PCI: Why won’t it die?

[clifford_cooley]

I read this article on Icrontics.

PCI: Why won’t it die? written by Derek Brush.

After reading, I was curious as to what others thought.

Would you prefer PCI stuck around awhile longer because of cards you currently have? Personally I would buy what ever is on the market at the time. And trust me I have been looking for PCIe x1 or x4 cards to become available for a long time now.

 

[Thrax]

I made my thoughts pretty clear on the comment thread for that article, but I definitely believe that PCI needs to go away. Every so often the industry needs to make a shift that will ultimately be good for everyone, and switching fully to PCIe is one of those steps.

 

[TorrentG]

I think the industry should cater to all types of users.

Make motherboards without PCI. Make motherboards with PCI.

Both will sell, everyone will have a choice which they would like to purchase, and everyone is happy.

 

[Geoffers]

Didn't realise PCI was so old till I read that article!
But, there again, I remember the change from ISA ISA/LB to PCI. Bastard mobo's with multiple types of slots!
The change will come when mobo makers deem it doable and there is a willingness to produce PCIe cards!

 

[Veedaz]

I think PCI has had its day, time to go PCIe all the way....

 

[thedrunk]

Havent read the article yet but I work with older computers way to much. One universal slot wich will suport not only 32bit cards but 64 bit as well would be nice and if windows 8 is 128bit a slot that will totally support the few 128 bit cards out there.. ( not graphis but raid cards, video converters, cyphers etc.etc.) I am tired of having multiple meachines for my tech work would rather ahve one uber machine and run with it all the way

 

[thedrunk]

Ok so sorry people the guy forgot to mention PCI-X which is used in servers it is 64bit. and has a transfer rate little above 2g a second but yea PCI-e needs more cards to support the hardware we try or want to implament in to our systems plus we need more options of full atx boards to choose from I am getting sick of these 8x8inch high end options with only one ide and sata I still use ide for transfering files and pocket shelf storage... give me a nice board decent price with 4 ide and 6 sata pciex1 and 4 plus 6 pcie e 16 and two pci and i will be happy LOL


another thought a pci-e slot that is backwards compatible like a pci x card is would also be nice for people who tech older machines and newer machines or hardware mmm

 

[clifford_cooley]

another thought a pci-e slot that is backwards compatible

I was under the impression that PCIe x16 will also support x8, x4, and x1 cards. With this in mind, I don't understand why all the slots are not x16 or atleast x8.

If they are going to manufacture a board for the future why is there so many limitations put in place that really doesn't save any money in the long run. Limiting a board now does not support future tech. The boards are limited now for the sole purpose of selling a new board in the future.

 

[Veedaz]

Here is two sound cards (each is brand new and can be purchased today) one is PCI and the other is PCIe, PCI wont go away that fast as Motherboard makers are producing new boards with PCI slots.

Click to enlarge

 

[Kougar]

I am sure PCI will go away eventually... it has taken this long just to see a replacement for USB 2.0 come along. It would have to start at the top with an industry leader like Intel making the change though... and there was enough furor about them removing IDE controllers from there chipsets! There would be an even larger outcry if they tried that with PCI, alas...

I was under the impression that PCIe x16 will also support x8, x4, and x1 cards. With this in mind, I don't understand why all the slots are not x16 or atleast x8.

If they are going to manufacture a board for the future why is there so many limitations put in place that really doesn't save any money in the long run. Limiting a board now does not support future tech. The boards are limited now for the sole purpose of selling a new board in the future.

This is correct. Not all slots are 16x because it requires higher costs to manufacture... there is a better reason though.

There is no point in building 16x slots when the chipset doesn't have the ability to use more than ~24-40 PCIe links. Take for example the P55 chipset. The CPU has two 8x links. The chipset has 8x more links. That is 24 PCIe lanes... enough for one 16x slot and one 8x slot. The only option is to split 8 of the lanes into x4 and x1 slots, or some other combination thereof.

 

[popup]

Thank you for the explanation about PCIe links, I didn't know about that.

I remember the fuss that happened when PS2 ports and IDE sockets were removed from mobos over time. For some reason, ISA sockets disappeared quite happily... but they were around for a LONG time.

 

[Goober]

I'd love to get some PCIe cards but my mobo only has 3 PCIe x16 and 3 PCI.