New CPU sockets and DDR-2 memory may make headlines, but the replacement of your PC motherboard's PCI expansion slots -- and its AGP graphics-card interface, and your notebook's PC Card slot, and maybe system design from the ground up -- will likely be 2004's most important technical advance. Vince Freeman explains how PCI Express is ready to step out of the wings and take center stage. Platform change is a regular occurrence in the world of PC hardware, and we're bracing for a big wave to hit in 2004. Intel and AMD are expected to make a transition to new CPU packages, DDR-2 memory may or may not become the de facto performance standard, and Serial ATA will likely replace its parallel predecessor as the standard interface not only for hard disks but optical drives as well.

These are all well-known and highly publicized architectural shifts, but one that may not get the same amount of press is likely to have an even more pervasive impact on system design. Get ready for the serial bus design known as PCI Express.

PCI Express: Under the Hood of 2004's New Bus @ CPU Planet