<div>I found this interesting but old white paper at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://dell.com/" target="_blank">Dell.com</a> tech solutions and another one from INTEL.</div>
<div>It compares bandwidth usage of a PCI, PCI-X, PCI-E in 33/66/100/133 mhz bus and different technologies that can saturate the bus.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It helped me understand the bandwidth required for TDM (sangoma/digium) cards and how far can I push the PCI bus in an old and new motherboard.</div>
<div>I hope it help others to understand how much a network card can pump and make calculations about consumptions in TDM cards.</div>
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<div>make sure the link is a one-line in your browser</div>
<div>Original online document</div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/vectors/en/2004_pciexpress?c=us&cs=08W&l=en&s=bsdv" target="_blank">http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/vectors/en/2004_pciexpress?c=us&cs=08W&l=en&s=bsdv
</a></div>
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<div>here is the link to the same Dell article but in PDF form.</div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/vectors/2004_pciexpress.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/vectors/2004_pciexpress.pdf</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Another interesting document from INTEL</div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.intel.com/technology/pciexpress/devnet/docs/WhatisPCIExpress.pdf" target="_blank">www.intel.com/technology/pciexpress/devnet/docs/WhatisPCIExpress.pdf
</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>The facts learned from these documents are:</div>
<div>a- 3.3volts/32bit PCI cards can be used in PCI-X slots. (i just discovered that, sorry for living under a rock)</div>
<div>b- The slowest PCI card in Mhz will dictate that PCI-X bus speed. So avoid degradation by not installing a PCI card and a PCI-X card in the same bus (check you motherboard design), your motherboard design usually have two buses.
</div>
<div>c- If you use a PCI-X based implementation motherboard, you will not saturate the bandwidth of the board, using Quad or Octal port cards (e1/t1/j1).</div>
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<div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>------------------------------------------------------------<br>Erick Perez<br>Panama Sistemas<br>Integradores de Telefonia IP y Soluciones Para Centros de Datos<br>Panama, Republica de Panama
<br>Cel Panama. +(507) 6694-4780<br>------------------------------------------------------------ </div>