TestOut LabSim A+ Certification Practice Exam

Which expansion bus is predominantly used for sound, modem, and network cards?

1. PCIe

2. PCI

3. ISA

4. USB

The correct answer is: PCI

The expansion bus that is predominantly used for sound, modem, and network cards is PCI, or Peripheral Component Interconnect. Introduced in the 1990s, PCI became the standard interface for connecting various hardware components to the motherboard, particularly in the desktop and server markets. It offered a more direct pathway for data transfer compared to its predecessors, such as ISA, facilitating higher data throughput which was essential for the functionality of sound cards, modem cards, and network interface cards. This architecture provided several advantages, including a 32-bit and later 64-bit bus, capable of transferring data at speeds of 33 MHz to 66 MHz. The combination of these factors made PCI a highly effective choice for peripheral devices that required significant bandwidth and direct memory access, which are critical for the quality of sound processing and data transmission in modems and network interfaces. In comparison, while PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is the modern standard replacing PCI and provides even greater speeds and more versatility, it didn't become predominant until several years after PCI's introduction. ISA, an older standard, has largely fallen out of use, and USB, while versatile and widely adopted for many external devices, is not typically used for internal expansion cards like sound, modem, and