Menu Close

Which is Faster PCI or PCI Express

Compare PCI vs PCI Express

The slots shown here represent the slots on a computer motherboard that a video card would be mounted into. To compare, PCI Express is a serial based technology, data can be sent over the bus in two directions at once.

Which is faster PCI or PCI Express

Bandwidth Table

PCI1056 Mbps
AGP 8x2.1 Gbps
PCI Express 1.012 Gbps
PCI Express 2.0 / x1616 Gbps
PCI Express 2.0 / x88 Gbps
PCI Express 2.0 / x44 Gbps
PCI Express 3.0 / x1632 Gbps
PCI Express 3.0 / x816 Gbps
PCI Express 3.0 / x48 Gbps
PCI Express 3.0 / x12 Gbps
IDE (ATA 100)800 Mbps
IDE (ATA 133)1064 Mbps
SATA1.5 Gbps
SATA III3 Gbps
SATA 66 Gbps
Firewire400 Mbps
USB 1.012 Mbps
USB 2.0480 Mbps
USB 3.04.8 Gbps
USB 3.110 Gbps​
DisplayPort 1.110.8 Gbps
DisplayPort 1.221.6 Gbps
DisplayPort 1.3 / 1.432.4 Gbps
Gigabit Ethernet1 Gbps

 What is the difference in PCI vs PCI Express

Which is faster PCI or PCI Express

 

 

Normal PCI is Parallel, and as such all data goes in one direction. Hence PCI Express will provide much faster video than the older PCI. (See more port types at the bottom of this page).​

Each 1x lane in PCI Express can transmit in both directions at once. Also please note that in PCI Express bandwidth is not shared the same way as in PCI, so there is less congestion on the bus.

The “x” in an “x16” connection is typically represented as “by” (by 1 [x1] , by 16 [x16] etc). PCIe connections are scalable by one, by two, by four, and so on.

PCI Express Connections

Which is faster PCI or PCI Express

Each lane of a PCI Express connection contains two pairs of wires — one to send and one to receive. Packets of data move across the lane at a rate of one bit per cycle.

A x1 connection, the smallest PCIe connection, has one lane made up of four wires. It carries one bit per cycle in each direction. A x4 link transmits four lanes etc.

What is PCI?

PCI is short for Peripheral Component Interconnect. The PCI slot is a local system bus standard that was introduced by the Intel Corporation, however, it is not exclusive to any form of processors and PCI slots are found in both Windows PCs and Macs. PCI slots allow numerous different types of expansion cards to be connected inside a computer to extend the computers functionality. Examples of PCI expansion cards are network cards, graphics cards and sound cards.

Although the bus speed is slightly slower than PCI Express, the PCI slots are the most common type of slot and found on most motherboards today. If you are installing a new video card and you are unsure about the slots, stick with the PCI version of this card it will always work.​

Computer PCI and PCI Express (PCIe)

The 32-bit PCI bus has a maximum speed of 33 MHz, which allows a maximum of 133 MB of data to pass through the bus per second. Different PCI Express specifications allow different rates of data transfer, anywhere from 400 MB to 8000 MB of data per second and beyond. (see table at top of page).​​

Which is faster PCI or PCI Express

SUMMARY

Since PCI, PCI-X and PCI Express are all compatible, all three can coexist if the operating system allows it. As of 2011, the PCIe format is the most common type of video adapters by far and now considered the standard. Network and sound adapters, as well as other peripherals, have been slower in development to adapt to PCI Express but it is coming. Since PCIe is compatible with current operating systems and can provide faster speeds, it will eventually replace PCI as a PC standard. Gradually, PCI-based cards will become obsolete.

Computers with PCI Express Video Cards

NTI QuadStation Computers