Hardware

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) is an example of a parallel expansion bus (and a corresponding slot type) used for attaching hardware devices (in the form of an integrated circuit or expansion card) to the motherboard inside the computer case.

Conventional PCI Properties

• 32-bit bus width
• 64-bit bus width
• Parallel interface
• Maximum throughput of up to 533 MB/s

PCI-X Properties

Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtended (PCI-X) is an advanced version of PCI which:

• Doubles the bandwidth of PCI, Provides much faster data transfer rates in comparison to PCI
• Offers backward compatibility with PCI devices
• Didn’t get much of a market success due to the development and widespread adoption of the PCIe standard
• Was intended for devices with higher bandwidth requirements such as servers and high-end workstations

PCI-X Hardware Standards

The PCI-X standard was defined by these characteristics:

• Parallel interface
• Maximum throughput of up to 1064 MB/s
• 64-bit bus width

What is PCIe?

PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard that relies on serial communication.

What did PCIe Replace?

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) is a high-speed, serial expansion bus designed as a replacement for:

• PCI
• PCI-X
• AGP

What is a PCIe Lane?

In PCIe architecture, a single full-duplex point-to-point serial communication path consisting of two pairs of wires (where one pair is used for transmitting data and the other pair for receiving data) is known as a Lane.

PCIe Labeling Lanes and Throughput

The PCIe labeling (×1, ×4, ×8, ×12, ×16 and ×32) refers to the number of communication links (lanes) available in different versions of the PCIe interface. The base value (x1) relates to the speed of a single lane expressed in MB/s. The multiplier (x) allows for easy calculation of the maximum throughput of the entire interface for a given PCIe variant.

What is Mini PCI?

Mini PCI is a type of PCI slot for expansion cards installed in laptops characterized by a much smaller form factor when compared to its desktop counterpart.