre. Mine too.

[ysbreker]

Yes, agp is backwards compatible, meaning that a card designed for 8x agp can be fitted in a 4x agp.

But it will only run on 4x agp (which is rather logical). But if you're going for an pci-express card you most likely want to get a new cpu + ram aswell (in other words, a new pc )

[Erwin_Br]

Good! I'm not going to spend a fortune on a new PC, but I think I'll update my ancient geForce MX440 before I'll buy HL2. I was thinking about a spending max. 120 Euro's. (Insert poor student rambling here.)

I think you can buy a reasonable videocard for that money, no?

--Erwin

[Beef]

save a little bit more and buy an X700 or nvidia's equivalent, best bang for mainstream buck atm

[manny_c44]

If your motherboard doesn't have an AGP slot you should probably be looking to upgrade other things too. You could tape a 6600 Gt to a 1987 Dodge Caravan, but it won't run Half-Life 2. Or something...

[Metalmickey]

I'd be surprised if 6600GT's aren't released in AGP flavours too. After all, they're slower than the 6800GT and ultra cards, and the 6800's are mainly AGP cards, with just a few PCI-X cards at the top end.

The highest level of graphics cards are only starting to be able to utilise the faster throughput of PCI-X (16x as opposed to AGP's 8x), but the only real benefit that the current mainstream cards on PCI-X can get is that you can draw up to 75W through the PCI-X expansion slot compared to about 35 or 40W through an AGP slot, so the 6800 range of Nvidia cards don't need any extra power connectors from your PSU, which saves some hassle and cables. Top end sound cards are also going to become more common for PCI-X slots soon, as recent 7.1 compatible cards and the like are really struggling on normal PCI slots.

Like SATA though, the planned development of PCI-X already includes the release of PCI-X v2.0 in a few years time, and version 3.0 another couple of years beyond that, but I doubt you'll actually need a PCI-X slot for anything for at least 3 years, unless you're the kind of person who just has to have all the latest bits, regardless of whether anythings been released that can make use of them yet. (I know I'm not).

From your budget, I'd say there are still plenty of great AGP cards out there. If you can afford a 6600GT or an X700 then go for it but if you want something cheaper, an Ati 9600 Pro or plain 9800 will still be able to run Doom3 and HL2 on 'medium' settings.

[JBRAA]

  Screwtape said:

PCI-Ex is technically more advanced than AGP in that it effectively gives you twice as much fire power than older cards could handle. However, those figures are based on nVidia's own PR and have not been prooved to bare much resemblance to real world results.

Damn straight! You can run 2 PCI Express cards making the double power. LOL IN YOU FACE NVIDIA PR.