AGP, or Accelerated Graphics Port, is a computer bus specification that is designed to support faster and more efficient data transfer between the computer's central processing unit (CPU) and the graphics card. It is considered to be an older interface technology that was primarily used in desktop computers during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
AGP allows the graphics card to have a direct and dedicated connection to the CPU, allowing for high-speed communication and reducing the bottleneck that can occur when data is transferred through other bus architectures such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. By using a dedicated slot on the computer's motherboard, AGP significantly improves the performance of graphics-intensive applications and enhances overall video and 3D rendering capabilities.
AGP has gone through several versions, with the most common ones being AGP 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x, each representing a different speed and bandwidth capacity. These versions are backward compatible, meaning that a higher version graphics card can still be installed in a lower version AGP slot, but it will operate at the speed of the lower version.
However, AGP has become largely obsolete in modern computer systems, as it has been replaced by faster and more advanced interfaces such as PCI Express (PCIe). PCIe provides higher data transfer rates and is capable of supporting multiple expansion cards simultaneously. Therefore, AGP is typically found only in older computers that have not been upgraded or replaced in many years.
