Introduction
Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the new USB 2.0 5-Port PCI Express Card (the Card) from Belkin. The Card is designed to take advantage of the additional bandwidth and features provided by the new PCI Express I/ O interconnection standard. Installing it will give you device- upgrade expansion room for many years to come.
Over the last 10 years, PCI has become the mainstream PC interface; nearly every computer uses the PCI bus specification. Computers implemented with a 32-bit PCI bus running at 33MHz yield a maximum data-transfer rate of only 133.3Mbps. In the current information age, data size is growing exponentially, driving the demand for faster and greater transfer rates. The original PCI interface is no longer sufficient to support this demand. This has led Intel® to develop and popularize PCI Express technology. Belkin’s line of connectivity solutions adapted to this new standard offer the most convenient ways to connect your peripherals for the performance you need.
Common PCI Express bus forms include x1, x2, x4, x8, and x16, with each form being characterized by a unique slot design. A one-path transmission on a one-lane (x1) PCI Express bus can reach speeds of up to 250MB—nearly double the standard PCI transmission speed. A 16-lane (x16) PCI Express bus can reach speeds of up to 16Gbps.
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