CompTIA^® A+^™ Core 1 Exam Notes :Important Bus Types And Their Characteristics

1. Given below are important bus types and their characteristics:

Bus Type	Data bus width	Speed	Bandwidth	Comments
ISA	16-bit	8.3MHz	15.9MBPS	Use jumpers to configure
EISA	32-bit	8.3MHz	31.8MBPS	Backward compatible witd ISA, uses software/ jumpers for configuration
VESA or VL bus	32-bit	33MHz	1127.2MBPS	Backward compatible witd ISA cards
PCI	32-bit	33MHz	1127.2MBPS	Supports Plug and Play
64-bit PCI	64-bit	66MHz	508.6MBPS	Supports Plug and Play
PCMCIA	32-bit	33MHz	-	Used in laptops, also know as PC card
AGP	32-bit	Speed of Processor	-	Used in video cards

2. Common Buses and their Max Bandwidth

Common Buses	Max Bandwidth
PCI	132 MB/s
PCI Express 1x	250 [500]* MB/s
PCI Express 2x	500 [1000]* MB/s
PCI Express 4x	1000 [2000]* MB/s
PCI Express 8x	2000 [4000]* MB/s>
PCI Express 16x	4000 [8000]* MB/s
PCI Express 32x	8000 [16000]* MB/s
IDE (ATA100)	100 MB/s
IDE (ATA133)	133 MB/s
SATA	150 MB/s
Gigabit Ethernet	125 MB/s
IEEE1394B[Firewire]	100 MB/s

northbridge

The northbridge typically handles communications among the CPU, in some cases RAM, and PCI Express (or AGP) video cards, and the southbridge. Northbridge is directly connected to AGP video, thus providing higher transfer rates.

southbridge

The southbridge is one of the two chips in the core logic chipset on a personal computer (PC) motherboard, the other being the northbridge. The southbridge typically implements the slower capabilities of the motherboard in a northbridge/southbridge chipset computer architecture. A southbridge chipset handles all of a computer's I/O functions, such as USB, audio, serial, the system BIOS, the ISA bus, the interrupt controller and the IDE channels.

CompTIA® A+™ Core 1 Exam Notes :Important Bus Types And Their Characteristics

CompTIA^® A+^™ Core 1 Exam Notes :Important Bus Types And Their Characteristics