PCI Express, version 1.0 of which arrived in 2003, lets customers plug devices such as network adapters into computers. PCI Express 2.0 brings a bevy of changes, starting with a speed boost, according to the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) that governs the technology.
The PCI-SIG has released a penultimate edition of the basic PCI Express 2.0 specification to its members in version for comments, and the final version is due after a 60-day comment period, the group plans to announce Monday.
The central feature of the base version of PCI Express 2.0 is a speed boost. It doubles each serial line's data transfer rate from 2.5 gigabits per second to 5Gpbs.
But future enhancements also are in the works. One will support high-end graphics cards that slurp 225 or 300 watts of power, said The 451 Group analyst Greg Quick in a report Friday.
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