AGP vs PCI-e upgrade

[mationman]

Im AGP and at first I was looking for an AGP card but now after looking into PCI-e because I can buy a PCI-e mobo and the card for not that much more than a single AGP card.

I heard somewhere that even though PCI-e has been released AGP still isnt being used at its full potential.
So has PCI-e only be released so people can use SLI and Crossfire? is there much difference in performance?
Is an AGP 7800 256 gs roughly the same performance as a PCI-e 7800 256 gt? or is it more like the same as a 7600 gt?

I was thinking a 7800 gs 256 AGP
or 7600 gt PCI-e but I have to buy a mobo too but it works out about the same price as a 7800 gs AGP

The 7600s newer architecture and higher clock speeds but its got a 128 membus and 12 pipelines not the 16 of the GS right?

I know alot of you will say I should get the gainward 512 7800 gs but for the price its an extra £80 and its a little out of my price range and I can get a 7900 gt and pci-e mobo for that price.

The reason Im still not convinced about a move to PCI-e is im on socket 754 and after this next card my cpu and rest of my system will probably be causing the bottlenecks so Im gonna have to switch mobo anyway so I might as well switch to PCI-e then.

Thanks for any help and sorry for another "what card should I buy topic?" but i couldnt find any 7600 gt PCI-e vs 7800 GS AGP benchs

 

[cleeve]

I don't know about prices in europe, but in North America X800 GTO's (12 pipeline 256-memory bus) are going for less than $100. Very easy to justify upgrading to PCIe here with PCIe prices like that.

TO answer your question though, a PCIe and AGP card of the same type will perform identically on AGP 8x and PCIe.

Don't get hung up on memory busses, the 7600 GT will perform the same as a 7800 GS in most things, probably beating it in some... if you have the choice of a 7800 GS or new platform and 7600 GT, the 7600 GT and PCIe platform is the way to go, hands down.

If you're hung up on the memory bus you can get a 16-pipe 256-bit X850 XT for cheaper than a 7600 GT, too.

 

[mationman]

thanks for the reply i'll probably go for the 7600 shader 3 and the reasonably priced x850s I found are powercolor and my current card (9800 xt) was made by them and the heatsink looked as though it was put on by a small child with a spade.
Just wanted a bit of reassurance before I spend my student loan err I mean hard earned cash.

 

[jap0nes]

well, you can upgrade your video card for a good agp one, and then when newer intel and amd plataforms arrive you can upgrade to pci-e.
you wont have to change your motherboard twice, at least

dunno how urgent you need to upgrade though

 

[mationman]

I suppose with AGP I dont have to take out my cpu and mess around putting all my system back togther.

... but If I get a new mobo it means when I do finally get a whole new system I could have 2 spare systems if i buy an extra cpu, a AGP and a PCI-e ive got a spare power supply and I could spread out the ram and hard drives and setup a mini render farm 😀 . Or just sell them.