Editing Graphics card (section)

=== Motherboard interfaces ===
{{Main|Bus (computing) | Expansion card}}
[[File:ATI Hercules Card 1986 (cropped and transparent).png|thumb|right|ATI ''Graphics Solution Rev 3'' from 1985/1986, supporting [[Hercules Graphics Card|Hercules]] graphics. As can be seen from the [[Printed circuit board|PCB]] the layout was done in 1985, whereas the marking on the central chip ''CW16800-A'' says "8639" meaning that chip was manufactured week 39, 1986. This card is using the [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA 8-bit (XT) interface]].]]

Chronologically, connection systems between graphics card and motherboard were, mainly:

* [[S-100 bus]]: Designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, it is the first industry-standard bus for the microcomputer industry.
* [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]]: Introduced in 1981 by [[IBM]], it became dominant in the marketplace in the 1980s. It is an [[8-bit computing|8-]] or [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] bus clocked at 8&nbsp;MHz.
* [[NuBus]]: Used in [[Macintosh II]], it is a [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] bus with an average bandwidth of 10 to 20&nbsp;MB/s.
* [[Micro Channel architecture|MCA]]: Introduced in 1987 by IBM it is a 32-bit bus clocked at 10&nbsp;MHz.
* [[Extended Industry Standard Architecture|EISA]]: Released in 1988 to compete with IBM's MCA, it was compatible with the earlier ISA bus. It is a 32-bit bus clocked at 8.33&nbsp;MHz.
* [[VESA Local Bus|VLB]]: An extension of ISA, it is a 32-bit bus clocked at 33&nbsp;MHz. Also referred to as VESA.
* [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]]: Replaced the EISA, ISA, MCA and VESA buses from 1993 onwards. PCI allowed dynamic connectivity between devices, avoiding the manual adjustments required with [[Jumper (computing)|jumpers]]. It is a 32-bit bus clocked 33&nbsp;MHz.
* [[Ultra Port Architecture|UPA]]: An interconnect bus architecture introduced by [[Sun Microsystems]] in 1995. It is a [[64-bit computing|64-bit]] bus clocked at 67 or 83&nbsp;MHz.
* [[USB]]: Although mostly used for miscellaneous devices, such as [[Computer data storage|secondary storage devices or peripherals]] and [[USB toys|toys]], USB displays and display adapters exist. It was first used in 1996.
* [[Accelerated Graphics Port|AGP]]: First used in 1997, it is a dedicated-to-graphics bus. It is a 32-bit bus clocked at 66&nbsp;MHz.
* [[PCI-X]]: An extension of the PCI bus, it was introduced in 1998. It improves upon PCI by extending the width of bus to 64&nbsp;bits and the clock frequency to up to 133&nbsp;MHz.
* [[PCI Express]]: Abbreviated as PCIe, it is a point-to-point interface released in 2004. In 2006, it provided a data-transfer rate that is double of AGP. It should not be confused with [[PCI-X]], an enhanced version of the original PCI specification. This is standard for most modern graphics cards.

The following table is a comparison between features of some interfaces listed above.
{{Clear}}
{{See also|List of device bandwidths#Computer buses}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Bus
! Width (bits)
! Clock rate ([[hertz|MHz]])
! Bandwidth (MB/s)
! Style
|-
| '''ISA XT'''
| 8
| 4.77
| 8
| Parallel
|- 
| '''ISA AT'''
| 16
| 8.33
| 16
| Parallel
|-
| '''MCA'''
| 32
| 10
| 20
| Parallel
|-
| '''NUBUS'''
| 32
| 10
| 10{{ndash}}40
| Parallel
|- 
| '''EISA'''
| 32
| 8.33
| 32
| Parallel
|-
| '''VESA'''
| 32
| 40
| 160
| Parallel
|-
| '''PCI'''
| 32{{ndash}}64
| 33{{ndash}}100
| 132{{ndash}}800
| Parallel
|-
| '''AGP 1x'''
| 32
| 66
| 264
| Parallel
|-
| '''AGP 2x'''
| 32
| 66
| 528
| Parallel
|-
| '''AGP 4x'''
| 32
| 66
| 1000
| Parallel
|-
| '''AGP 8x'''
| 32
| 66
| 2000
| Parallel
|-
| '''PCIe x1'''
| 1
| 2500 / 5000
| 250 / 500
| Serial
|-
| '''PCIe x4'''
| 1 × 4
| 2500 / 5000
| 1000 / 2000
| Serial
|-
| '''PCIe x8'''
| 1 × 8
| 2500 / 5000
| 2000 / 4000
| Serial
|- 
| '''PCIe x16'''
| 1 × 16
| 2500 / 5000
| 4000 / 8000
| Serial
|- 
| '''PCIe ×1 2.0'''<ref>PCIe 2.1 has the same clock and bandwidth as PCIe 2.0</ref>
| 1
|
| 500 / 1000
| Serial
|- 
| '''PCIe ×4 2.0'''
| {{times|1 x 4}}
| 
| 2000 / 4000
| Serial
|-
| '''PCIe ×8 2.0'''
| {{times|1 x 8}}
| 
| 4000 / 8000
| Serial
|-
| '''PCIe ×16 2.0'''
| {{times|1 × 16}}
| 5000 / 10000
| 8000 / 16000
| Serial
|-
| '''PCIe ×1 3.0'''
| 1
| 
| 1000 / 2000
| Serial
|- 
| '''PCIe ×4 3.0'''
| {{times|1 x 4}}
| 
| 4000 / 8000
| Serial
|-
| '''PCIe ×8 3.0'''
| {{times|1 x 8}}
| 
| 8000 / 16000
| Serial
|- 
| '''PCIe ×16 3.0'''
| {{times|1 x 16}}
| 
| 16000 / 32000
| Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×1 4.0'''
|1
|
|2000 / 4000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×4 4.0'''
|1 × 4
|
|8000 / 16000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×8 4.0'''
|1 × 8
|
|16000 / 32000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×16 4.0'''
|1 × 16
|
|32000 / 64000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×1 5.0'''
|1
|
|4000 / 8000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×4 5.0'''
|1 × 4
|
|16000 / 32000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×8 5.0'''
|1 × 8
|
|32000 / 64000
|Serial
|-
|'''PCIe ×16 5.0'''
|1 × 16
|
|64000 / 128000
|Serial
|}