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[Vieo]

And is AMD going to get PCI-Express motherboards?

I'd like to buy a new video card soon, but I don't want to buy an AGP card if it's going to become obsolete next year, and at the same time, I don't want to spend loot right now upgrading to PCI-X. Arrghh... what a dilema!!

EDIT: And are AGP ports gonna get any faster than 8x? Like is there a 16x on the way?

 

[Phoenix]

And is AMD going to get PCI-Express motherboards?

I'd like to buy a new video card soon, but I don't want to buy an AGP card if it's going to become obsolete next year, and at the same time, I don't want to spend loot right now upgrading to PCI-X. Arrghh... what a dilema!!

EDIT: And are AGP ports gonna get any faster than 8x? Like is there a 16x on the way?

Couple of things - PCI-X is not the same as PCIe/PCI-E. PCI-Express is already better for one simple reason - SLI possibilities.

 

[Vieo]

SLI? Bah. Is that where you use two video cards at once?

 

[Phoenix]

SLI? Bah. Is that where you use two video cards at once?

Yes. Both ATI and nVIdia have SLI on the way.

 

[Vieo]

OK, so with this SLI.. if you have something two x800s running in your PC, how much better performance would you get? Would you get twice the performance of one x800 or would you just get something like... a 30% increase?

These SLI cards, will they come bundled together? Like, two cards in one package? Will one card be able to run by itself? Like, for example, let's say memory on one of the cards went bad or a processor burned out. Would that render the other card useless?

If you have to buy the cards separately and one card costs like $400 bones, does that mean you'll have to spend $800 to get the setup you want? Will there be discounts/rebates for people who opt to buy two cards?

Do the two cards have to be the same model?

EDIT: Oh yeah, does this just apply to two cards? Or can you have as many video cards running on your motherboard as you have slots? For example, if you wanted to use three cards for SLI instead of just two, could you do that?

 

[Hitokage]

PCIe is fairly new still, so while it has the potential to be far better than AGP... it hasn't gotten there yet it seems.

 

[Crazymoogle]

OK, so with this SLI.. if you have something two x800s running in your PC, how much better performance would you get? Would you get twice the performance of one x800 or would you just get something like... a 30% increase?

I think Anandtech has benchmarks up, but the number was pretty significant, like 70-80%? 15k on the 3dmark test, that sort of thing. The cost is such that it doesn't make much sense to do so without the latest card, though.

These SLI cards, will they come bundled together? Like, two cards in one package? Will one card be able to run by itself? Like, for example, let's say memory on one of the cards went bad or a processor burned out. Would that render the other card useless?

They're not magic cards, just SLI compatible ones. Each card has to fully operate by itself, so yes, if one card went bad you'd still be ok. I guess it's possible for a company to bundle some together, but I kinda doubt that will happen.

If you have to buy the cards separately and one card costs like $400 bones, does that mean you'll have to spend $800 to get the setup you want? Will there be discounts/rebates for people who opt to buy two cards?

Hardcore enthusiast market = likely little or no discount. So, 800+ doesn't sound that unusual. -_-;

EDIT: Oh yeah, does this just apply to two cards? Or can you have as many video cards running on your motherboard as you have slots? For example, if you wanted to use three cards for SLI instead of just two, could you do that?

Two cards only. Motherboards supporting SLI need some special tricks done (basically the PCI Express video lanes get split between two slots).

 

[Crazymoogle]

And is AMD going to get PCI-Express motherboards?

Soon, yes. I think ATI has a PCIe solution too.

EDIT: And are AGP ports gonna get any faster than 8x? Like is there a 16x on the way?

16x is probably possible and I seem to recall it being on a tech roadmap a long time ago, but 8x is basically the end of the road.

 

[Shogmaster]

PCI-Express already kicked AGP in the nuts for the simple fact that it provides more power to the cards. No need for the gay additional power connectors on the video cards!

 

[hirokazu]

Couple of things - PCI-X is not the same as PCIe/PCI-E. PCI-Express is already better for one simple reason - SLI possibilities.

...wait, so what's the difference between PCIe and PCI-X? which one is PCI Express? huh?

 

[Arcticfox]

...wait, so what's the difference between PCIe and PCI-X? which one is PCI Express? huh?

PCI-X is pretty much just a faster version of PCI that never caught on for the desktop market.

PCIe/PCI-E is PCI Express. While PCI Express is faster than PCI it also adds many features and fixes the main problem of PCI, the shared bus. PCI Express devices each have a dedicated connection.

 

[Blazyr]

PCI E boards for Athlon 64's based on NVidia's NForce 4 chipset should start arriving just about any day now. Anand had a nice article on them a few weeks back.

 

[Ristamar]

Slow fucking bastards. Some of those boards should have been available by now.

 

[hirokazu]

awesome, i'm getting a new computer around February next year, i'll probably make a topic around then for suggestions and things.

but anywho, my target is maybe a $4000AU PC ($3135US), give or take a couple hundred... if i were say, to get one now, what sort of setup could i get?

also, what CPU is good nowadays? Athlon64? what good PCIe graphics cards are out now - i'll probably get an ATi, do they have PCIe cards with TV in/out and that sort of flashy stuff yet?

i've been a bit out of the loop with computers lately...