Xsas

I recently read that the next gen graphics cards are going to be on PCI Express graphics ports. what exactly are these? Do old mobos have this slot or are mobos in the future going to support these, or do mobos now have them?

I'm confused, as I read that the Nvidia 6800 will run off of that port instead of AGP. I don't get it, I've never heard of a PCI express port before.

Lasereth

PCI-E is a new form of PCI slots. It's much faster than the standard PCI ports in current motherboards, and is actually faster than AGP slots on current motherboards.

NVIDIA is planning to release videocards this year that are PCI-E Bridged. These cards will work on current motherboards, but have the speed of PCI-E slots.

ATI is planning on releasing videocards in AGP and PCI-E format this year, but not PCI-E bridged like NVIDIA.

PCI-E isn't popular yet. Some predict that PCI-E will "take over the market soon," but I wouldn't go that far. I think it'll be next year before they're popular or mainstream.

NVIDIA will probably release a PCI-E GeForce 6800, PCI-E Bridged GeForce 6800, and probably an AGP GeForce 6800. To tell ya the truth, PCI-E is way overhyped concerning videocards. 8X AGP slots aren't bottlenecked yet, and won't be for a while. NVIDIA and ATI can keep increasing the clock and memory speeds of their cards and get huge increases in power. I think PCI-E is supposed to debut in the next few months.

*EDIT*

I looked it up, and my guess was right: NVIDIA's GeForce 6 6800 is debuting at first in only AGP form, but plans to go to PCI-E bridged later on. ATI's X800 is the same way...AGP at first, then PCI-E later on).

-Lasereth

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

sailor

Yeah, like always, Lasereth to the rescue.

I would at to that to just make sure that if you buy a mobo anytime soon that it has PCI-E slots. IIRC, most do, but it would suck to get stuck with a useless board a year down the road.

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Xsas

Do mobos for purchase now have PCI-E slots?

Also, when is the 8x AGP 6800 set for release?

Lasereth

No motherboard on the market has PCI-E (that I know of).

The AGP GeForce 6800 is coming out very soon, probably within the next couple of weeks. The X800 is already out, so NVIDIA can't be far behind.

-Lasereth

__________________
"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert