The 3D graphics world has expanded once again with the appearance of the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), an exciting new technology now bundled with MidWest Micro Home Pro and Office Pro PCs*.

Accelerated Graphics Port technology promises to become the biggest name in video in recent years, offering stunningly realistic scenery, fast 3D graphics and increased overall system performance—a "dream package" for engineering applications users and 3D/virtual reality game enthusiasts.

Up until now, Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) was the newest video technology available. Nearly all PCs feature at least one PCI slot on the motherboard, where a PCI graphics card can be inserted. The PCI card sends graphic messages along a pathway, or "bus," that is built directly on the motherboard, then to the system's CPU, where the information is processed. The graphics data then travels back through the PCI card and on to the monitor.

While AGP works similar to PCI, the new technology outperforms its predecessor on nearly every front. For starters, AGP provides a bus that is twice the width of standard PCI pathways. With more room to move, the AGP graphics card can communicate four times faster (133 MHz vs. 33 MHz) with the system's CPU. Speedier communications means data can be stored in the system's memory faster and sent to the monitor more quickly, which allows for more detailed graphics and a much smoother 3D experience than PCI technology can provide. So now Pro PC owners can enjoy intense, vivid graphics without the long load times.

AGP technology also gives the motherboard the ability to "pipeline" graphics—that is, put multiple video commands in queue—and free up its resources for other tasks. And because AGP uses a bus separate from PCI's pathway to control the video, the PCI video card is no longer needed, opening up a motherboard slot and pathway for another high-speed device, such as a network card or an ultra DMA hard drive.

In addition, AGP technology optimizes software applications that help translate graphical data into terms that the system's operating system can understand. A virtual device driver (known as VxD and inherent in Microsoft^® Windows^® 95) gives the operating system the ability to send information directly to the hardware at the rate of 528MB per second. And with the support of the latest version of DirectX (an application interface also designed by Microsoft^®), AGP delivers the richest textures and most dynamic memory capabilities on the market.

To take advantage of the Accelerated Graphics Port technology, customers need a PC with an AGP-ready operating system**, AGP graphics slot on the motherboard and AGP graphics card. MidWest Micro's newest Home Pro and Office Pro PCs each offer everything high-end users need, including a Microsoft Windows 95 operating system, an AGP card slot and an ATI^® XPERT@Work or the ATI^® XPERT@Play Graphics Card—all which deliver AGP technology at its best.

*Available on new Home Pro and Office Pro PCs powered by 266MHz and 300MHz Intel Pentium^® II processors. Motherboards with AGP technology are not sold separately.

**Current versions of Microsoft Windows 95 are compatible with AGP technology. Microsoft Windows NT^® operating systems are expected to include the necessary VxD driver in the future release of version 5.0. Notebook manufacturers have anticipated that AGP technology will be included on portables by the end of 1998.