PCI-Express x16 video cards are upon us now, and AGP 8X is on the way out, but that doesn't necessarily mean the old video card architectures are being retired. After all, modern video cards haven't yet even been able to use the available bandwidth of the AGP 8X interface (2.1 GB/s), so moving graphic cards to the PCI-E interface which supports 8 GB/s bandwidth, isn't exactly necessary.... yet.

With that said, as an interm solution both ATi and nVIDIA have ported their AGP based GPUs to the PCI Express platform. The companies have done this in essentially the same way; ATi integrate an HSI (High Speed Interconnect) directly onto the core of their GPU, while nVIDIA has taken the easy route and applied a stand alone HSI bridge to do the job. The HSI bridge essentially translates AGP-to-PCI Express, with no performance gain.

In the case of the Gigabyte GV-NX57128D video card, the bridging is tasked to an external HSI chip which is located just below the GPU itself. A small heatsink is used to keep the HSI chip cool, and apart from that, there isn't much different architecturally from its older AGP brothers.

The Gigabyte GV-NX57128D video card is a PCI Express x16 solution that is based on the GeForcePCX 5750 GPU. The blue-PCB card is backed up by 128MB of TSOP-II 3.6ns Samsung DRAM, and it supports S-Video out, DVI and analog connections. The card doesn't require any extra power connectors incidently.

Gigabyte GV-NX57128D Includes: S-Video to Composite Cable, DVI to Analog Converter, Users Manual, Driver CD, PowerDVD 5 CD, Spell Force CD, Raven Shield CD

In customary Gigabyte fashion, the GV-NX57128D vide ocard comes bundled with an S-Video-to-Composite converter, good for those of you who plan to hook up your PC to the computer. Also included is a DVI-to-analog converter for those of you who want to use dual monitors. As for software, it only comes with PowerDVD 5, Spell Force and Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield.

Considering the GPU it is built around, the GV-NX57128D is really best suited towards the average user. However, the manufacturer has still included a fairly decent software bundle; Raven Shield and Spell Force (while not new) should keep someone happy for a weekend or two.

Other than the blue PCB and custom cooling solution, the Gigabyte GV-NX57128D is pretty much identical to any other GeForcePCX 5750 based solution.

Acoustically, the cooling solution it uses is pretty quiet, and as the TSOP-II memory just runs warm, nothing special is required there. In fact, according to a Fluke 61 infrared thermometer, memory temperatures were on the order of 40 degrees Celsius.

PCI-Express x16 video cards are not in any way backwards compatible with AGP video cards, so while this may seem obvious to some, we're going to spell it out; PCI-Express video card cards can only be used on motherboards with the PCI-Express x16 slot, and AGP video cards cannot be used in these PCI-E slots. At the moment, Intel solutions are the only one which support PCI-E (or PCI-Express), so if you are upgrading to one of the new i915 or i925 based chipsets, be prepared to spend some extra money to get all the necessary devices.