What is the main benefit of PCIe compared to PCI?

The main benefit of PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) compared to the earlier PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is its ability to achieve faster data transfer speeds. This is primarily due to the technology underlying PCIe, which utilizes serial communication rather than parallel communication like PCI.

In PCIe, multiple lanes can be used for data transmission, allowing for higher bandwidth, as each lane can send and receive data simultaneously. This results in increased overall throughput. For example, PCIe 3.0 offers data rates of up to 1 GB/s per lane, while PCI 2.2 has a maximum throughput of approximately 533 MB/s across the bus. Consequently, PCIe meets the growing demands for faster communication needed in modern computing environments, such as gaming, high-performance computing, and data-intensive tasks.

Unlike older technologies, PCIe is designed to offer scalability with additional lanes available, allowing it to adapt to different performance requirements. While other factors like power consumption or compatibility may also be considered when looking at expansion options, the clear and significant advantage of quicker data transfer rates is what predominantly distinguishes PCIe from PCI. Thus, the choice of faster data transfer speeds captures the essence of why PCIe is preferred in today's hardware setups.