PC Hardware

Expansion Buses

The success of the personal computer is due largely to its ability to expand to meet the changing needs and economic requirements of the user. In this tutorial, we describe the array of expansion buses that help to expand the system and that work with an ever-growing number of enhancements, including modems, video cards, and portable drives. We also discuss conflicts within the computers how they are created and reconciled.

Lesson 1: Understanding Expansion Buses

The success of the personal computer is due largely to its ability to expand to meet the changing needs and economic requirements of the user. In this tutorial, we describe the array of expansion buses that help to expand the system and that work with an ever-growing number of enhancements, including modems, video cards, and portable drives. We also discuss conflicts within the computer-how they are created and reconciled.

Expansion buses are used to connect devices to the motherboard using the motherboard's data bus. They allow the flow of data between that device and other devices in and connected to the computer. Early computers moved data between devices and the processor at about the same rate as the processor. As processor speeds increased, the movement of data through the bus became a bottleneck. Therefore, the design capability of the buses needed to evolve, too. This lesson discusses that evolution.

After this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Identify the different types of expansion buses in a computer.
  • Identify the difference between the system bus and the expansion bus.
Estimated lesson time: 30 minutes

Before You Begin

This tutorial requires knowledge of processors, motherboards, and the binary/hexadecimal number systems. If you are not familiar with these concepts, take some time to review earlier tutorials.