PCIe, PCI and AGP

[ewx]

Not so long ago I discovered that (1) I had no ISA-capable motherboards any more (2) I had a large pile of ISA cards of various kinds (3) nobody else wanted ISA cards, even for free.

Currently I have computers with, variously, PCI, AGP and PCIe slots and a number of PCI and AGP cards, some in service and others not. What I'm wondering, in the light of experience, is when PCI and AGP cards will reach the same kind of useful-to-nobody stage that ISA has already entered; it might be better to get my spares into useful service somewhere or other than to keep them in a box for a decade and then bin them.

Any guesses?

(The same applies to PATA, actually.)

Comments

[aardvark179.livejournal.com]

PATA is going to be around for ages, just because of the vast number of optical drives that use it.

[gerald_duck]

SATA versions of optical drives are now becoming readily available for negligible extra cost over PATA, and they're much more convenient to work with. My guess is that in two years' time nobody will fit PATA in a new PC, and by 2015 it will be dead for legacy, too.

AGP isn't just one standard: it's a long series of barely-compatible standards which obsolete one another every few years. The earliest AGP cards are already useless, and newer ones will become obsolete very quickly, too.

I expect it'll be possible to get PCI mainboards for at least another half decade, though: lots of people have invested in esoteric bits of hardware and will want to continue using them. This is what drove the longevity of ISA before it and meant I could still source mainboards with ISA in 2002.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I was slightly surprised when I discovered that optical drives were still PATA even in otherwise SATA computers. Presumably their manufacturers not being on the same technological growth ramp as hard disks means they couldn't just ("just") drop the new interface into next week's even bigger hard disk.

I might start looking for homes for older AGP cards now then...

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

I think it's partly that PATA provides way more capability than an optical drive needs anyway, so why move onto something even more advanced.

If it aint' broke ...

[armb.livejournal.com]

> why move onto something even more advanced.

Because the SATA cable is neater. In particular eSATA is neater than PATA in an external enclosure.

While there are lots of existing USB enclosures and few eSATA ports about, this isn't a particularly compelling reason, but if a SATA connection can be built for around the same price as PATA, I'd expect the trend to be towards it even for optical drives.

If it aint' broke ...

[ewx.livejournal.com]

From the motherboard manufacturer's and system builder's points of view, I'd have thought supporting only one interface would be cheaper than both.

Re: If it aint' broke ...

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Oh, certainly.

But if we're talking about the optical drive maker, it's cheaper to support only one interface. To start with, that interface is PATA. So then, the system builders have to support PATA.

Eventually, you get the point where sufficient drive makers support only SATA that many of the mobo makers drop PATA, that those drive makers still only making PATA start making SATA because market is disappearing, that the remainder of the mobo makers drop PATA suport, that the drive makers finally stop supplying PATA.

Very much an 'After you, Claude' sort of dance.

[arnhem.livejournal.com]

I think we're getting SATA optical drives as standard now. There was a time when it was all a bit compatibility-ish in the OS, which may explain some manufacturers being cautious in switching over.

[sparrowsion]

Some computers aren't convincingly one way or the other (para 2). (That problem has now been fixed by a convenient little SATA cable with built-int power socket adaptor.)

[senji.livejournal.com]

There was a long period when optical drives were SCSI even in otherwise IDE computer for much the same reason, and so long as box-shifters are willing to indulge this I don't think it'll go away.

Incidently, I suspect I'll be able to soak up reasonable numbers of PATA HDDs for some time yet, as will damerell. PCI cards I've just about reached the point of "got probably my lifetime's supply" for, except that I'm going to need a PCI SATA card in the forseeable future.