You Want to Install a Graphics Card With the Fastest Available Bus Interface. What Should You Use?
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What kind of expansion slot should you lot use for your video card?
There's lots of slots
To add a video carte to your computer, you have to pick an expansion slot. In that location have been many kinds of expansion slots over the years so nigh motherboards contain more i kind of slot. They unremarkably have a few of the older slots and a few of the newer ones. The slots differ greatly in speed then yous demand to choice the correct kind of slot.
The motherboard shown in a higher place includes most of the slots that you'll see these days. Information technology's a little unusual in that you don't often see motherboards which have both PCI-Express slots and an AGP slot. The best slot to use for video cards is the PCI-Express x16 slot. The next best is the AGP slot. The next best is a PCI-Express x1 slot just video cards which fit that slot are very hard to find as of tardily 2006. The worst option for a video card is a PCI slot. If you lot're edifice or buying a new computer then exist certain to go one with a PCI-Express x16 slot. Y'all shouldn't buy anything else. Some depression-upkeep computers are sold with integrated video and accept neither a PCI-Limited x16 slot or an AGP slot. With that kind of computer y'all're stuck using a very slow PCI slot when upgrading your video system. You definitely desire to avoid that state of affairs. Many low-budget computers with integrated video include either a PCI-Express x16 slot or an AGP slot so be sure to get one of those. That way you'll take good choices available if you determine to upgrade your video system. If you merely have a PCI slot then your upgrade choices are extremely limited, underpowered, and overpriced.
| Slot kind | Year of introduction | Peak transfer speed |
|---|---|---|
| PCI-Express x16 | 2004 | four GB/s write speed and four GB/southward read speed simultaneously |
| PCI-Express x1 | 2004 | 250 MB/s write speed and 250 MB/s read speed simultaneously |
| AGP 8X | 2002 | bandwidth shared between reads and writes to a maximum of 2.133 GB/s; many implementations are limited to 267 MB/s read speed |
| AGP 4X | 1998 | bandwidth shared between reads and writes to a maximum of 1.067 GB/s; many implementations are express to 267 MB/due south read speed |
| AGP 2X | 1996 | bandwidth shared betwixt reads and writes to a maximum of 533 MB/s; many implementations are express to 267 MB/s read speed |
| AGP 1X | 1996 | bandwidth shared between reads and writes to a maximum of 267 MB/s |
| PCI | 1993 | bandwidth shared betwixt reads and writes to a maximum of 133 MB/s |
PCI-Express
PCI-Limited is the newest kind of expansion slot used in PCs. It is technologically superior to the older slots in every manner. PCI-Express can exist referred to using various names: PCI-Limited, PCIe, or PCI-E. They all mean exactly the aforementioned affair. In that location'south another completely different and incompatible bus chosen PCI-X so be sure non to become them confused. Despite the similarity in names, there'due south no hardware compatibility of any kind between PCI and PCI-Express. Yous can't plug PCI cards into PCI-Express slots or vice versa. It was only the figurer industry doing their level best to confuse people. (Only for the tape, the USB two.0, USB High Speed, USB Total Speed naming debacle is the current leader in "the almost confusing naming convention in existance" contest. The PCI-Express, PCI confusion is somewhat farther downwards the list.)
In PCI-Express x16, the "x16" part is pronounced, "times xvi" or "by sixteen". The number following the "x" is the number of PCI-Limited lanes in the slot. The more than lanes in the slot, the faster information technology can go. The motherboard moving picture higher up shows both a x16 slot and a x1 slot. Video cards are normally designed to fit in x16 slots since they are the fastest. Y'all can also get video cards designed for x1 slots. Those are normally used only if you want more than one video card in the computer. Most motherboards have one PCI-Express x16 slot for a video bill of fare and one or more than x1 slots for other things like network adapters. Less common are x4 and x8 slots. You can "upward-plug" PCI-Express cards. That means that you tin plug a PCI-Express x1 expansion card into a PCI-Express x1, x4, x8, or x16 expansion slot and it will work (as long as the motherboard BIOS doesn't take bugs). The x1 expansion card can only run at x1 speed in any of those slots but it will work. Likewise, you can plug x4 expansion cards into x4, x8, and x16 slots and you can plug x8 expansion cards (if you tin can find one) into x8 and x16 slots. But yous can't "downwardly-plug" PCI-Limited cards considering an expansion card with a college number of lanes (the "ten" value) physically won't fit into an expansion slot with a lower number of lanes. For example, a x16 expansion card won't fit into a x8, x4, or x1 slot.
When information technology comes to video cards, some motherboards can be extremely picky nigh upward-plugging. You should always be able to plug a x1, x4, or x8 video carte du jour into a x16 PCI-Express slot and have it work. Information technology may just run at x1 speeds just information technology should piece of work nonetheless. Unfortunately, many motherboards have problems with video carte du jour up-plugging. As time passes, the motherboard BIOSes should have amend back up for upward-plugging video cards but for now information technology may non work. Plugging a x16 video card into a x16 slot ever works and plugging a x1 video card into a x1 slot well-nigh ever works merely the other combinations may not piece of work properly. If you have issues upwardly-plugging a video card and so you should go to the motherboard manufacturer's website and update the motherboard BIOS. That'due south where they will fix bug with expansion card up-plugging.
Some motherboards come with two PCI-Limited x16 slots so you lot can run two full speed video cards at one time. This is normally used only by serious gamers who want the highest possible operation in 3D games. NVIDIA has a dual-carte implementation chosen SLI and ATI has a version called CrossFire. In these modes, both video cards piece of work together on the same game to increment operation. Many motherboards with 2 PCI-Express x16 slots have special rules about using the 2d x16 slot. With some motherboards you lot have to plug a small circuit board into the motherboard to enable the second x16 slot. Even when enabled, the second x16 slot may have special restrictions. In some cases that slot may not work with anything but video cards. The transmission of a dual x16 slot motherboard will tell you if in that location are any restrictions related to its x16 slots. Don't assume that you lot can care for them like "normal" PCI-Express slots unless the motherboard manual says and so.
AGP
The AGP slot was the standard slot used by video cards before it was replaced by PCI-Limited x16 slots. They are four different AGP speeds. AGP 8X is pronounced "AGP eight times". The eight refers to the speed. There are also slower speeds of 4, ii, and 1 times. When it comes to games, as of late 2006, there is very little speed benefit in going faster than AGP 4X (well-nigh 1 GB/southward). You gain at most a few percent by going from AGP 4X to a faster slot. As time passes it will make more of a departure. As of late 2006, AGP has a much more than express choice of video cards than PCI-Express x16. AGP cards are commonly more than expensive than PCI-Express x16 cards in the same speed range. On top of that, the fastest video cards are not available for AGP at all. Basically, AGP is in the process of being orphaned. If you're getting a new computer then make sure that information technology uses PCI-Express x16 rather than AGP.
You do accept to exist a petty careful when getting AGP cards because not all AGP cards are uniform with all AGP motherboards. If you go shopping for AGP cards right now so all yous're likely to find are "AGP 8X, 4X" cards. Those are uniform with whatever motherboard which supports AGP 4X or AGP 8X. Merely there are some old AGP 2X or AGP 1X video cards and there are also quondam AGP 2X or 1X motherboards. New video cards may not exist uniform with old motherboards and onetime video cards may non exist compatible with new motherboards. It'southward difficult to buy the quondam AGP 2X 1X video cards or motherboards these days merely you lot may run into them. That's why it pays to be careful. That'southward especially true if y'all're buying used hardware.
Each AGP card has one or two slots in its carte du jour edge. If a video menu has the 3.3 volt slot, so it can utilize 3.3 volt signaling. If it has the i.five volt slot then information technology tin can use 1.5 volt signaling. If the card has both slots then information technology can utilise both signaling voltages. The newest version of AGP added support for 0.8 volt signaling but it did not add a new kind of slot. If a video carte du jour supports either 1.5 volt or 0.8 volt signaling and so it has the 1.v volt slot.
The AGP connectors on the motherboard are keyed to preclude insertion of AGP cards which would be damaged if plugged in. An AGP 3.3V motherboard connector can only have AGP cards which take the 3.3V slot. If you try to insert a card without a 3.3V slot into an AGP three.3V motherboard connector, the menu will bump into the connector key and cannot exist inserted. Also an AGP i.5V motherboard connector can merely accept AGP cards with the 1.5V slot. An AGP universal motherboard connector has no keys and therefore tin can have any kind of AGP menu. An AGP card with both voltage slots can be plugged into any kind of AGP motherboard connector. If y'all can plug an AGP carte into an AGP motherboard connector, so they are compatible. So yous demand to check to see that the video card tin fit into the motherboard connector to know if they are compatible. This folio gives you a more detailed explanation of the rules AGP compatibility.
PCI
You tin can all the same get video cards for PCI slots but they tend to be obsolete and overpriced. The selection is very limited. Many depression-end computers come up with integrated graphics rather than a separate video card. This is done to cutting costs. Unfortunately, integrated graphics are very poor performers at 3D graphics. If you don't play games, and then integrated graphics may exist but fine. But if you lot'd like to increment the graphics performance and then you need to add a "real" video card. Unfortunately, some computer manufacturers brand some depression-end models with integrated graphics which do not have either AGP or PCI-Express x16 slots. You should never buy such a calculator. Integrated graphics are okay equally long as y'all accept the selection to upgrade if yous need to. Just if you purchase one of those bad depression-cease machines then your only graphics upgrade option is to utilize a PCI slot. PCI will exist a serious performance bottleneck. And you'll get stuck buying an expensive, obsolete, PCI video card. The best way to avoid this miserable fate is to avert ownership these bedridden computers in the first identify. Brand certain that your new computer has an AGP slot or (preferably) a PCI-Express x16 slot. Information technology volition save you lots of grief (and money) if you lot determine to upgrade your graphics system.
When purchasing PCI video cards y'all demand to be careful about compatibility with the PCI expansion slots on the motherboard. In that location are ii things which vary in PCI expansion slots: the voltage, and the number of $.25. PCI Slots tin can support either 3.iii volts or 5 volts. PCI has a arrangement of keys which but allows expansion cards to fit into the motherboard connector if information technology provides the right voltage. As shown in the picture above, a 5 volt PCI motherboard connector has a primal near the right terminate. A 5 volt PCI expansion carte du jour has a slot which lines upwardly with the key. That allows you to plug a 5 volt PCI card into a 5 volt PCI connector. Yous tin can see a "real" PCI connector in the motherboard movie above. 3.3 volts is like only its key is near the left end. This arrangement allows yous to plug v volt cards into 5 volt PCI connectors but not into 3.iii volt PCI connectors. Likewise, you can just plug iii.iii volt cards into 3.iii volt PCI connectors and non into 5 volt connectors. If the expansion card can run on both 3.iii and five volts and so it has both slots and fits into both 3.3 and five volt PCI motherboard connectors. PCI expansion slots too support two dissimilar widths: 32 bits, and 64 bits. The 64 bit motherboard connector is longer than a 32 bit connector. Nigh PC motherboards come with 32 bit slots just some come with 64 bit slots. A 32 chip PCI expansion menu will piece of work fine in a 64 bit slot. PCI video cards are 32 bit cards.
Most PCI slots on PC motherboards are 32 fleck, v volt slots. Most PCI video cards are also 32 $.25 and five volts. Many of the PCI video cards also back up 3.three volts. As a result, nearly PCI video cards work fine in nearly PCs. Notwithstanding, there are some motherboards out there with other kinds of PCI slots. 64 bit, 3.3 volt slots are common in workstation-oriented motherboards. If you want to use ane of those then y'all'll need a PCI video card which supports 3.3 volts. So, before purchasing a PCI video card it's a good thought to make sure that the PCI video carte and motherboard are compatible. If the PCI video card fits into the motherboard expansion connector then they're compatible.
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