PCI vs. AGP vs. PCI-E buyer's guide

[Dakaggo]

I just thought it would be fun to see the difference in price between the three major slot types. Its important to note that price changes happen all the time so not all of these cards are representative of the other cards available at that price.

HP= hypermemory
CC= core clock
MC= memory clock

First off we have for a $50 limit;

PCI: Geforce 6200 256mb 64bit GDDR2 CC-300mhz MC-533mhz
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P1-N399-LX GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Video Card - Retail

That seemed to be a good deal exception so here is a different PCI card.

Geforce FX5500 128mb 64bit DDR CC-270mhz MC-400mhz
Newegg.com - EVGA 128-P1-N320-LX GeForce FX 5500 128MB 64-bit DDR PCI Low Profile Video Card - Retail

AGP 8X: FX5500 256mb 128bit DDR CC-270mhz MC-400mhz
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-A8-N313-LX GeForce FX 5500 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 8X Video Card - Retail

PCI-E x16: Radeon X1550 256mb 128bit GDDR2 HP-1gb CC-550mhz MC-800mhz
Newegg.com - ASUS EAX1550/TD/256M Radeon X1550 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
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Second we have for a $100 limit;

PCI: Radeon X1550 256MB 128bit GDDR2 CC-450mhz MC-520mhz
Newegg.com - DIAMOND X1550PRO256PSB Radeon X1550 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Video Card - Retail

AGP 4x/8x: Geforce 7600GS 256mb 128bit GDDR2 CC-400mhz MC-800mhz
Newegg.com - CHAINTECH GSA76GS GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

PCI-E X16: 8600GT 256 128bit GDDR2 CC-540mhz MC-1400mhz
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N752-TR GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

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Well the results are pretty interesting. Really depending on the deals sometimes it doesn't make a huge difference whether you have PCI or AGP or whether or not you have AGP or PCI-E. Its very clear though that PCI is much worse than PCI-E no matter what and its ALWAYS worth it to get the latest slot type.

This may be obvious to a good amount of people on here but I thought it would be nice for those who don't know and particularly to show just how much slot type affects price and quality.

 

[SirCyber]

this is a great comparison dude! will keep the post for personal reference, good for crossreferencing the newer end cards. uhhh, I have to say, you forgot one interface... PCI-E 2... just came out with that recently, and currently only nVidia has a card for it, the 8800gt.

 

[veg1992]

Sticky?

 

[Dakaggo]

this is a great comparison dude! will keep the post for personal reference, good for crossreferencing the newer end cards. uhhh, I have to say, you forgot one interface... PCI-E 2... just came out with that recently, and currently only nVidia has a card for it, the 8800gt.

Thanks ^_^. Well there is nothing in the PCI-E 2.0 price range that is in the PCI price range. On top of that its so new I don't really consider it a major slot type. Otherwise I could've done AGP 2X.

I really like this idea. I mean up until a year ago I knew nothing about graphics cards and up until 3 months ago I knew nothing about computer hardware (I learn rather fast I guess) so when it comes to hardware the first thing people usually get into is RAM and video cards. The most confusing thing about video cards for newbies is easily the slot types so I think this is a good way to show just what the big deal is.

I feel like its kind of wasted here though as most of the people here know all about this but its good for reference I guess. Maybe I'll look into posting this somewhere with more newbies.

P.S. Sticky would be nice ^_^.