A video card slot is a specific slot in a computer that holds a video card. There are three common types: PCI, AGP, and PCI-E. The slot must match the video card type. PCI was the standard until the mid-1990s, AGP replaced it until the mid-00s, and now PCI-E is the most common.
A video card slot is the spot inside a computer that is specifically designed to hold a video card. There are three common types of video card slots: Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI); accelerated graphics port (AGP); and the interconnection of peripheral components express (PCI-E). For a video card to fit into your computer, the video card slot and the video card must be of the same type. This slot connects directly to the northbridge section of the computer chipset, allowing for fast communication between the graphics card and the rest of the computer.
Inside a computer, there are several expansion slots on a motherboard. These slots allow new hardware to interface with existing hardware, increasing the capabilities of the computer. Most motherboards have a single slot at the top of the board specifically for a video card. Unlike the other slots, where you can insert a card into any compatible slot, this one is for video cards only.
There have been different types of video card slots over the years. On a modern computer there are only three common types, from least to most common they are PCI, AGP and PCI-E slots. Older computers have other types, such as industry standard architecture (ISA) or video electronics standards association (VESA), but these types are almost unknown today.
The PCI interface was the standard video card slot type until the mid-1990s. While it has all but disappeared today, this type of slot can still be found on some older office computers and low-cost components. While rarely used for video cards, this slot design is still the standard for many types of expansion cards, such as sound or network cards. As a result, PCI slots are still on most modern motherboards, but are not used for video cards.
AGP video card slots have replaced PCI as the most common style. They were on nearly every computer from the mid-1990s through the mid-00s. AGP card slots commonly have associated multipliers, such as x2, x4, or x8, which indicate the speed of the port. To make full use of the slot, an AGP card with the same multiplier is required.
The most common style of video card slot today is PCI-E. This type of slot took over from AGP in the mid 00’s as the default type. While APG cards have all but disappeared, PCI-E took over the market in the late 00s. These slots are very fast, which allows for more powerful video cards.
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