Is PCI Express really the future?

[thehunter1320]

what do you think? I say no because in a matter of a year, every gamer that owns a PC will have to get a new mobo... and basically everything else... and it's a waste if we can't even take advantage of AGP 8x

 

[dawdler]

Since when has PC speeds ever followed logic? Do we *really* need 3ghzers? A 2ghz works perfectly.

 

[psyno]

Hey, watch the video at the bottom of the page here. It explains some of the advantages of PCI Express.

The parallel PCI bus is just generally outdated. It's barely changed in a bout ten years, I think. If you have gigabit ethernet and don't have Intel's CSA bus, then you could only ever possibly use half your bandwidth. Combine that with sound, HDDs, optical devices, USB, Firewire, and possibly video devices, and you can see how it's become inadequate.

Anyway, no one is putting a gun to your head with PCI Express. If you bought a video card recently or do within the next year, there should be no need to get the next top-of-the-line video card anyway...

Personally, I can wait for isochronous transfer rates.

 

[lePobz]

Yeah, going by the amount/speed of data that can be transferred in both directions simultaneously, this thing rapes AGP and PCI. Course it's the future, what else would be?

I doubt it will have much of a use in anything besides graphics (for chipsets beyond the NV45 and R420+) and HDTV video editing etc, but even still... it's about time PCI + AGP got a replacement.

 

[Maxi]

The best feature of pci xpress imo is that it can give the cards more power, something thats much needed with the current grahpics cards.

 

[psyno]

The best feature of pci xpress imo is that it can give the cards more power, something thats much needed with the current grahpics cards.

No, this isn't really true and that's thehunter1320's point. PCI Express is just an interface. The performance increase you might see with PCI Express over AGP or PCI has nothing to do with the GPU having more or less power.

 

[Maxi]

Arghhh no I ment that you won't need a extra powercord for the graphics card, wich you now do.

 

[psyno]

Oh, hahaha. Yes, yes that's true. Should improve case airflow a bit. It also means that there will be more current travelling through the motherboard, unfortunately, but you're right.

:cheers:

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Well i'm holding off on an upgrade to see how these PCI-E cards and mobos perform.

It's so tempting to rush out and buy a new computer now....MUST RESIST FORCES OF MARKETING!!

 

[Maxi]

Im not gonna buy a new computer this year, maybe just a graphics card update.