Second Life says my AGP card is running in PCI mode. Is this a problem?

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Revision as of 20:20, 5 October 2009 by Yoz Linden (talk | contribs) (1 revision)
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This article is part of the Extended Second Life Knowledge Base that includes advanced and specialized information. This information was originally provided by Linden Lab, but is not actively maintained nor guaranteed to be accurate. Linden Lab does not certify nor assume any responsibility for this information.

See the official Second Life Knowledge Base for the most current information.


If you actually own a PCI card, feel free to ignore this message.


If you own a PCI-Express card, you can ignore this message, or follow the steps below.


If you do own an AGP card, you can see which mode it's actually running in.


First, identify the mode your graphics card is running in:


  1. Right-click any empty space on your desktop and choose Properties.OR, open the Control Panel, then open Display.
  2. Click on the Settings tab.
  3. Click the Advanced... button near the bottom right.


The next steps differ depending on which brand of graphics card you own.


Nvidia graphics cards

  1. In the Advanced Properties window, click on the tab corresponding to your video card (i.e. Nvidia Geforce 4Ti 4600).
  2. Examine the Bus Type entry under the heading Display Adapter Information.


If this says Bus Type: AGP, your graphics card is running in AGP mode. If it says Bus Type: PCI or Bus Type: PCI (AGP), your card is running in PCI mode.


ATI graphics cards

  1. In the Advanced Properties window, click on the ATI SMARTGART(tm) tab.
  2. Examine the Current Status box under AGP Settings. If this says On (and the Set AGP Speed slider is above Off), your card is running in AGP mode. If Current Status says Off, your card is running in PCI mode.


If you're in PCI mode, enabling AGP mode for your card requires installing the latest drivers for your motherboard.


If Second Life says your card is running in PCI mode, but the above steps indicate that it is running in AGP mode, just proceed as normal. You should not see a noticeable difference in performance.