The fundamental difference between a AGP = Accelerated Graphics Port, and
the PCI = Peripheral Component Interconnect, is the BUS speed.The AGP port
also has a direct connection between the display adapter and the memory,
but only at 66 MHz, which was fast for memory when the AGP port first came
out.

The AGP runs at 66 MHz and the PCI at 33 MHz. Think of this not as speed,
but as the lanes on a highway. The AGP has twice as many of them for data
to travel down. AGP also uses a clock doubling technique that boosts burst
speed to 133Mhz. That said, for 2D use, like a typical Internet or business
machine, a PCI video card is more then adequate. I am even using a old
Matrox G200 Marvel PCI as a video capture card. But when you get into
gaming, 3D design, or some other graphic intensive use,... the AGP will
have a big advantage.

The current PC bottle neck is these two ports, particularly the 33 Mhz PCI
ports.The AGP and PCI ports that we know today, will in the next few years,
be replaced with a new kind of PCI port that is capable of much higher speeds.

Rode
The NOSPIN Group
http://freepctech.com


At 11:05 PM 11/26/2002 +1300, you wrote:
>The short answer to that one is no, a PCI card is not comparable to an AGP
>card. Someone else will do doubt add a more technical explanation - my
>understanding is that AGP, or Accelerated Graphics Port', is the new
>standard for running graphics hardware, and that no more hardware is being
>developed for PCI based cards.
>
>Ian Porter

>   Is a PCI card comparable to the AGP equivalent?  Or should
>I return this one and get an AGP compatible motherboard?  Thanks for the
>help.
> >
> > Tom Hazelton

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