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.
Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on building computers. Visit hiswebsite at Build-Your-Own-Computers.com for tips and tricks on assembling a PC, as well as buying good computer components.