I/O Card Protocol

Any PC component that has input and output is classified as an I/O device.

A computer component that can perform both input and output (I/O)functions is an I/O component. The input comes from software and other sources while the output tends to run to external devices, such as monitors or speakers. There are three main protocols for connecting these devices to your computer.

AGP

An accelerated graphics port (AGP) is a slot on older motherboards for video cards, one of the most commonly used I/O devices in modern home computing. It is a dedicated port providing a direct line to the motherboard from the video card. This differs from other protocols that share numerous ports on a single bus, a shared connecting system. AGP has been phased out in favor of newer protocols.

PCI

A peripheral component interconnect (PCI) is a common type of I/O interface. Modems, sound cards, some video cards, Wi-Fi cards and many other types of I/O devices use this common protocol to connect to a PC's motherboard.

PCI Express

PCI Express is a newer version of the PCI protocol. It provides higher bandwidth than traditional PCI and is the favored connector for all model video cards (as of February 2011). PCI-compatible cards are not compatible with PCI Express and vice versa. Both protocols feature different size connectors ensuring that a user does not try to interface an older device with a PCI Express slot.

Tags: video cards, component that, input output, with Express