Short for peripheral component interconnect, PCI was introduced by Intel in 1992. The PCI bus came in both 32-bit (speed of 133 MBps) and 64-bit versions and was used to attach hardware to a computer. Although commonly used in computers from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, PCI has since been replaced with PCI Express.

Revisions came in 1993 to version 2.0, and in 1995 to PCI 2.1, as an expansion to the ISA bus. Unlike ISA and other earlier expansion cards, PCI follows the PnP specification and therefore did not require any jumpers or dip switches.

PCI overview

The picture below shows an example of what PCI slots look like on a motherboard. As you can see, there are three PCI slots: PCI4, PCI5, and PCI6, and a CNR slot.

  • PCI overview.
  • Examples of PCI devices.
  • PCI device drivers.
  • How many PCI slots are on a motherboard?
  • How can I add a PCI card if I don’t have a PCI slot?
  • Related information.
  • Motherboard help and support.

Examples of PCI devices

  • Modem
  • Network card
  • Sound card
  • Video card

PCI device drivers

If you are looking for PCI drivers, you most likely need to download them for a specific PCI device. For example, if you need a PCI Ethernet adapter driver, install the drivers for the network card. See our drivers overview for a listing of drivers.

How many PCI slots are on a motherboard?

The number of PCI slots depend on the manufacturer and model of the motherboard. Today, very few motherboards come with any PCI with the introduction of PCI-E. Those few motherboards that do come with PCI slots have between one and three PCI slots.

How can I add a PCI card if I don’t have a PCI slot?

To connect a PCI card to a computer, the computer’s motherboard must have a PCI slot. As mentioned above, some of today’s computers no longer come with a PCI expansion slot. If your motherboard does not have a PCI expansion slot, we recommend getting a more modern card that’s supported by the motherboard.

Computer acronyms, Expansion slot, Hardware terms, Mini PCI, Motherboard terms, PCI-X, PIIX, PXI

  • How to fix exclamation mark on PCI to ISA bridge in Windows.
  • How to determine the PCI version.
  • How to fix unknown PCI device in Windows Device Manager.
  • How to identify an unknown PCI card.
  • Computer bus help and support.
  • Motherboard help and support.