When installing a device why would you prefer to use a pci expansion slot rather that an isa expansion slot?

Answer 1

PCI has several advantages over ISA, that make it a better choice for most devices.

1. PCI is several times faster. ISA is an 8/16-bit interface that runs on an 8 MHz bus. PCI is a 32/64 bit interface that runs on a 33 or 66 MHz bis. Thus more data is able to transfer to and from the PCI bus.

2. PCI was built with Plug 'n' Play support in mind. No special configuration is needed when you install PCI cards. When installing ISA cards, you will often have to configure jumpers on them to specify an interrupt and DMA channel, and many cards can be incompatible with each other.

3. ISA is all but absent from modern computers. One of the requirements for a computer to bear the "Made for Windows 2000" sticker was the removal of the ISA bus. So there have not been any major ISA motherboard vendors in 10 years.

Answer 2

PCI has a wider bus (bus width is the amount of data that can be sent simultaneously in one clock cycle) and a much faster clock speed than ISA. Simply put, it means that data can be sent and received between the device and the CPU at a much faster rate.

in addition to that, PCI is a self-configuring bus standard.

while ISA bus requires configuration of jumpers, DIP switches and other settings in order to function, PCI does not.

this feature has been further developed to what is known today as "Plug and Play" (PnP).

Answer 3

PCI expansion slots offer faster data transfer rates and greater bandwidth compared to ISA slots, making them more suitable for modern devices and applications.

Answer 4

ISA is an older standard and not really used much these days.