What Are the Different PCI Slots?

expansion slots for adding peripheral cards to a computer. The four most common types of slots are ISA, PCI, AGP, and PCIe.

They are all used for different purposes.

ISA- Also called an AT slot, ISA is short for Industry Standard Architecture. It was once the most popular type of slot, but it is now largely obsolete.

It was used to connect slower devices such as modems, sound cards, and network cards. It supported a maximum transfer rate of 16 MHz.

PCI- Peripheral Component Interconnect was introduced in 1992 as a replacement for ISA. It is much faster than ISA, with a maximum transfer rate of 133 MHz.

PCI is used to connect devices such as network cards, sound cards, modems, and video cards.

AGP- Accelerated Graphics Port was introduced in 1997 as a way to speed up graphics performance. It is slightly faster than PCI, with a maximum transfer rate of 266 MHz.

AGP is used to connect video cards only.

PCIe- Peripheral Component Interconnect Express was introduced in 2004 as a replacement for AGP. PCIe is much faster than AGP, with a maximum transfer rate of 5 GT/s (gigatransfers per second).

PCIe is used to connect video cards, network cards, and other high-speed devices.

There are three different types of PCI slots- 5V PCI slots, 3V PCI slots, and Universal PCI slots. 5V PCI slots are the most common type of slot; they are compatible with all types of PCI cards.

3V PCI slots are less common; they are compatible with 3V PCI cards only. Universal PCI slots are the least common; they are compatible with both 5V and 3V PCI cards.