32 Bit PCI Slots - Explaining the Different Types of PCI Expansion

As PCI Slots has grown to become the defaultaccommodate the additional connectors required.
expansion technology for industrial applications, so3. PCI-X - PCI-X is a double-wide PCI device slot
have the variety of available PCI Slot technologies.and runs at 4x the speed. It enhanced the 32-bit
It's easy to be confused by the numberPCI Local Bus for higher bandwidth demands for
standards. Let's look at each and see what theyservers. It has itself been replaced in modern
do. The best industrial computers offer adesigns by PCI Express.
combination of these expansion slots to4. PCIe PCI Express is used in consumer, server,
accommodate a variety of devices.and industrial applications, as a motherboard-level
1. 3.3V/5V 32-Bit PCI Slot -PCI remains aninterconnect (to link motherboard-mounted
accepted standard despite several newerperipherals) and as an expansion card interface
revisions. A regular PCI uses five volts of power.for add-in boards. PCIe is based on point-to-point
You can differentiate it from the rare 3.3-voltserial links, rather than a shared parallel bus
type by the position of the notch in the slot. Ifarchitecture, like standard PCI. PCIe x1, PCIe x4,
the notch is toward the edge of thePCIe x16 are different slot sizes in the PCIe
motherboard, the slot is 5 volts. If the notch isstandard.
toward the center of the motherboard, it's 3.3Whether you need 32-bit PCI Slots or one of the
volts. The differing voltages correlate to differentother useful types, the standard is here to stay.
notches on the device card.They are becoming increasingly hard to find in
2. 3.3/5V 64-Bit PCI Slot -An extended connectornew systems and require specific engineering to
can allow the device bus to double its speed ofmeet your device needs.
data transfer. 3.3V/5V 64 bit slot is longer to