When considering an upgrade for your computer system, it's important to know the type of motherboard your computer has and the available card slots located on the motherboard. PCI Express cards fit into specially designed slots located on the motherboard. Based on the age of the computer system, the motherboard may not support PCI Express cards because the slot may not be located on the motherboard of the computer.
History
The original standard for connecting devices to the computer motherboard was the Industry Standard Architecture, or ISA, bus. The ISA bus was developed in the early 1980s and allowed the transfer of data at a rate of 9 megabytes per second. The standard for Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI, bus became popular in 1995 with the introduction of Windows 95 and Plug-and-Play technology.
Function
The function of the PCI bus is to direct the flow of information from external devices directly to the computer processor. PCI offers the ability to connect network interfaces, sound cards and video cards to your computer by utilizing expansion slots located directly on the motherboard.
Types
New developments to increase speed performance of peripheral devices have led to the development of the PCI Express (PCIe) protocol. The PCI Express card requires a special PCI Express slot that allows data to be transferred by means of a serial connection as opposed to the parallel connection used by older generation PCI cards.
Features
The primary feature that distinguishes PCI Express cards and PCI Express slots is the number of pins they use to connect to the motherboard. PCI Express cards use fewer pins, which makes both the connector as well as the slot smaller in size than a standard PCI slot. PCI card slots are typically white in color on a computer motherboard, while PCI Express slots are typically identified by a color such as blue or green depending on the motherboard manufacturer.
Identification
In order to identify if the computer motherboard is compatible with PCI Express, consulting with the operating manual that was provided with the computer system. This will explain the types of expansion slots that are available on the motherboard. Likewise, it is possible to visually determine if the computer motherboard is compatible by looking directly inside of the computer to see what expansion slots are available. PCI slots are typically white in color, AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slots are shorter than PCI slots and appear brown in color. PCI Express slots have varying sizes, all of which are smaller than PCI slots and will typically be distinguished by a color such as blue or green on the motherboard. Printing directly on the motherboard will also help to identify which types of expansion slots are available.
Benefits
The benefit of PCI Express is the ability for faster communication to the computer processor, utilizing the increased speeds of newer processors and front side busses. Because of this increased speed in communication, graphics cards have been the first to take advantage of the PCI Express technology in order to provide faster graphics performance.
Tags: computer motherboard, expansion slots, Express cards, computer system, Express slots