# PCI Slots



## E Money

First, i am wondering how many bits are the PCIe x16 slots, PCI slöts, and PCIe x1 slöts??

Im learning motherboards right now and the only way for me to distinguish a 5V slöt from a 3.3V slöt on a 32bit is to look at a 64 bit slöt and compare. Since the 3.3v on a 64bit is towards the bottom, while the 5v is towards the middle, i can tell what side is which on a 32bit slöt. Or do they have some sort of marking on the slot itself??

Sorry, i may be making this more complicated then it really is but i havnt eaten since 4 am and its 8 pm right now. My brain needs power!!


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## SteveThePirate

I believe all PCIe and current pci buses  support up to 64 bit and that the only difference is the speed with which the data is transfered. Do not quote me on that. I am also just learning.


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## E Money

Well my main question is how are you suppose to know if a 32 bit slöt is 3.3v or 5 v... Or are you saying 32 bit slots are outdated?


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## StrangleHold




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## E Money

ok so are the 64 bits PCIe x16 and the 32 bits PCI??


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## StrangleHold

The two short slot are a 5V and a 3.3V PCI. The two longer slots are a 5V and a 3.3V PCI-X slot.





These are PCIe slots, they come in X1-X4-X8 and X16, but the X8 and X16 usually use the same size slot but the X8 is just wired for X8.






Here is a good example. The Blue and Black slots are PCIe X16 slots. The two long white slots are PCI-X slots. The short white slots are PCI slots


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