PCI-X?

[ifjake]

i'm too busy (read lazy) to do a couple searches to find out on my own, but i was wondering what the difference was between PCI, PCI-X, and AGP. just curious, really.

[BrianKonarsMac]

is it that hard to figure out from there names? PCI is for PCI cards...PCI-X is the next version of PCI...and AGP has nothing to do with them...it's solely for graphic's cards.

[Mord]

agp 2x is 533mbps for turbo charged graphics cards

pci- 33 or 66MHz peripherals and graphics cards

pci-X- 100 or 133MHz for peripherals and graphics cards

[FuzzyBallz]

You should always do your own research. Hate to see people passing around false info.

Check out http://www.webopedia.com/ and do a search on the 3 formats. You'll get a lot of correct and informative answers.

[Mord]

my pci specs are correct
agp specs

2x= 533mbps
4x= 1.07gbps
8x= 2.14gbps
pci express= 5gbps

and my pci-X specs were corrent

[ifjake]

so PCI-X rules them all. even AGPs. (?)

[BornAgainMac]

Is PCI-Express better than PCI-X? Better as in more support from vendors and faster. From what I have learned, PCI-Express is suppose to replace PCI and AGP slots. I saw some blurb about it from ATI.

I don't know if PCI-X is just a Mac thing (like OS X).

[windowsblowsass]

Is PCI-Express better than PCI-X? Better as in more support from vendors and faster. From what I have learned, PCI-Express is suppose to replace PCI and AGP slots. I saw some blurb about it from ATI.

I don't know if PCI-X is just a Mac thing (like OS X).

no pci-x isnt a mac thing it is basically pci 2its faster than pci and backwords compatiple
agp is for graphics cards(faster than pci-x one way)
and pci express is next inline it really isnt that closely related to pci it isnt backwords compatible it has the bewst specs of any

[SpaceMagic]

Is PCI-Express better than PCI-X? Better as in more support from vendors and faster. From what I have learned, PCI-Express is suppose to replace PCI and AGP slots. I saw some blurb about it from ATI.

I don't know if PCI-X is just a Mac thing (like OS X).

I've also seen PCI-Express will take over from AGP. But at the moment PCI-X is only really widely available. Here is a speed table anyway:

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040301/alderwood-11.html

[Electribe F]

PCI-X and PCI are not backwards compatible. PCI-X uses a 3.3v slot, PCI is 5.5. There are some PCI cards that are keyed to fit in both slots but you still will only get PCI performance out of these even when they are used in a PCI-X slot. None of this is to be confused with the new PCI Express which I think is more interesting for what it can do for notebooks than desktops.

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/06/01/ati/index.php?redirect=1086844027000

[Bigheadache]

PCI-X and PCI are not backwards compatible. PCI-X uses a 3.3v slot, PCI is 5.5. There are some PCI cards that are keyed to fit in both slots but you still will only get PCI performance out of these even when they are used in a PCI-X slot. None of this is to be confused with the new PCI Express which I think is more interesting for what it can do for notebooks than desktops.

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/06/01/ati/index.php?redirect=1086844027000

You might want to check the facts at PCI-SIG before making big calls like that. PCI has been 3.3V since at least PCI 2.2 spec (we've had 2.3 and 3.0 since). PCI-X is designed as a 64bit 66Mhz/100Mhz/133Mhz extension of the original PCI spec, backwards compatibility was always in the design brief. Since 2.3 or 3.0 they actually removed the keyed 5V requirement, so you could only use keyed 3.3V or universal.

And what makes you think PCI Express is only better for notebooks? When was the last time you saw expansion slots in a notebook? PCI Express is primarily designed to replace PCI AND AGP in desktops and servers to cope with anticipated future bandwidth requirements (eg gigabit ethernet by itself already theoretically maxes the bandwidth on plain PCI), its a serial technology rather than parallel and also has lower voltage (if I recall correctly). And I think its supposed to be hot pluggable although I can't see that being a frequently used feature.