Difference between revisions of "Peripheral Component Interconnect"
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[[File:Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4550 GPU PCIe.jpg|thumbnail|A PCIe graphics card]] | [[File:Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4550 GPU PCIe.jpg|thumbnail|A PCIe graphics card]] | ||
| + | [[File:PCI card pile.jpg|thumbnail|A small pile of PCI cards from the mid 2000s]] | ||
[[File:ASUS P5Q Premium motherboard.jpg|thumbnail|On this board, there are seven PCIe ports in the foreground. They are from left to right the white, white, blue, black, white, white, and black ports. The far left port is significantly shorter than the others.]] | [[File:ASUS P5Q Premium motherboard.jpg|thumbnail|On this board, there are seven PCIe ports in the foreground. They are from left to right the white, white, blue, black, white, white, and black ports. The far left port is significantly shorter than the others.]] | ||
'''Peripheral Component Interconnect''' (or PCI) is a local data bus used by computers for attaching hardware devices not originally included with the device. Simply put, PCI cards allow users or companies to add or improve functionality of a computer. | '''Peripheral Component Interconnect''' (or PCI) is a local data bus used by computers for attaching hardware devices not originally included with the device. Simply put, PCI cards allow users or companies to add or improve functionality of a computer. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | On June 22, 1992, Intel released their new bus, named Peripheral Component Interconnect, to enable support of a variety of new hardware.<ref name="computerhope">http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/pci.htm</ref> When first introduced, the bus could run at the same speed as the [[Central processing unit|central processor]], about 133MB/s. For this reason, only one PCI port was offered on the [[motherboard]]. | + | On June 22, 1992, Intel released their new bus, named Peripheral Component Interconnect, to enable support of a variety of new hardware.<ref name="computerhope">http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/pci.htm</ref> When first introduced, the bus could run at the same speed as the [[Central processing unit|central processor]], about 133MB/s. For this reason, only one PCI port was offered on the [[motherboard]].<br /> |
| + | However, as processors have evolved, they have become capable of processing speeds much greater than Peripheral Component Interconnect buses. For this reason, most computer now can support more than one card simultaneously.<ref>http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pci1.htm</ref> As PCI proved a useful addition to the computer, it was updated several times. PCI version 2.0 was released about a year later in 1993, and in 1995, PCI 2.1 was released as an expansion to the ISA bus.<ref name="computerhope"/><br /> | ||
In 2002, PCI was replaced by PCI Express (also known as 3rd Generation I/O (3GIO) or PCIe). Using its "lanes" (wires) in full duplex mode, PCIe is able to perform more quickly, since data can be sent in both direction at the same time on each lane. It can communicate at about 250MB/s.<ref>http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/pciexpre.htm</ref> | In 2002, PCI was replaced by PCI Express (also known as 3rd Generation I/O (3GIO) or PCIe). Using its "lanes" (wires) in full duplex mode, PCIe is able to perform more quickly, since data can be sent in both direction at the same time on each lane. It can communicate at about 250MB/s.<ref>http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/pciexpre.htm</ref> | ||
Latest revision as of 16:02, August 16, 2016
Peripheral Component Interconnect (or PCI) is a local data bus used by computers for attaching hardware devices not originally included with the device. Simply put, PCI cards allow users or companies to add or improve functionality of a computer.
History
On June 22, 1992, Intel released their new bus, named Peripheral Component Interconnect, to enable support of a variety of new hardware.[1] When first introduced, the bus could run at the same speed as the central processor, about 133MB/s. For this reason, only one PCI port was offered on the motherboard.
However, as processors have evolved, they have become capable of processing speeds much greater than Peripheral Component Interconnect buses. For this reason, most computer now can support more than one card simultaneously.[2] As PCI proved a useful addition to the computer, it was updated several times. PCI version 2.0 was released about a year later in 1993, and in 1995, PCI 2.1 was released as an expansion to the ISA bus.[1]
In 2002, PCI was replaced by PCI Express (also known as 3rd Generation I/O (3GIO) or PCIe). Using its "lanes" (wires) in full duplex mode, PCIe is able to perform more quickly, since data can be sent in both direction at the same time on each lane. It can communicate at about 250MB/s.[3]
Usage
At this time, computers almost always offer two or more PCI Express ports. Many people do not use these ports, but a wide variety of PCIe cards are available to those who do. These cards include:
- Ethernet adapter
- Dial-up Internet adapter (largely obsolete)
- Wireless Internet (WLAN or "WiFi") transceiver
- Sound card
- Serial ATA or Parallel ATA adapter (internal or external)
- RAID backup card
- Graphics card (GPU)
- USB hub
- Joystick/game control adapter
- Firewire adapter (largely obsolete)
- 9-pin Serial port adapter (largely obsolete)
- Various DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung) adapters
