What is AGP?
AGP, Advanced Graphics Port, allows the use of a high speed graphics card which can considerably improve performance of the computer video because it is connected to the northbridge bus. It was designed by Intel that resides on the motherboard of a computer. It is faster than PCI, but has been supplanted by PCI-E which is also connected to the northbridge bus.
How AGP works?
The AGP bus has a width of 32 bits and functions at a full bus speed compared to the normal PCI. PCI graphics ports typically run at 33 MHz and have a maximum transfer rate of 132 MB/sec. AGP ports, on the other hand, run at 66 MHz and can transfer data up to 528 MB/sec. This allows games and applications to store and retrieve larger, more realistic 3D shapes and textures without slowing down the animation on the screen. Additionally, AGP cards can store graphics in system memory rather than video memory, which also helps improve performance.
The goal of Intel sought was to create new and more reliable ways to communicate between the motherboard and graphics card. The standard before AGP came along was the PCI, peripheral component interconnect, bus. It creates a connection between the CPU and the graphics card. By increasing performance between these two points, AGP creates a single point-to-point communication between the two for immediate response. PCI connections do not have a direct connection, therefore it has to wait for the available space before being recognized and utilized.
There are three primary ways the AGP connection differs from its PCI counterpart. First, it utilizes a dedicated port to create its primary connection. This means that it does not have to compete with any other processes and can be used to its fullest capacity. Next, AGP uses a method of pipelining to send packets of data in a more efficient way. By sending packets in larger amounts, it allows the graphics card to render an image at once as opposed to waiting for data to be completely sent in multiple transfers. Finally, AGP sideline addresses packets of data sent which allows for delivery in a timelier manner.
AGP is an efficient way to utilize the graphics on your pc system. It will give yourself the clearest image rendering available. While PCI and PCI Express utilize different methods of communication, depending on what you are doing with your PC, you may find AGP the way to go when it comes to enjoying what you see on your computer monitor. No matter what you are watching, whether it be videos from YouTube or movies from a DVD, you will see an improved quality by using an AGP-based graphics card.
