PCI-X or Peripheral Component Interconnect Extendedis the bang out of data communication system used in computers.
In contrast, both PCI and PCI-E have seen over half a dozen each.
The most recent one being PCI-E 5.0, released in 2019.
They employ a serial connection that uses one bus to transfer data to and from different locations simultaneously.
Initially, this key in of shared bus system worked well enough.
But as the demands on the technology grew, its shortcomings became evident.
The more data needed to be transmitted, the more the load on the bus increased.
This wait time slowed down the overall performance and could easily bottleneck a PC or server.
To combat the issue, PCI-E, the latest version, switched to a new modus operandi.
Rather than parallel shared connections, it went on to use serial connections.
Here, every machine and peripheral connected has its bus that runs between it and a switch.
Information is passed to the receiving gadget without any in-between stops.
Or wait times, as dedicated buses transmit data only for their part.
This change-over has made PCI-E devices incompatible with PCI-X and PCI connectors.
However, it also increased the data transfer speeds and capacities by some magnitude.
PCI-X and PCI standard connectors remain compatible, though attaching a PCI-X video card.
For example, to a PCI connector will throttle the PCI-X card to PCI performance speeds and stats.
PCI-E devices do not work with PCI/PCI-X ones at all.
Usage of PCI-X
PCI-X essentially doubles the possible clock speed and data transfer speeds.
Initially, PCI could handle up to 533MB/s at 66Hz, and less on most standard systems.
PCI-X maxed out at 1.06GB/s at up to 533MHz (though usually at 133MHz).
Before its replacement, PCI-X was found in countless PC parts.
Conclusion
PCI-X stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended.
It was a backward-compatible extension of the PCI standard.
As bandwidth was shared between all devices, efficiency was limited in more complex setups.
This was especially the case in setups where one rig was slower than others.
The whole configuration was limited to the performance of the slowest component.
The standardization of PCI-E solved these issues and enabled faster transfer speeds,.
It quickly replaced PCI-X as the preferred standard, leaving it obsolete outside of legacy hardware.
