Video Cards: PCI vs. AGP

[Ghost_Rider]

I'm going to be buying a new video card for my Dell Dimension 4550, which is about 2 years old.  

I'm looking at cards online and I see that there are two main types; PCI and AGP.

The one I currently have (which is fried) is a PCI - so I guess the safe bet is to get another PCI one.  Not sure how to tell if my PC can handle an AGP one.  How can I tell?  I tried looking around on the 'net, and found mostly useless information.  Any info you can give me is greatly appreciated.

[Tom]

Not sure how to tell if my PC can handle an AGP one. How can I tell?

Well, your PC would have an AGP slot.  (It's set back further than the PCI slots, and has three divisions in it.  A two-year old PC should include an AGP slot, I would think.  I've had one since my PIII, four years ago.  Motherboards also support different AGP speeds (2x, 4x...is it up to 8x now?)  Usually the AGP slot is a different color, too.  AGP is faster than PCI, so if your PC supports it, that's the way to go.

[HondaSiR]

Yup, even my 7 yr old ASUS Pentium 2 motherboard supports AGP. It is the better choice over a PCI based video card.

[Ghost_Rider]

Thanks guys!  Looks like I've got one, as you both figured I would.  I think I'll be getting an AGP card in that case.

I see there is another type called "PCIE" or PCI Express.  Looks expensive though, so I'll be looking for an AGP video card.

[Zemus]

PCI-e is the new type of connector for graphics cards which is even faster than AGP. Only the motherboards from the last year or so has it.

How old is your PC? The first motherboards had an AGP slot which is incompatible with today's cards. There are pictures of all 3 types here: http://www.totalsem.com/techforum/techfiles/index.php?book=031029agp
If you have an AGP 1.0 slot, you won't be able to fit one of today's AGP cards into it.

[Ghost_Rider]

Thanks Zemus.  Well, I got the computer in March of 2003, so it's just a little over 2 years old.  I'll check out this site, and figure out which type of AGP slot I have.

[Ghost_Rider]

Funny thing happened... I can't say that I'm surprised, it's a PC after all.   :wink:

I opened the case, took the card out.. realised it's actually an AGP card, even though on my bill of sale it says PCI.   :?

So anyway my computer can handle AGP 4x (1.5V), and I found the card I want to buy.... but just for the heck of it, I blow all the dust out of the case, dust off the card, and put it back together... and guess what?

No more memory problem!  So I can only guess that the dust on the card was creating a bridge and shorting out part of the memory.  So, no need for me to buy a new card, at least not yet.

[Tom]

Great news!  Demon dust attacks again... :smt096

[HondaSiR]

That's great news Ghost_Rider! It's an AGP card after all huh? And no more added expense at that. Just goes to show how important it is to keep our equipment clean at all times.  

[Ghost_Rider]

That's true, I guess it just needed to be cleaned out.  I'm pretty happy I don't have to buy a new card!