3.4 - Motherboard Expansion Slots

Question 1

A computer bus

Answer 1

• Communication path - A city of technology
• Internal PC growth - Independent pathways
• System expansion - Additional capabilities

Question 2

Conventional PCI

Answer 2

• Peripheral Component Interconnect
  – Created in 1994
• Many expansion options
  – 32-bit and 64-bit bus width
  – Parallel communication
• A common expansion interface on previous
  computer generations
  – PCI Express is the newer technology

Question 3

PCI Express

Answer 3

• Also known as PCIe - Replaces the older PCI standard
• Communicates serially - Unidirectional serial “lanes”
  – Slower devices don’t slow down everyone
• One, two, four, eight, sixteen, or thirty-two full-duplex lanes
  – x1, x2, x4, x8, x16, x32
  – “x” is pronounced “by” (“by 4,” “by 16”)