PCI or AGP, which is better?

[Mikesla]

As far as preformance, which is classified as better? PCI or AGP?
Motherboard architecture not withstanding.

The last PCI video card I owned was a Virge s3 (4 megs of vid).

So are you for PCI? or AGP?

 

[Akhenaton]

As far as preformance, which is classified as better? PCI or AGP?

AGP no question. AGP is basically PCI for graphics. I don't undertand why this is even a question, the latency and bandwidth is so much better (now comparing 32-bit PCI used for consumer graphics, not 64-bit PCI and PCI-X for workstations).

OTOH, the difference is rather small in very low performance cards for which the rendering itself is the bottleneck.

 

[Archbob]

All the new cards are only compatible for the PCI express slot though, its sad.

 

[MxxPwr]

As far as preformance, which is classified as better? PCI or AGP?
Motherboard architecture not withstanding.

The last PCI video card I owned was a Virge s3 (4 megs of vid).

So are you for PCI? or AGP?

Well there's three now:
PCI - Old
AGP - Current, but quickly becoming outdated by PCI-E
PCI-E - New, but quickly becoming standard

In a nutshell: (more x is better)
PCI - 1x; standard on all mainstream PC's
AGP - 4x/8x; should be on almost all 1-2 year old PC's (unless they have IGP)
PCI-E - 16x; side by side slots allow for dual cards which most AGP set ups do not; um, I know it's been on the newer boards since last year, but I think the 'performance' PC's are just now starting to use it.

And as always there is also IGP; which is integrated graphics; which is bad, bad, bad; but seems to be everywhere; and worse, the only way to upgrade is usually with PCI (1x); UGH!

 

[Zanmato]

There is no real performance gain between a top-end AGP or PCI-e card at the moment. If you are investing in a new mobo, then get one with a PCI-e slot.

 

[superslug]

All the new cards are only compatible for the PCI express slot though, its sad.

That's not true, actually. Granted, they don't release all the new models for PCIe, and the ones that do are usually a little later on for AGP, but there are high end cards released for AGP. If you're looking for something that can handle just about any gaming demands on a budget in an AGP slot, this is worth considering:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220

 

[Reignking]

"The GeForce 7800GS Shows AGP Ain't Dead Yet"

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/02/02/nvidia_7800gs_confirms_agp_aint_dead_yet/