Who said the Accelerated Graphics Port(AGP) was dead? Let me rephrase that question! With almost half the computer users still owning systems that use the Accelerated Graphics Port, why did all of the options for a newer faster video card using this configuration suddenly dry up and virtually disappear? Many would answer this second question by saying it was a sound business decision by many of the GPU/VPU manufacturers to introduce a newer, faster technology, namely PCI Express. I would question the validity of this decision no matter what the reason given that over half of the consumer population still utilizes systems that have the AGP video slot.

Apparently a number of the video card manufacturers feel that making cards using the AGP is still a viable market as exemplified by the recent reemergence of several of the newer midrange VPU/GPU chipsets on cards configured for AGP. Granted AGP is approximately 33% slower than PCI Express and does not have a BUS configuration that offers the same graphical though put, but nonetheless dropping a technology as rapidly as AGP dropped from the scene leaves much of your consumer base wondering why.

Today we'll have an opportunity to see if the resurrection of the AGP video card, even if its only a temporary measure was a sound move on the part of at least one of the manufacturers involved. Join us as we investigate the latest AGP release from VisionTek®, the Radeon™ X1600XT 512MB XGE (Extreme Gamer Series)video card.

More at: http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=946