A Guide to PCI Express by Gary Hendricks
A Lot More Bandwidth First, to understand PCI Express, we need to know what it is capable of. Traditionally, most of our computers these days come equipped with PCI or AGP based graphics cards. Most of the latest PCs come decked with PCI Express enabled cards. ... Conclusion If you do intend to go the PCI Express highway, then you will want to first upgrade your motherboard to the latest PCI Express type. ... That’s great, because you certainly do not want to be buying PCI Express peripherals just because your motherboard has been upgraded to PCI Express.

Choosing a Video Card: PCI-Express or AGP? by Julien David
What is PCI-Express and AGP? There are two ways to connect a graphics card to a motherboard, either via an AGP or PCI Express slot located on your motherboard. A motherboard only supports one of these slots, so if you’re looking for a new video card make sure you’re aware of whether your... If you’re simply upgrading your gaming computer with a new video card, you should check whether your motherboard supports AGP or PCI Express, and then choose a card accordingly. ... Advantages of PCI-Express The benefit of PCI Express is that it can handle a greater data throughput than an AGP slot.

Buying a Video Card by Jared Strop
Stunning visuals don't have to cost an arm and a leg with cheap graphics cards (aka video cards). Unless you are a hardcore gamer, you don't need to have the best of the best and a cheap graphics card will do you just fine. Now I'm not saying you should skimp on getting a good video card, but... PCI Express? ... The bottom line is better performance so make sure to get a motherboard with PCI express slots that can handle the new video cards. ... Well, the newer cards are coming out for PCI express slots because they are much faster than AGP.

Upgrading, Adding or Removing a Video Card, Sound Card, or Other AGP/PCI Card by Mark Berger
For Video cards - Most PC video cards these days are AGP. But you COULD be working with PCI, or PCI express. If you're not sure which you have (more then 75% of the time it will be AGP) consult your motherboard manual. If your video card is AGP, you should see a slot smaller then the other slots... You will damage, maybe even destroy your card, and you may damage your AGP, PCI or PCI express slot as well. ... Sound card - Sound cards are pretty easy, and the method for these can be used for any other card, such as network cards and the like (assuming they are all PCI.

Video Card Guide - What You Should Know When Purchasing Video Cards by Donny Duncan
When choosing a video card, it is important to know what you’re going to be using it for. The cheapest route is to find a Motherboard with one built into it. This is sufficient for most users. If you simply don’t want one built into your Motherboard, or can’t find one, pretty much any cheap... These are also never cross compatible, so you can not put a PCI Express card into a regular PCI slot, or into an AGP slot. ... There are a lot of different types of interfaces now, from PCI, to AGP, PCI Express, and there are also different variations of AGP, like AGP 4x, AGP8x, etc.

Top 5 Performance Video Cards by Gary Hendricks
This is a short list of the meanest, fastest and most powerful 3D video cards on the market today. If you own one of them, well - lucky you! XFX GeForce 7800 GTX The XFX GeForce 7800 GTX video card comes with a PCI Express interface, 256MB DDR3 video memory and supports a maximum resolution of... Connect 3D Radeon X850 XT Platinum Built on the Radeon X850 XT graphics processor, the Connect 3D Radeon X850 XT Platinum is a PCI Express card that runs on 256MB of DDR3 memory and a maximum resolution of 2048 X 1536.

Video Cards: Is AGP Dead? by Nathan Holsing
If you’ve been looking to upgrade your computer video card you’ve probably heard a great deal about PCI Express and SLI. Don’t run out and buy a new computer just yet and take that AGP motherboard you just threw away out of the trash. The truth is you can probably make some simple upgrades to... A new video card will probably float you for at least another year, likely two if you get a top of the line card. ... The thing to remember is that PCI Express is new technology and not nearly as widespread as AGP is.

Gamers Graphics - Our Guide by John Gibb
Graphics for Gaming The die-hard gamer has some important features to examine when making a graphics card selection. Memory is probably the most important. For most gamers, a 128MB might be sufficient, but you have to check the specs on the game and think about what resolution you like to play... AGP is faster than standard PCI, but PCI Express is even faster yet. ... For example, if the card is a little pricey, but includes a $50 game you’re planning on buying, you could easily justify the cost of the card.

Multi-Monitor Madness by Nathan Kartchner
In today’s multitasking computing world, it’s not unusual to see people constantly switching from window to window trying to transfer data form one program to the other. I myself have gotten fairly adept at the Alt-Tab window-switching hotkey sequence. ... Realistically, this $1000-plus item is for more specialty PCI cards that aren’t available in PCMCIA version, but if you have an amazing and absolutely necessary PCI or PCI Express video card that you want to use with your laptop, this is the solution for you.

How To Properly Install A New Video Card by Otis Cooper
Your video card is one of those components in your computer you want to both learn as much about it as possible and to learn how to remove the old one and install a new card quickly.Playing those awesome games will be that much more enjoyable with one of those muscle bound video cards boosting... Save the screw to secure the card later.Newer motherboards are now equipped with the PCI Express slot.Check your motherboard manual if you are in doubt as to which type of slot you have Before removing the new card from its protective wrap,ground yourself to remove any and all electrical static...