AGP also in next-gen?

[Onkl Bjorni]

Hey, been lurking for a while, and now I have a question I heaven't found an answer to...

Do anyone of you knowledgeable people know/think that agp(in any form, naitive, bridged etc) vill be available on ATI's next-gen chip (R5x0)

Reason I ask is I just orderd the new Shuttle SN95G5 XPC (SN95G5), and I am going to use my existing Radeon 9700Pro, and hopefully get a R5x0 based card when they come out. Well the only problem is its agp(the sn95g5), and if next-gen is PCi-express only, this is not good.

 

[Mark]

Hey, been lurking for a while, and now I have a question I heaven't found an answer to...

Do anyone of you knowledgeable people know/think that agp(in any form, naitive, bridged etc) vill be available on ATI's next-gen chip (R5x0)

There will be an AGP version of the R5x0. It'll use a PCIe->AGP bridge chip developed by ATI, codenamed Rialto.

 

[Pete]

I don't expect discrete AGP cards to go away anytime soon, just like PCI cards didn't vanish when AGP burst/trickled on the scene. But power requirements, along with other issues, may make R5xx and NV5x the last high-end cards to appear on AGP.

 

[Kaotik]

I don't expect discrete AGP cards to go away anytime soon, just like PCI cards didn't vanish when AGP burst/trickled on the scene. But power requirements, along with other issues, may make R5xx and NV5x the last high-end cards to appear on AGP.

There is one big difference in this case, compared to when AGP entered the markets.

When AGP came in, it didn't REPLACE the PCI, it came to live besides it.
PCI Express x16 or PEG, which ever you prefer, however, is here to REPLACE AGP, not to live besides it. In fact, the good old PCI will still hang around bit longer, living side by side with PCI Express x1, while AGP is gone for good.

 

[Pete]

Well, there apparently will be the odd PCIe+AGP MB. But there are quite a few A64 939 AGP MBs around, and that platform could stay fast for quite some time. And you eventually had to buy a new MB to experience the fastest video cards, as AGP was still a new feature. PCIe is much the same in that AGP MBs will still be viable gaming platforms, but will eventually cease hosting the top end GPUs.

But, you're right, the transition to PCIe is somewhat more abrupt. Somewhat more exciting, too, with SLI.

 

[Kaotik]

Well, there apparently will be the odd PCIe+AGP MB. But there are quite a few A64 939 AGP MBs around, and that platform could stay fast for quite some time. And you eventually had to buy a new MB to experience the fastest video cards, as AGP was still a new feature. PCIe is much the same in that AGP MBs will still be viable gaming platforms, but will eventually cease hosting the top end GPUs.

But, you're right, the transition to PCIe is somewhat more abrupt. Somewhat more exciting, too, with SLI.

To my knowledge there will be only 2 chipsets supporting both AGP and PEG - one for P4 and one for A64, both from VIA

 

[Fodder]

To my knowledge there will be only 2 chipsets supporting both AGP and PEG - one for P4 and one for A64, both from VIA

Supposedly SIS have chipsets in the works too that can do it, and of course there's always the option of 'AGPe', where quite a few manufacturers are running an AGP slot off the PCI bus with their i915 boards.

 

[Onkl Bjorni]

Hey, been lurking for a while, and now I have a question I heaven't found an answer to...

Do anyone of you knowledgeable people know/think that agp(in any form, naitive, bridged etc) vill be available on ATI's next-gen chip (R5x0)

There will be an AGP version of the R5x0. It'll use a PCIe->AGP bridge chip developed by ATI, codenamed Rialto.

Thank you very much!

 

[Kaotik]

To my knowledge there will be only 2 chipsets supporting both AGP and PEG - one for P4 and one for A64, both from VIA

Supposedly SIS have chipsets in the works too that can do it, and of course there's always the option of 'AGPe', where quite a few manufacturers are running an AGP slot off the PCI bus with their i915 boards.

Well, we'll see about about SiS then..

And the "AGPe" is too bad to be considered even joke