Are you zoned in on the latest technologies in the computer graphics world?
The PCI Express interface has taken the computing world by storm and will be the
core technology for graphics cards for many years to come. Why has PCI Express
taken up so much attention over the last 2 years or so?
This article will help
you understand why PCI Express is deemed the graphics interface of the future.
How PCI Express compares to
previous technologies
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. Technologically, PCI Express allows graphics data to be
transported at about 4 GB/s as opposed to 2 GB/s that the AGP 8X interface
provides. That is twice the speed and hence twice the graphics horsepower we’re
talking about.
What does this mean for game and content developers? Plenty. Given its speed,
PCI Express will allow game developers to squeeze in more realistic content then
ever imagined possible in a release. Video will never be the same again. If you
can imagine yourself playing Half-Life 2 or Painkiller at the full graphics
resolution and settings, then you can imagine what PCI Express can do.
Backward Compatible
PCI Express comes with a number of other benefits. One of the most important is
its ability to be backward compatible with PCI. If you have an old PCI based
motherboard, you should be able to use all your cards in a new PCI Express
motherboard. 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.
Not Just For Video
Remember that PCI Express is not limited to graphics – although initially the
implementation will mostly be seen in graphics boards. We’re talking about sound
cards, network cards and what have you all going the PCI Express way.
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. Then, from there, get a
PCI Express graphics card. As time goes on, we should see more and more PCI
Express cards – not just graphics cards – coming into the market. By then, you
will be ready for them.
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