Better off getting PCI-Express if you want a card that will last

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: TimTheEnchanter25
I love how whenever anyone talks about PCI-E there is always a bunch of people that assume that their current system is fine and tell them not to just upgrade the mobo/vid card.

Personally, I have a 1ghz P3, Intel mobo, 512mb ram, and a GF4 4600 Ti. I can't upgrade anything or even overclock, all I can do is replace everything.

I see no disadvantage for me waiting for Nforce 4 (hopefully next month) and getting a PCI-E 6800 GT (if they ever come out....). Yes, there isn't much (if any) of a performance advantage moving to PCI-E, but that still isn't a disadvantage.

Plus, SLI is such a huge advantage over AGP. I also like how many people act like the only people that will use SLI are the ones that spend a ton of money today. I think the biggest group of SLI users will be the people like me that buy a 6800GT now and a second 2-3 years down the road.

How is 1 $400 + 1 $150 card a worse idea than 1 $400 + 1 $400 card and hoping to get $50- $100 out of your used one? Sure, 2 6800GTs won't be as good as whatever the $400 card will be in 2-3 years, but it will be a heck of a lot cheaper in the long run.

Well, this is two different perspectives. You're looking at it from the point of "Have an older system and need an upgrade one way or another." - most discussions of PCIe vs AGP are "My system no longer smells like fresh silicon, time to upgrade my 6800GT to a PCIe Ultra, opinions?"

Either way, dibs on your old parts.

- M4H

 

[LTC8K6]

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if in 2-3 years 2 6800's in SLI mode are not as fast as 1 of the top end cards that are out then.

Would 2 5950U's in SLI beat a 6800U?

Would they beat the next card after the 6800U?

 

[Childs]

Originally posted by: Bitpower
I find some of your responses both rude and inappropriate.

----

Some of you owe me an appology. How you treated me here is inappropriate.

Sincerely,
Bitpower

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyways, definitely stay out of Off Topic. I've been called all kinds of vile crap for simply expressing my personal opinion. Anandtech is no different than any other place, its just bigger.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: TimTheEnchanter25
Plus, SLI is such a huge advantage over AGP. I also like how many people act like the only people that will use SLI are the ones that spend a ton of money today. I think the biggest group of SLI users will be the people like me that buy a 6800GT now and a second 2-3 years down the road.

As others have mentioned.....computers devalue. The smartest thing you can do is minimize the devaluation of your parts by upgrading yearly to the current best value/performance.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Bitpower
I'm thinking its better being patient and waiting for a Pci-express version of the 6800 GT and Ultra to be released in the next month or two, if you really want all the $$money you spent on it to last you a few years.

I was going to go with buying an AGP version of the 6800 GT, but I been thinking about it for a few days, and I come up with these conclusions:

1st) The manufacturing industry is gearing towards PCI-express motherboards, and as time goes on you won't be able to buy a new motherboard that has AGP. So if you buy an AGP card now and then decide to upgrade your computer in a year or two then you are stuck with having to buy an OLDER motherboard that still supports AGP in order to upgrade. On the other hand, if you get a Pci-express card, then you are guaranteed that if you decide to upgrade your motherboard / processor in a year or two then you will be able to buy one of the newest model motherboards that will support Pci-Express.

2nd) It isn't like you have to wait long if you want a Pci-Express card, since they will be hitting the shelves in a month or two. Doesn't it always seem that in life, that the best things seem to come to people who are patient?

3rd) If you buy a 6800 pci-express GT or Ultra then your card will probably support SLI, since they will be making dual-slot pci-express motherboards that can hold two pci-express cards. What are the chances of them releasing a dual-slot AGP board? Probably zero to none as far as chances of that happening. So if you get an AGP then you probably won't be able to use the new SLI technology ever.

So to summarize: If you get an AGP card, then you are stuck with having to get a motherboard that has AGP from now on, so you won't be able to use any of the newer technologies or newest model motherboards when you go to upgrade your system.

If you get a pci-express card, then you are guaranteed that you can use all newer technologies (such as SLI) and also new model motherboards with your card, so your card will last longer, and you probably get a few good years out of it.

Therfore I am really starting to think that you are much better off waiting the one or two months for the pci-express 6800 GTs and ultras to start hitting the shelves.

Sincerely,
Bitpower

My feelings on this are a bit different.

The graphics card is thing I update the most. So I'm not worried about still trying to use it after a year or two if I upgrade mobo's. I'll just put it (vid card) in my second or third gaming box (like I now do) and it'll surely be an AGP mobo.

As far as "all good things come to those who wait" - I'll be waiting a lot longer than a few months. I'll let 'em work the bugs out first. I usually don't jump over to the new stuff till like Version2 comes out.

SLI seems to me to be something for those with lots of $ to blow. I don't see myself buying two top-of-the-line vid cards. And I'm not (ATM) interested in hooking up two old/cheap cards. One real good card appeals to me more than two old/cheap cards. Perhaps this will be dictated by future games though.

Maybe there will be some additional resale value in the pci-e cards now or in the future (so somebody can run SLI on your used card), but how much of a premium will they now command?

When they stop making high-end cards for AGP, or pci-e shows a performance/price advantage, I'll switch.

Due to the possibility of switching several pc at once in the business (budget nightmare), I'm more worried about the change to 64bit software/hardware

Fern

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
Oh, and in four years you will surely still be able to find a new mobo with an AGP slot, we just finaly lost ISA slots a few years ago.

I'll take that bet. Any amount of money you wish to I will wager you that no mainstream motherboard four years from today can be purchased new with a full speed 8x AGP slot.

This is not the same as the ISA --> PCI transition as ISA did not exclude PCI. This is more directly comparable to the VESA Local Bus --> PCI transition where they were mutually exclusive except for (very) rare cases that significantly degraded performance of one bus or the other.

The only boards available that have both PCIe and AGP run the AGP slot off the PCI bus (SLOW). There's no way mobo and chipset manufacturers will continue down a dual path for 4 years, it would hurt everbody to do so. Manufacturers will transition to PCIe ASAP in order to keep their costs in line. I'd be surprised if you see another Intel chipset with AGP. It won't be long until the other chipset manufacturers follow.

You may still see boards in four years with PCI slots, but I can't imagine you'll see boards with AGP slots four years from now. No chance.

 

[Busithoth]

Now that's a funny reaction. I got sh!t for asking for drivers on an old video card.
I've never extended my criticisms for prejudice around the world.

The argument for PCI-E reeks of the argument for RDRRam: People who made the choice trying to convince others (and themselves) that it was the right one.

Besides that part of your argument, Nvidia SUCKS!
(just to point you to a whole new world of scathing flames)

that said,
WELCOME!

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: Bitpower

I had joined these forums because from reading a few of the messages on this site, it seemed like people knew what they were talking about, and I wanted their opinions on subjects.

I'm glad we cleared that up!

Seriously, I'd make an effort to hold out a month or two for PCIe if I were upgrading my whole system now, and did so only every few years.

Otherwise, PCIe video cards appear to carry a new adaptor tax, and it's just not worth upgrading to a new MB simply to gain a potentially more secure upgrade path a few years down the road. That's looking too far ahead in a field that doubles performance every 18 months. If by the time your video card breaks or gets too slow you can no longer find a faster card in AGP form, it'll probably be time to upgrade the rest of your system, too--and you'll probably be able to do so at a more reasonable price than now, as PCIe will be standard by then.

Oh, and welcome to the forums. Grab yourself a frosty :beer:, 'cause it can get hot in here.

Edit: Dunno why the forum carries over the quoted post's message rating, but it should be fixed to default to the blank page.

 

[rbV5]

Better off getting PCI-Express if you want a card that will have a working programmable video processor

Fixed the thread title for ya