AGP or PCI graphics card - to replace onboard graphics AND set up dual monitors

[GaZ_D200]

Hope someone can be of assistance here (apologies in advance for the stupid questions)


Ok I've just bought a 22" widescreen monitor and discovered my onboard graphics don't support widescreen resolutions (ie: 1680x1050). Also, I am getting a second, smaller monitor to set up dual monitors

I have one AGP and one PCI slot available (not PCI Express), very little cash, and lots of questions!

1. Which is better (AGP or PCI) and why? I presumed AGP due to the speed and the fact that it's dedicated to graphics, but after googling AGP VS PCI, I found loads of people slating AGP saying they're really unstable, likely to crash your system, etc

2. Are most modern cards likely to support widescreen resolutions?

3.1  Will it be easy to run 2 monitors off one card with 2 sockets (ie: 1 x VGA and 1 x DVI)?
3.2  And if so is this going to be another factor that determines whether I go for AGP or PCI?
3.3  If the answer to 3.1 is "Yes", will I be ok to plug 2 VGA monitors into it via use of the "DVI-VGA adaptor"?

4. How does the installation process go? I plug the card in, plug the monitor into it and switch on? Will it be natively recognised or will drivers be needed? And if drivers are needed do you have to add the card first? And if so does the monitor still activate and allow you to see what's going on to install the drivers?

[Aegis]

I'm not saying they're wrong, but I've never had a problem using AGP graphics cards over PCI based graphics cards, but I'm just one guy, and I've never bought a "cutting edge" card.  I'm guessing people complained about AGP cards due to a variety of issues -- drivers, etc.

[Calum]

1. AGP offers higher bandwidth.  Newer cards are available for AGP than for PCI.
2. Yes.
3.1. It's easy to run dual monitors with a single card as long as the card supports this, and you have the ports available.
3.2. Not really, it depends on the cards.
3.3. Yes, that's fine.
4. Uninstall previous video drivers, power down and insert the new card.  Boot up and disable onboard graphics if it's not automatically disabled.  Install the drivers for your new card (either form the CD, or better, from a download).  Display will be available without any drivers, it will just be low resolution.

What's your budget for this card, and do you just need it solely for dual monitors?  Or will you be gaming too?

[soybean]

1. ... I found loads of people slating AGP saying they're really unstable, likely to crash your system, etc

Rubbish, non-sense.  AGP is fine.  I don't how much you can spend but, if you're in the U.S., take a look at this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130207  Get it while the rebate offer is available.  I have a similar card, same brand, same chip (FX5500), but mine has 256MB of memory.  I run two 17 inch VGA monitors with it.