AGP versus PCI-e question

**solid** · February 17, 2006, 05:13 PM

I've been upgrading my computer and I now have

2.8 Ghz CPU
120 & 80 GB HDD
1024 MB Ram
9000 Radeon

So you see the problem is the graphics card. Now my question is: should I buy an AGP card which is cheaper but lower performance, or should I buy an PCI-e card which is more expensive but will last me longer. Also, my current motherboard doesn't support PCI-e, so if you all recommend PCI-e, please also point me in a direction as to which motherboard I should buy.
Also, the price range should be around 200-300, 300 being the max amount I can afford on a GFX card (motherboard included)

**Proximus** · February 17, 2006, 06:21 PM

AGP isn't cheaper those days, atleast not the high-end ones.
The best AGP card right know is the Radeon X850XT PE. Those are becoming hard to find and has a hefty pricetag. Around 359$ is way to much.
The best NVIDIA is the 7800GS those costs from 285$. Still to much money compared to the price IMHO. A better buy then would be the Geforce 6800GS or 6800GT, those card you should be able to find for around 200$.
The AGP cards are being phased out and the prices is very high, much higher than for corresponding PCI-E cards.

If you opt to buy a new motherboard it would be helpful if you told us which socket you're using. If it is P4 I would guess it uses s478.

For less then 300$ you could get a Geforce 7800GT, a card that is much better than the 7800GS.