La tarjeta gráfica es el componente en todo PC que se encarga de procesar todo lo que vemos representado en el monitor. Sin una tarjeta gráfica, simplemente no puedes ver lo que está pasando con tu PC y, por lo tanto, no puedes hacer nada con el. Muchos PCs tienen tarjetas de video integradas en el propio procesador y otros tienen tarjetas adicionales que están conectadas a un determinado tipo de ranura de video en la placa base. En este artículo damos un repaso a las principales ranuras que se han utilizado para conectar las tarjetas gráficas en el mundillo del PC. PCI vs AGP vs PCI Express.
El hecho de que tu PC use una tarjeta de video integrada en el procesador no significa que no puedas actualizar y agregar una tarjeta independiente. Solo asegúrate de obtener el tipo de tarjeta correcto que coincida con el tipo de ranura que tienes disponible en tu placa base. Afortunadamente, en la actualidad todas las tarjetas gráficas y todas las placas base se basan en el formato PCI Express, lo que lo que realmente no hay nada que tener en cuenta en este aspecto a la hora de adquirir una tarjeta gráfica. Cuando se trata de elegir la tarjeta gráfica correcta, debes determinar qué hará con tu PC. ¿Estarás navegando por internet y escribiendo cartas? ¿Jugar videojuegos 3D de gama alta o editar fotos y películas caseras? Hace tiempo escribimos un artículo para ayudar a nuestros lectores a escoger su nueva tarjeta gráfica.
Han existido 3 opciones cuando se trata de ranuras para conectar tarjetas gráficas en el PC. AGP (puerto de gráficos acelerado), PCI (interconexión de componentes periféricos) y PCI Express. Cada uno tiene un nivel diferente de rendimiento y diferentes características.
PCI
PCI es el más antiguo de los tres tipos de tarjetas gráficas. PCI también se utiliza para dispositivos como tarjetas de sonido y de red. Este tipo de ranura utiliza una topología de bus compartida para permitir la comunicación entre los diferentes dispositivos en el bus, proporcionando un ancho de banda de hasta 133 Mbps con una versión de 64 bits que admite hasta 512 Mbps.
Las tarjetas gráficas PCI aún pueden ofrecer un alto rendimiento en sistemas antiguos cuando se obtiene una tarjeta con una buena cantidad de memoria integrada, 128 MB o más. PCI proporciona una comunicación rápida entre la CPU y los periféricos, pero los dispositivos periféricos tienen que competir entre sí por el ancho de banda. PCI es capaz de manejar imágenes 2D y gráficos de negocios en general de manera bastante competente, pero puede ser desafiado por gráficos 3D intensos. Ahí es donde entra en juego el AGP.
AGP
El puerto AGP fue diseñado para su uso con aplicaciones de gráficos 3D. AGP utiliza un canal dedicado punto a punto para que el controlador de gráficos pueda acceder directamente a la memoria principal, gracias a ello proporciona un ancho de banda de 266 Mbps a 1.07 Gbps. Para usar una tarjeta de video AGP, la placa base debe admitirla e incluir una ranura AGP para la tarjeta.
La especificación AGP se basa en la especificación PCI 2.1, pero a diferencia de PCI, AGP está diseñada únicamente para su uso con tarjetas gráficas. No está diseñado para reemplazar la interfaz PCI como el bus de interfaz de E/S general, su propósito principal es entregar gráficos de alto rendimiento, incluyendo imágenes en 3D.
AGP tiene la capacidad de cuadruplicar el ancho de banda teórico de los buses PCI. Este mayor rendimiento se logra mediante la introducción de un canal dedicado punto a punto que proporciona al controlador de gráficos acceso directo a la memoria principal del sistema. Además, el canal AGP tiene 32 bits de ancho y se ejecuta a 66MHz, lo que se traduce en un ancho de banda total de 266MBps.
AGP también admite dos modos rápidos, 2x y 4x, que tienen un rendimiento de 533MBps y 1.07GBps respectivamente. Las características como la textura y la canalización mejoran aún más la capacidad de procesamiento de gráficos de AGP. Su modo de ejecución de memoria directa, permite que los datos de textura se almacenen en la memoria principal. La canalización es un proceso que permite a la tarjeta gráfica enviar varias instrucciones juntas en lugar de enviar una a la vez.
AGP mejora el rendimiento general de un PC de varias maneras:
- Las operaciones gráficas son más rápidas porque no tienen que compartir el ancho de banda del bus con otros periféricos.
- Los dispositivos periféricos también son más rápidos porque no tienen que compartir el bus PCI con las operaciones gráficas intensivas de ancho de banda. AGP opera en forma concurrente e independiente de la mayoría de las transacciones en el bus PCI. Dado que el bus AGP está manejando todas las tareas gráficas, el bus PCI es libre de atender dispositivos tales como controladores de disco, módems y tarjetas de red.
- La calidad de los gráficos en 3D creados con AGP es muy alta, y como son extremadamente realistas, la calidad de los programas 2D y 3D se ha mejorado.
Este tipo de ranura ya no se encuentra en las placas base actuales, ni existen ya tarjetas gráficas en el mercado que lo usen, tu única opción sería recurrir al mercado de segunda mano si quieres comprar una para un PC muy antiguo.
PCI Express
PCI Express amplía y duplica las tasas de transferencia de datos de la interfaz PCI estándar. PCI Express es una conexión en serie de dos vías (bus punto a punto) que evita problemas de rendimiento que pueden surgir de la compartición de ancho de banda en un bus común. Proporciona mayores velocidades de transferencia que PCI o AGP. También se usa con otros dispositivos como tarjetas de red para lograr un rendimiento mayor que el estándar PCI. Es el reemplazo de AGP para las tarjetas gráficas.
Similar a los estándares anteriores como PCI y AGP, un dispositivo basado en PCI Express se inserta físicamente en una ranura PCI Express en la placa base. La interfaz PCI Express permite una comunicación de gran ancho de banda entre el dispositivo y la placa base, así como otro hardware. Aunque no es muy común, también existe una versión externa de PCI Express, como es lógico, se llama PCI Express externo, pero a menudo se reduce a ePCIe.
Los dispositivos ePCIe, al ser externos, requieren un cable especial para conectarse a cualquier dispositivo externo, el dispositivo ePCIe se está utilizando en la computadora a través de un puerto ePCIe, generalmente ubicado en la parte posterior del PC, suministrado por la placa base o una tarjeta PCIe interna especial.
Si quieres aprender más sobre PCI Express, te recomendamos la lectura de los siguientes artículos:
- PCI Express – Qué es y para qué sirve
- Conectores PCI Express x16, x8, x4 y x1: diferencias y rendimiento
- PCI vs PCI Express: características y diferencias
Con esto finaliza nuestro artículo especial sobre PCI vs AGP vs PCI Express, las tres interfaces usadas para tarjetas gráficas, esperamos que te haya gustado volver un poco al pasado.
Fuente
Juan Gomar30 diciembre, 2018
5 minutos de lectura aproximada.
Juan Gomar
Soy un apasionado de la tecnología en general pero principalmente de la informática y los videojuegos.
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FAQs
What is the difference between PCI Express and AGP? ›
AGP makes multiple requests for data during a bus or memory access, while PCI makes one request, and does not make another until the data it requested has been transferred. AGP doesn't share bandwidth with other devices, whereas the PCI bus does share bandwidth.
What is the difference between PCI and PCI Express? ›PCI is a parallel interface whereas PCIe is a serial interface. PCI uses individual buses for each of the devices connected to it instead of a shared one like what PCIe uses. The difference in speed between standard PCI interface and 16 slot PCIe is large.
Which is better PCI or AGP? ›The benefit of PCI Express is that it can handle a greater data throughput than an AGP slot. PCI Express offers performance of up to 4 times faster than the fastest AGP slot. It's relatively new technology, and it isn't being used to its full potential yet.
What is the difference between AGP and PCI Express PCIe in terms of processing power and bandwidth? ›1. The bandwidth of PCI and AGP varies as PCI can transfer 4GB/s whereas AGP can only transfer 266MB/s. The data transferred by PCI is full-duplex in nature as the data can be transferred in both directions at the same time whereas AGP is half-duple…
What is the advantage of AGP over PCI? ›Advantages over PCI
The primary advantage of AGP is that it doesn't share the PCI bus, providing a dedicated, point-to-point pathway between the expansion slot(s) and the motherboard chipset. The direct connection also allows for higher clock speeds.
Advantages of AGP over PCI
AGP provides direct communication to the CPU and Main Memory which helps in the quick rendering of graphics. PCI was relatively slower, so it was designed to replace the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect).
PCIe is short for “peripheral component interconnect express” and it's primarily used as a standardized interface for motherboard components including graphics, memory, and storage.
What is the main advantage of PCIe over PCI? ›The advantage of PCIe over PCI
As a serial bus, PCIe allows each lane to have its own exclusive bandwidth and thus lanes will not affect each other. In comparison, PCI bus is a parallel bus and its total bandwidth is fixed. In consequence, the data transmission rate will become lower with the increase of lanes.
PCIe provides lower latency and higher data transfer rates than parallel busses such as PCI and PCI-X. Every device that's connected to a motherboard with a PCIe link has its own dedicated point-to-point connection. This means that devices are not competing for bandwidth because they are not sharing the same bus.
Is PCI obsolete? ›PCI's heyday in the desktop computer market was approximately 1995 to 2005. PCI and PCI-X have become obsolete for most purposes; however in 2020 they are still common on modern desktops for the purposes of backward compatibility and the low relative cost to produce.
When did PCIe replace AGP? ›
The PCI Express (PCI-E) expansion slot standard was introduced in 2002 to replace PCI and AGP expansion slots (below).
Why is AGP not used? ›Whilst input data could be transferred more quickly, retrieving output data was no faster than a regular PCI card. Since motherboards with more than one AGP card were very rare, there was no incentive for manufacturers to use AGP.
Why will some want to use a AGP graphic card for a PCI graphics card? ›AGP is known to provide quicker throughput when compared to PCI. This speed is crucial for 3D graphics rendering, high-definition games, and graphics for engineering and architecture. AGP port connects the video card, computer's processor, and memory.
Is PCI better than PCIe? ›PCIe (PCI Express®) is the more recently introduced standard for connecting devices to computers. It's software-compatible with PCI but has higher potential bandwidth and greater flexibility than PCI.
What happened to AGP slot? ›Today, AGP has been replaced by PCI Express. A computer with AGP support has one AGP slot next to all other expansion slots or an onboard AGP video. If you needed more than one video card in the computer, you can have one AGP video card and one PCI video card or use a motherboard that supports SLI.
What are the disadvantages of PCI Express? ›Drawbacks or disadvantages of PCI bus
➨It is a parallel bus and hence it has bandwidth limitations. Moreover available bandwidth is shared by all the devices on single PCI bus. ➨PCI bus can not be easily scaled up in frequency or scaled down in voltage. ➨PCI clock frequency is inadequate.
You can put AGP card in AGP-to-PCI adapter and then place it to PCI-to-PCI-E adapter. AGP-to-PCI-E adapters would require Nvidia or ATI bridges soldered on adapter, as probably noone else bothered to make such bridge chips.
Does it matter which PCI slot you use? ›In general, the first PCI Express slot on your motherboard will be the best one to install your graphics card into. The first slot will usually be a fully-decked PCIe x16 slot that will allow your graphics card to run at its full performance, and it may be one of the only x16 slots available on the motherboard.
What can AGP be used for? ›An Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is a point to point channel that is used for high-speed video output. This port is used to connect graphic cards to a computer's motherboard. It increases the speed at which machines can render graphics while using the system's resources more efficiently.
Which component can be plugged in to either AGP PCI or PCIe? ›Graphics cards connect to what is known as either a "PCI Express" or an "AGP" slot on a computer's motherboard.
What replaced the AGP? ›
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) was the commonly used type of graphic card during the 2000s. Later, it got replaced by the PCI express card.
How many types of PCI slots are there? ›Presently, there are three main PCI motherboard connectors (usually referred to as "slots".) Each PCI slot type looks different, and accepts different devices.
What is the difference between PCIe and Ethernet? ›PCIe is already present on the servers in the rack, while Ethernet can be found in the server-to-server connection within a rack, in addition to rack-to-rack connections at the top of rack (ToR). 1.
Why did PCIe replace PCI? ›PCIe is faster and it can be used to connect devices like graphics card that PCI can't support nowadays. In addition, PCI interface and PCIe interface are not compatible with each other.
Can you plug a PCI card into a PCIe slot? ›2. Can PCI cards work in PCIe slots? The answer is no. PCIe and PCI are not compatible with each other due to their different configurations.
What is the difference between PCI 32 bit and 64 bit expansion cards? ›The 64-bit PCI connector can be distinguished from 32-bit by being longer, and from PCI-X by having three segments, with the one in the middle much shorter than the others. PCI-X slots can be distinguished from 64-bit PCI as the small segment is first, instead of in the center.
What is PCI most important to protect? ›The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS, or just PCI) is mandated by credit card companies to help protect cardholder data. The standard outlines guidelines on how to capture, process, and store sensitive customer data.
What are PCIe x4 slots used for? ›PCIe x4: These have four PCIe lanes, and they also can fit into a x16 slot. Often used for single M. 2 NVMe SSD expansion cards, they are also used for SATA 3 expansion cards and high-speed network adapters.
Is PCIe 1x faster than SATA? ›PCI Express supersedes SATA as the latest high bandwidth interface. Entry-level PCIe SSD speeds are two to three times faster than the older generation of SATA 3.0 SSDs mainly due to the number of channels contained by each to transfer data (roughly 10 for SATA and 25 for PCIe).
What replaced PCI slots? ›PCI-e. Over time, the PCI-Express or PCI-e new bus model replaced the traditional PCI.
What is the new version of PCI? ›
table of contents. PCI-DSS 4.0, the latest version of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, is expected to be released in Q1-2022. Like all versions of PCI-DSS, 4.0 will be a comprehensive set of guidelines aimed at securing systems involved in the processing, storage, and transmission of credit card data.
What is the latest PCI technology? ›What's new about PCI Express 5 (PCIe 5)? The latest PCI Express standard, PCIe 5, represents a doubling of speed over the PCIe 4.0 specifications. We're talking about 32 Gigatransfers per second (GT/s) vs. 16GT/s, with an aggregate x16 link bandwidth of almost 128 Gigabytes per second (GBps).
Do modern motherboards have AGP? ›A modern motherboard includes some or all of the bus slot types shown in Figure 28-40. All motherboards provide PCI slots, most provide ISA slots (although the newest motherboards have no ISA slots), and many provide an AGP slot.
What is the oldest PCIe card? ›NVIDIA's 8800 GT is the "world's first consumer GPU to support PCI Express 2.0." Although AMD's Radeon HD 2400/2600 have PCIe 2.0 bandwidth, they don't implement the full spec, leaving the 8800 GT technically the first full PCIe 2.0 GPU.
How many AGP slots are there on motherboard? ›There was only one AGP slot on the motherboard for the graphics card. From AGP to PCI Express (PCIe) The 32-bit AGP bus gave way to 16-channel PCI Express (PCIe). For a while, motherboards had one PCIe slot just for the graphics card. Later on, boards offered multiple PCIe slots.
What is the difference between AGP and AGP Pro? ›The AGP Pro slot uses 5 volts and a regular AGP slot draws only 1.5 or 3.3 volts, misalignment will cause a regular AGP card to draw 5 volts and fry the video card. It's imperative that a standard AGP card is aligned properly into the AGP slot and the sticker or tab not be removed.
Can I put my graphics card in any PCI slot? ›The graphics card should go into the first PCI Express x16 slot. However, lower slots are usually capable of running the card as well.
Does it matter what graphics card to use? ›Simply put, if you're building a PC to play games, then the GPU will be your most important purchase. Other components can also impact performance, such as the CPU, storage, and RAM, but the GPU has the most direct connection to what you see on screen when playing.
Does PCIe Gen matter for graphics card? ›Newer PCIe standards mean a higher-bandwidth connection to GPUs, SSDs, and other peripherals. 12th Gen systems add support for PCIe 5.0, while 11th Gen added support for PCIe 4.0. All generations of PCIe are backwards compatible, so there's no reason not to upgrade.
Which is better PCI or USB? ›PCI card vs USB wireless adapter is two options to connect a computer wirelessly. The issue is when it comes to PCI card vs USB wireless adapter, which one is better. PCI cards give faster speeds in terms of performance. USB wireless adapter, on the other hand, is less costly, more mobile, and simpler to set up.
Which is faster PCIe or USB? ›
PCIe, however, can achieve speeds at least an order of magnitude greater than USB, theoretically as much as 250 Mbyte/s for a single PCIe lane. PCIe lanes can also be grouped (used in parallel.)
Is AGP better than PCI? ›The benefit of PCI Express is that it can handle a greater data throughput than an AGP slot. PCI Express offers performance of up to 4 times faster than the fastest AGP slot. It's relatively new technology, and it isn't being used to its full potential yet.
What is the difference between PCI Express and AGP slot? ›AGP makes multiple requests for data during a bus or memory access, while PCI makes one request, and does not make another until the data it requested has been transferred. AGP doesn't share bandwidth with other devices, whereas the PCI bus does share bandwidth.
What is the difference between AGP and PCI Express? ›AGP stands for “Accelerated Graphics Port”. Unlike PCI, which was designed to attach all sorts of hardware to a computer, including graphics & sound cards. AGP was designed specifically for graphics cards, and its design was based on the PCI slot.
Can I use AGP card in PCI slot? ›There are adapters on the market making AGP cards work in PCI slots. Most likely you will have difficulties finding such an adapter more then 15 years after AGP and PCI were superseded by PCI-Express. AGP is simply a beefed up PCI exclusively bonded to the CPU (so no other devices share the resources of the AGP card).
Can I use a PCI card in a PCI Express slot? ›Can PCI cards work in PCIe slots? The answer is no. PCIe and PCI are not compatible with each other due to their different configurations. In most cases, there are both PCI and PCIe slots on the motherboard, so please fit the card into its matching slot and do not misuse the two types.
What are AGP cards used for? ›An Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is a point to point channel that is used for high-speed video output. This port is used to connect graphic cards to a computer's motherboard. It increases the speed at which machines can render graphics while using the system's resources more efficiently.
Does it matter what PCI slot I use for GPU? ›For graphics cards, you'll always get the best results by using the fastest available PCI Express x16 slot. PCI Express x8 slots can be acceptable when doing a multi-GPU setup as well, but even then motherboards that support multiple x16 slots can be a better choice for multi-GPU builds.
Can a graphics card go in a PCI slot? ›The term “PCIe card” and “expansion card” simply refers to hardware, like graphics cards, CPUs, solid-state drives (SSDs), or HDDs, you may add to your device through PCIe slots, making both catch-all terms for a variety of components.
How do I know what type of PCI slot my computer has? ›How do I check which PCIe version is supported by my motherboard? on your keyboard and start typing System, choose System Information. The motherboard make and model will show under BaseBoard Manufacturer and BaseBoard Product.
What are the different versions of PCI slots? ›
PCIe standard currently comes in five different generations: PCIe 1.0, PCIe 2.0, PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0, and PCIe 5.0.
What are PCI Express slots used for? ›PCI Express slots are one of the essential technologies that exist on a motherboard. PCIe slots are utilized by various performance accelerators and peripheral cards due to their high power and connection speed, allowing data-intensive processors like GPU cards to connect smoothly with the CPU.
Is AGP still in use? ›Today, AGP has been replaced by PCI Express. A computer with AGP support has one AGP slot next to all other expansion slots or an onboard AGP video. If you needed more than one video card in the computer, you can have one AGP video card and one PCI video card or use a motherboard that supports SLI.
Which component can be plugged in to either AGP PCI or PCIE? ›Graphics cards connect to what is known as either a "PCI Express" or an "AGP" slot on a computer's motherboard.
Do graphics cards use PCI or PCIe? ›Matrox makes a variety of graphics cards designed to be inserted into certain types of computer expansion slots. The most common slot types used by graphics cards are PCI™ and PCIe® and for each of these types, there are also several sub-types.
Why should I have a graphics card? ›The purpose of a graphics cards is to render graphics. Without a graphics card, your computer can not display any information, let alone function how you need it. To simplify it, the GPU takes data from the processor and works with software to determine where the graphics card places pixels on the screen.