Jedi Polliwog Posted April 2, 2002 Share Posted April 2, 2002 So I have one question: what is a PCI video card and what is an AGP card? I have no idea which kind I should get. What is the difference between them? Does it matter? Well, I guess that's more than one question. So can anyone out there who knows about these things please tell me what they mean, the difference between them, which kind I should get (or how I can find out which one I should get) and stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason-alaska Posted April 2, 2002 Share Posted April 2, 2002 Given a choice of the two. Always go with AGP. It's a dedicated port on the mother board that only handles video. (AGP=Advanced Graphics Port) PCI is the older, more common type. You may not be able to just go get an AGP card though. It will only work if you have an AGP slot on your Motherboard. How do you know if you can put an AGP card in your system? GOOD QUESTION! Two easy ways. If you have USB ports on your system and it's not an add on card, (For example, USP ports on the computer case itself) then you probobly have AGP. The better way,,, Open up your case and look at your graphics card. If it sits in a slot that looks different from all the others you have AGP. The port looks diofferent because it sits farther from the outside of the computer case, It's likely a different color too. Go with AGP if you can. It costs the same as PCI cards anymore but it's a better way for your computer to talk to your graphics card. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal LuD Posted April 2, 2002 Share Posted April 2, 2002 Yeah, just open up your case, and look at the very top slot, and if it's the brown, out of place slot, then it's an AGP slot... Also, what kind of power are you running behind your machine? An AGP card definately would help, but if your specs are really that low, it'd be better to upgrade your motherboard/RAM/processor/video card while you're at it. Stay away from PCI at all costs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phobos Posted April 2, 2002 Share Posted April 2, 2002 It's best to get a AGP-vidcard. The main difference between AGP and PCI is the speed. AGP stands or Accelerated Graphics Port, about 4/5 years agoo some hardware manufacturers developed AGP 'cause the graphicscards where getting faster and faster. The standard PCI slots could not keep up with this speed so they needed some kind of slot that could transfer bits & bytes at incredibly high speeds (a standard AGP slot has a transfer rate from 1024 Mb's and up). Almost every game on the market will run like crap with a PCI card so pleazzzzeeee get your self a nice AGP Geforce or Radeon. I believe that PCI cards aren't even made anymore (this sentence sounds strange....please be patient with me ;D). For every budget so have a different pricetag. If you want cheap and low-end just go with the cheapest Geforce 4MX (about 160 Euro's). If you want something that will play almost every game in high detail get a nice Geforce 3 TI200, 3 or 3 TI500 (prices: 3 TI200: +/- 200 Euro's, 3: 250 Euro's, TI500: 300 Euro's). The real speed freaks go fo the new Geforce 4 TI-series, these cards have the most graphical power at this moment. Lots of bandwidth, lots of memory and high clockspeeds (but he price starts around 400 Euro's at this moment). Another good and cheap(er) choice is the ATI Radeon 8500, this card will go for about 200 Euro's and is very fast and solid. My advice: visit some of the hardware forums and just read the topics about cards that you are interested in. See what kind of problems those guys are having with these boards and make up your own mind about what amount of money you would like to spend for your games. Greets from the Netherlands, Phobos P.S: Because you are going to purchase a better videocard doesn't mean that your system will be silky smooth again, it is a combination of all components. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaNg0 Posted April 2, 2002 Share Posted April 2, 2002 But don't forget that your AGP slot has to be 2.0 compliant otherwise you will not get the full benefits of the higher end cards.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Polliwog Posted April 3, 2002 Author Share Posted April 3, 2002 I headed onto the Hewlett Packard website (that's the kind of PC I have) and searched for the specifications on my PC. It says I have PCI slots, so I guess I have to get one of those. Thanks for all your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Polliwog Posted April 3, 2002 Author Share Posted April 3, 2002 But now I have a new question (will this madness ever end?). Will a GeForce2™ MX200 Video Card, PCI, 32MB be able to run JK2 smoothly? Or is it too old or feable to be able to perform that task? I will have 191MB of RAM on my computer, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Polliwog Posted April 3, 2002 Author Share Posted April 3, 2002 Never mind replying to that last reply of mine, I'll just post a new topic about that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.