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Intel Says Farewell To PCI Bus

Posted by timothy on from the ok-fine-I-get-it-my-computer-is-old dept.

KingofGnG writes with this snippet from Sir Arthur's Den, which will make my desktop computer sad: "Soon another technology that in past years dominated the always changing universe of computer hardware will bite the dust. That's the decision by Intel, the merciless executioner of standards that the company itself imposes on the market. In upcoming months it will end official support for the PCI bus. Developed by the chipmaker in 1993, the PCI Local Bus standard was implemented on all motherboards for x86 and compatible platforms until 2004, the year it passed the baton to the younger and faster PCI Express technology."

12 of 415 comments (clear)

  1. Now What? by stewbacca · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now what am I supposed to do with my Voodoo II video card?

    1. Re:Now What? by toastar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Now what am I supposed to do with my Voodoo II video card?

      A Better Question is how am I going to hook up my legacy scsi array?

    2. Re:Now What? by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Screw that, what about my $2800.00 Sensor input card for this pile of thermocouples and Ph probes in the lab? I guess it's time to go out and buy some PC gear with PCI to make sure the lab can have parts for repairs until the idiots in management give us money to buy new test gear.

      That's the real rub. Those of us doing REAL work with computers are getting screwed. Most new scientific and high end test equipment still use PCI and RS232.

      --
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    3. Re:Now What? by ngg · · Score: 5, Informative

      Google for "PCI PCI-e expansion box" (no quotes). One of the first few hits should be for a box that turns a 1x PCI-e slot into 4 33MHz/32bit PCI slots. We recently considered buying one for our PCI National Instruments boards because there are fewer cheap, commodity motherboards with lots of PCI slots.

    4. Re:Now What? by greed · · Score: 5, Informative

      Since many current systems implement PCI via a PCIe to PCI bridge chip, there is no reason a riser or backplane card cannot be made to connect to the PCIe bus.

      In fact, a quick search for such a beast hit a Google Ad that offered a variety of combinations, starting with one that will connect a low-profile PCI card to a PCIe slot for EUR49.

      And system vendors can do the same thing to keep offering PCI slots on the motherboard itself.

    5. Re:Now What? by macson_g · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just transfer all the data to a microSD card.

    6. Re:Now What? by beardz · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's still a few manufacturers making C2D boards with a limited number of ISA slots : http://www.adek.com/ATX-motherboards.htm and http://www.commell.com.tw/product/SBC/P4BWA.HTM are two examples.

  2. ok... by Lord+Ender · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can we get rid of PS/2, VGA, parallel, and serial ports now, too? Hell, let's axe DVI in favor if HDMI while we're at it!

    Oh, and can someone tell the shitty mobo makers to stop requiring MS DOS floppy disks to flash their BIOSs?

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  3. I'm just getting used to this new fangled AGP.... by LazLong · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm just getting used to these new fangled AGP cards and their single connectors. I feel so much more secure with the dual connectors of my VLB cards....Maybe if I saw the boards in half they'll work in my new PCI-based motherboards. What do think? They fit, but all I get is sparks and a strange smoking smell....

  4. Re:Some of us still have PCI cards by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can buy expansion cards that run a PCI bridge off the PCIe bus. The chips cost about $5 in bulk, $50 retail for the cards, and make more sense than including the PCIe to PCI bridge chip on all motherboards, when most people don't need them. If there's a large enough market for industrial PCs that have PCI slots then no doubt some board maker will produce a motherboard with the chip built in. All this announcement means is that there won't be PCI support in Intel's southbridge chips.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  5. Hell, you can still find new ISA motherboards... by BUL2294 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Out of curiosity, I was looking for motherboards that still support ISA, and apparently there's still a market...

    This ATX board I found, supporting C2Duo/C2Quad processors, has ISA, 4x serial, parallel, FDD, PS/2 mouse & keyboard, etc., in addition to dual gigabit Ethernet, RAID, SATA, PCI-Express x16, PCI, HD audio, DDR2, etc.

    http://www.adek.com/PDF/MB-P4BWA.pdf

    --
    Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
  6. Re:And to think, if we just bought 68K machines by twmcneil · · Score: 5, Funny

    Micro Channel wasn't killed, it committed suicide.

    --
    "The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"