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#1
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PCI-X primer or overview
Hey all, I'm trying to get back up to speed with current technoologies. One
thing I am a bit muddle on yet is the new PCI-X or PCI express bus, that newer motherboards are coming out with. I know some general info about it, but I would love to find some good articles somewhere on the net to give me a better "feel" for it. I know there are 1x 4x 16x, sometimes multiple 16x for dual graphics cards and other devices. Basically, I just would like to find some good articles introducing the technology to make sure I really understand it. One other general question. Is PCI-X and PCI express the same thing? I think I remember reading something a month back that was saying they were different. Thanks |
#2
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Scott Alfter wrote:
133 MHz). It never really caught on in desktop systems (they didn't really need the bandwidth anyway), but you'll find it in servers and some Less that they "didn't need the bandwidth" than that they didn't need the bandwidth for anything except video cards, and AGP already handled those cheaper. communication at high speeds to deliver more bandwidth than PCI (I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact numbers for PCI Express, as I've only built one box at work that uses it). While PCI-X augments PCI, PCI Express aims to eventually replace PCI. IIRC, PCI-E 4X = ~1GB/sec or roughly the bandwidth of PCI-X/133mhz; PCI-E 8X, which seems to be the standard for server class peripherals, = ~2GB/sec, and 16X which is pretty much just for video cards = ~4GB/sec. -- Nate Edel http://www.cubiclehermit.com/ "I do have a cause, though. It is Obscenity. I'm for it." - Tom Lehrer |
#3
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On 04 Aug 2005 16:05:07 GMT, Grant Schoep
wrote: Hey all, I'm trying to get back up to speed with current technoologies. One thing I am a bit muddle on yet is the new PCI-X or PCI express bus, that newer motherboards are coming out with. I know some general info about it, but I would love to find some good articles somewhere on the net to give me a better "feel" for it. I know there are 1x 4x 16x, sometimes multiple 16x for dual graphics cards and other devices. Basically, I just would like to find some good articles introducing the technology to make sure I really understand it. Start at www.pcisig.org but you'll find that, like PCI, full specs are only available to paying members. Then try http://www.intel.com/technology/pcie...et/desktop.htm Beyond that... Google. -- Rgds, George Macdonald |
#4
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Nate Edel wrote:
Scott Alfter wrote: 133 MHz). It never really caught on in desktop systems (they didn't really need the bandwidth anyway), but you'll find it in servers and some Less that they "didn't need the bandwidth" than that they didn't need the bandwidth for anything except video cards, and AGP already handled those cheaper. communication at high speeds to deliver more bandwidth than PCI (I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact numbers for PCI Express, as I've only built one box at work that uses it). While PCI-X augments PCI, PCI Express aims to eventually replace PCI. IIRC, PCI-E 4X = ~1GB/sec or roughly the bandwidth of PCI-X/133mhz; PCI-E 8X, which seems to be the standard for server class peripherals, = ~2GB/sec, and 16X which is pretty much just for video cards = ~4GB/sec. PCI-E 4X is indeed 1 GB/s. However, that is *each* way, so the 1 GB/s bandwidth of PCI-X/133MHz is effectively only half as much in many circumstances. PCI-E 4X, not 8X, is what is so far being used for early versions of PCI-E server peripherals, including RAID cards and Gigabit NICs. It takes a pretty big RAID array to eat up 1 GB/s, so 4x slots should do quite nicely for a while. Note also that a PCI-E slot isn't sharing bandwidth with other slots - unlike PCI and PCI-X where there are usually several slots on a single bus. PCI-E 8X so far appears to be used for little but video cards, and even then it is always a slot in 16X form factor but only wired for 8X. The only PCI-E 1X devices I have heard of have been NICs, SATA cards, and cards for additional USB or FireWire ports. I talked to someone at Creative a few months ago and he refused to even speculate on what size slot Creative's first PCI-E sound cards would use, but 1X sounds about right to me. I have heard that Intel was working on an 8X or 16X Infiniband device. Would love to know more if anyone has a link to some solid info. I searched Intel's site a couple of months ago and turned up nothing. |
#5
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Grant Schoep wrote:
Hey all, I'm trying to get back up to speed with current technoologies. One thing I am a bit muddle on yet is the new PCI-X or PCI express bus, that newer motherboards are coming out with. I know some general info about it, but I would love to find some good articles somewhere on the net to give me a better "feel" for it. I know there are 1x 4x 16x, sometimes multiple 16x for dual graphics cards and other devices. Basically, I just would like to find some good articles introducing the technology to make sure I really understand it. One other general question. Is PCI-X and PCI express the same thing? I think I remember reading something a month back that was saying they were different. Thanks Go to www.askjeeves.com and type in "What is PCI Express?". I'll bet dollars to donuts that you find info sources of the sort you are looking for. |
#6
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Rob Stow wrote:
PCI-E 8X so far appears to be used for little but video cards, and even then it is always a slot in 16X form factor but only wired for 8X. Infiniband cards as well, from my past job. I had been under the impression that the PCI-E SCSI RAID cards I'd been looking at were 8X as well but I may well be mistaken. -- Nate Edel http://www.cubiclehermit.com/ "I do have a cause, though. It is Obscenity. I'm for it." - Tom Lehrer |
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