How do I tell?

[AnotherSillyAlias]

I'm about to buy a better graphics card for the PC but I now discover they come in PCX and/or AGP types. How do I tell which type I need for my PC?

Can I tell from the shape/size/whatever of the slot or is there some more clever way of doing it?

 

[Lycanthrope]

I thought PCI-E was the new graphics card standard. If it's an old motherboard it's probably AGP. A manual or model number would help.

 

[Rat]

Run http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php to identify the make and model of the motherboard, then go to the motherboard manufacturer's website and find the manual.

This is assuming you can't just look at the slot and identify the type. AGP is generally brown, while I believe PCI-E is usually white.

Cheers,
Rat.

 

[Smike]

This is assuming you can't just look at the slot and identify the type. AGP is generally brown, while I believe PCI-E is usually white.

My PCI-E slot is blue.

 

[El Greco]

You can download a system info tool like Everest Home which will probably tell you what slots are on your motherboard.

 

[Nick Bogaerts]

Can I tell from the shape/size/whatever of the slot or is there some more clever way of doing it?

Here's a photo of the two connectors side by side:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1087&page=3

 

[Trifikas]

An AGP slot is set back about 3/4ths of an inch farther back than the other PCI (and PCI-E) slots. If your mobo is more than a year old, most likely you have AGP. The only problem that would arise is if your machine is so old (like 4-6 years old) that you don't have Either one, just PCI slots.

Trif

 

[AnotherSillyAlias]

Thanks for the info guys, I think I can work it out from there.