We explain the difference between PCI and PCI Express with table. These days, the use of connection slots has become very common. An expansion slot, also known as a bus slot or expansion port, is a hardware connection port or space located on the motherboard of computer systems. They allow you to connect expansion cards to a computer system.
Upgrading a motherboard can resolve incompatibility issues in a system, if any. But for the upgrade to take place, the types of slots present on the motherboard must be known along with their replacement needs, that is, whether a particular slot will fit a particular replacement part.
Today, things have changed, each individual has a different choice or need when it comes to technological advancements. With this in mind, there are currently several types of expansion slots. PCI, PCI Express, AGP, ISA, AMR, CNR, EISA, and VESA are the only ones.
What is PCI?
Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI, is an expansion slot in a computer system that is used to connect hardware devices to the system. Originally introduced by Intel in 1992, PCI is the most widely used expansion slot to date.
Also known as conventional PCI, it works on a parallel interface that has a single bus standard. Devices that are connected to the PCI bus are first connected to their respective buses and then assigned addresses.
PCI is 32 or 64 bit wide, the latter is created after a few years. There are preferably three types of PCI bus that are used in common, i.e. PCI with 32-bit 5V signal voltage, PCI with 64-bit and 5V signal voltage, and PCI with 64-bit and 3 signal voltage. , 3 V. The connection is made by a list of steps, that is, receive, supply, detect and then provide the PCI card.
Also, the original PCI doesn’t really need a hot-swappable bus, so system power should be turned off whenever a card is inserted or removed from the PCI slot.
What is PCIs Express?
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, or PCI Express, officially known as PCI-e, is a high-speed expansion slot used to connect hardware devices and many more in a computer system. PCIe was first introduced by Intel, Dell, HP, and IBM in 2003 to replace PCI and bring improved changes.
Most commonly used in laptop and computer storage card expansion, PCIe comes with a serial interface. The current generations of PCIe are PCIe 1.0, PCIe 2.0, PCIe 3.0, and PCIe 4.0. PCIe bandwidth of 1GB / s for each lane tends to double with each generation.
PCIe turned out to be more compatible with existing operating systems than PCI and is considered to be a better version, without a doubt. The connection involves installing, connecting, and transmitting the PCIe interface card.
A DMA (Direct Memory Access) engine is PCIe compliant and as a result provides better performance and lower occupancy, if commercial solutions cannot solve a problem.
Difference between PCIs and PCI Express with table
Taking out PCI and PCI Express; both are widely used. The difference between PCI and PCI Express is that PCI Express is faster than PCI and uses a serial interface, while PCI, on the other hand, uses an interface that is parallel and older.
Comparison table between PCI and PCI Express
| Comparison parameter | PCI | PCI-Express |
| Source | Introduced in 1992 by Intel. | Introduced in 2003 by Intel, Dell, HP, and IBM. |
| Connection | Only connect hardware devices and graphics cards. | Whereas, it connects WiFi, graphics ports and others. |
| Velocity | Slower compared to PCI Express. | It is faster. |
| Data speed | Slower data rate. | Faster data speed. |
| Groove type | There are standardized slots. | There are slots that depend on the number of lanes. |
| Broadband | 133 MB / s with 33 MHz, 206 MB / s with 66 MHz and 532 MB / s with 66 MHz. | It ranges from 250MB / s to several GB / s. |
| Characteristics | It has a very limited number of functions. | It has more developed features than PCI. |
| Hot plug | It is not supported or optional. | Supported. |
Key differences between PCI and PCI Express
- PCI has an older parallel interface, while PCIe has a serial interface.
- PCI was first introduced in 1992 and PCI was introduced 11 years later, in 2003.
- PCI can connect hardware devices, graphics cards, modems, etc., while PCI can also connect WiFi.
- PCI is slower compared to PCIe and even has a slower data rate.
- There are standardized slots present in PCI, while in PCIe the slots depend on the number of lanes present.
- The bandwidth in PCI is 133 MB / s, 206 MB / s and 532 MB / s. But on PCIe, it ranges from 250MB / s to several GB / s.
- Being the older version, PCI contains a very limited number of functions. PCIe is the updated one, it has more developed features.
- The hot plug feature is only supported on PCIe and is optional on PCI.
Final Thought
To be specific, PCI and PCI Express are quite different in type, function, and bandwidth. Being the PCIe the replacement for PCI, it is faster and more compatible. Still, many devices use PCI slots even today because of their simpler interface and also because all devices don’t really need the speed advantage.
Upgrading the expansion slot of a computer system ensures a drastic change in it. Whether PCI or PCIe, both help in connecting cards and devices in a wide range. Although the PCI and PCIe slots are not compatible with each other, they have different configurations. However, most motherboards have a combination of these two slots. Said motherboards comprise a PCB (printed circuit board) expansion card, a PCI slot, two connectors, and a PCIe slot. The PCI and PCIe slots are already in electrical contacts, that is, the PCI slot has a PCI card installed and the PCIe slot has a PCIe card inserted.
PCIe allows each lane to have its own bandwidth, which in turn solves the problem of lane interference. But, as the world keeps changing, there could soon be a more developed version of PCIe built with better features and functions.
