PCI soon to be retired

**MIG-31** · Mar 16, 2005, 01:11 PM

For quite some time now, Gigabit and Serial ATA network controllers integrated to users’ motherboards have provided inferior performances for intensive use to those directly integrated to chipsets. These chips use the PCI 32 bits bus clocked at 33 MHz, and have to share 133 MB/s of total bandwidth or to be more accurate 110 MB/s in practice.

One problem is that a Gigabit chip in full duplex is supposed to support 125 MB /s in both directions. If we only consider the emission of two Raptor SATA hard drive in RAID 0 able to exceed 130 MB for reading or sequential writing we have another problem, even if we have to admit that this type of use is quite intensive and that you won’t be able to saturate those chips with a file downloaded from your internet connection.
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Matth · Mar 16, 2005, 08:37 PM

A bit too early to wrote off PCI yet - with most of the really high spped stuff being handled on the motherboard, the pooled PCI bandwidth is not a huge problem yet.

A bigger problem for PCI express, have you seen anything other than a graphics card in this format yet?
It could take longer than the rollover from ISA to PCI - in fact, I doubt that PCI will die for the current generation of processor/socket/chipset formats.

Even the push to "legacy free" faltered, as people considered keyboards or mice to be a waste of a good USB port, preferring the alternative of PS/2 ports.
The Parallel port, can probably be put out to pasture now, as it's hard to find a printer with it.
The Serial port, tends to be a little more useful than parallel, as there are selection of communication devices that use serial.
The floppy, generally retired from new machines, useless as a storage medium (1.44MB, what!), but still liked by anyone preparing any kind of custom boot - gettting a floppy-less new machine, but I'll be adding an internal or USB one as soon as!

Judas · Mar 16, 2005, 09:31 PM

i'm really wondering were the hell creative is..... there to busy milking everyone with PCI cards atm.... when they've pretty well stretched the limit.... they'll introduce the PCI-EX at the last moment and start milking everyone again...

CDsDontBurn · Mar 17, 2005, 12:34 AM

I think that serial ports needs to go, as should parallel ports. However, i still prefer to use a ps/2 keyboard over a USB keyboard any day. All the USB keyboards i've ever owned, i have always used the USB-ps/2 adapter. USB mice, i would use over a ps/2 mouse any day of the week.

Floppy disks are great if you're going to flash your system's BIOS, or if you gotta go back and forth from school that the computers do not have USB ports for that 512Mb flash drive, nor an internet connection (or a really slow unbearable one) and you need to finish that 10pg. paper for your next class

!

Judas · Mar 17, 2005, 04:13 AM

Use a Bootable CD-RW..... multisession...

first session is bootable.. loads you nessities to flash or do whatever... the other session hold the flash programs and bin files that you need... being RW... you can change them at will....

MitchRapp · Mar 17, 2005, 06:33 AM

ya they could get rid of a lot of things on a motherboard to make room for newer technology

who uses PS/2 mice/keyboards ... or even those serial ports .... or 3 to 5 PCI slots ?!
I'm sorry but in a normal system, you might use 1 to 2 PCI slots max
as for PCI Express.... errr..... i'm reading a lot of reviews of the new motherboards with like 3 pci x1 slots, 2 pci x4 etc......
but I've yet to see a single pci x1 device .....
I only see PCI Express video cards ......... and those "Riser" sound cards that come with certain motherboards and seem to plug into special PCI x1 slots ............... sooooooooo

MitchRapp · Mar 17, 2005, 06:34 AM

forgot to add ....
the whole idea of having plenty of slots available was to add stuff like

1) Sound Card
2) SCSI Card
3) SATA Controller
etc...

but the thing is ..... most motherboards come with all that stuff integrated ..... soooo no need for so many slots !

CDsDontBurn · Mar 17, 2005, 07:00 AM

that's what a micro board is for

. You'll have a max of 3 PCI slots, and some come with AGP (or PCI-E 16x) on them already as well.

**dj_stick** · Mar 17, 2005, 08:51 AM

pepiman - if you want decent sound, completely forget about on board solutions
as for ps/2 kb and mouse, i'm one of those people. Aswell as many gamers who believe the inherent latency of USB is too much for precision mouse movements

i personally use 3 if my 5 PCI slots, not including expansion brackets

CDsDontBurn · Mar 17, 2005, 05:08 PM

oh yea......the physics card that supposed to come out is going to be running off the PCI bus

. Can't wait for that bad boy to come out

.

MitchRapp · Mar 18, 2005, 06:44 AM

oh I'm not saying a sound card is useless .... I have an Audigy 2 and I love it
I'm saying most motherboards come with pretty good onboard sound nowadays (like the new mobos with creative onboard) so more and more people will save that 60-130$ and forget the sound card....
As for PCI slots/brackets .... right now I'm using this:

--- Empty PCI Bracket
--- AGP Video Card
--- Bracket used by Exhaust Fan
--- Bracket used by On/Off switch of Cold Cathode fan
--- PCI Sound Card
--- Bracket used for case lighting effects changes
--- Bracket used by the Audigy 2's accompanied Game Port

so yeah I'm using the BRACKETS a lot ....... but not the slots ..... I might get those cute little Vantec Slot Protectors to cover my 4 unused PCI slots and 1 unused DIMM slot .... no dust and well .... UV colors

Mar 16, 2005, 01:11 PM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,843 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	PCI soon to be retired For quite some time now, Gigabit and Serial ATA network controllers integrated to users’ motherboards have provided inferior performances for intensive use to those directly integrated to chipsets. These chips use the PCI 32 bits bus clocked at 33 MHz, and have to share 133 MB/s of total bandwidth or to be more accurate 110 MB/s in practice. One problem is that a Gigabit chip in full duplex is supposed to support 125 MB /s in both directions. If we only consider the emission of two Raptor SATA hard drive in RAID 0 able to exceed 130 MB for reading or sequential writing we have another problem, even if we have to admit that this type of use is quite intensive and that you won’t be able to saturate those chips with a file downloaded from your internet connection. _______________ Read More: behardware __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Mar 17, 2005, 12:34 AM	#4
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,789 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	I think that serial ports needs to go, as should parallel ports. However, i still prefer to use a ps/2 keyboard over a USB keyboard any day. All the USB keyboards i've ever owned, i have always used the USB-ps/2 adapter. USB mice, i would use over a ps/2 mouse any day of the week. Floppy disks are great if you're going to flash your system's BIOS, or if you gotta go back and forth from school that the computers do not have USB ports for that 512Mb flash drive, nor an internet connection (or a really slow unbearable one) and you need to finish that 10pg. paper for your next class ! __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 17, 2005, 07:00 AM	#8
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,789 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	that's what a micro board is for . You'll have a max of 3 PCI slots, and some come with AGP (or PCI-E 16x) on them already as well. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 17, 2005, 05:08 PM	#10
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,789 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	oh yea......the physics card that supposed to come out is going to be running off the PCI bus . Can't wait for that bad boy to come out . __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 16, 2005, 08:37 PM	#2
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	A bit too early to wrote off PCI yet - with most of the really high spped stuff being handled on the motherboard, the pooled PCI bandwidth is not a huge problem yet. A bigger problem for PCI express, have you seen anything other than a graphics card in this format yet? It could take longer than the rollover from ISA to PCI - in fact, I doubt that PCI will die for the current generation of processor/socket/chipset formats. Even the push to "legacy free" faltered, as people considered keyboards or mice to be a waste of a good USB port, preferring the alternative of PS/2 ports. The Parallel port, can probably be put out to pasture now, as it's hard to find a printer with it. The Serial port, tends to be a little more useful than parallel, as there are selection of communication devices that use serial. The floppy, generally retired from new machines, useless as a storage medium (1.44MB, what!), but still liked by anyone preparing any kind of custom boot - gettting a floppy-less new machine, but I'll be adding an internal or USB one as soon as!

Mar 17, 2005, 06:33 AM	#6
MitchRapp a.k.a. pepiman Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 998 Rep Power: 51 System Specs	ya they could get rid of a lot of things on a motherboard to make room for newer technology who uses PS/2 mice/keyboards ... or even those serial ports .... or 3 to 5 PCI slots ?! I'm sorry but in a normal system, you might use 1 to 2 PCI slots max as for PCI Express.... errr..... i'm reading a lot of reviews of the new motherboards with like 3 pci x1 slots, 2 pci x4 etc...... but I've yet to see a single pci x1 device ..... I only see PCI Express video cards ......... and those "Riser" sound cards that come with certain motherboards and seem to plug into special PCI x1 slots ............... sooooooooo

Mar 17, 2005, 06:34 AM	#7
MitchRapp a.k.a. pepiman Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 998 Rep Power: 51 System Specs	forgot to add .... the whole idea of having plenty of slots available was to add stuff like 1) Sound Card 2) SCSI Card 3) SATA Controller etc... but the thing is ..... most motherboards come with all that stuff integrated ..... soooo no need for so many slots !

Mar 18, 2005, 06:44 AM	#11
MitchRapp a.k.a. pepiman Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 998 Rep Power: 51 System Specs	oh I'm not saying a sound card is useless .... I have an Audigy 2 and I love it I'm saying most motherboards come with pretty good onboard sound nowadays (like the new mobos with creative onboard) so more and more people will save that 60-130$ and forget the sound card.... As for PCI slots/brackets .... right now I'm using this: --- Empty PCI Bracket --- AGP Video Card --- Bracket used by Exhaust Fan --- Bracket used by On/Off switch of Cold Cathode fan --- PCI Sound Card --- Bracket used for case lighting effects changes --- Bracket used by the Audigy 2's accompanied Game Port so yeah I'm using the BRACKETS a lot ....... but not the slots ..... I might get those cute little Vantec Slot Protectors to cover my 4 unused PCI slots and 1 unused DIMM slot .... no dust and well .... UV colors