14 DAY TRIAL // When it was first implemented, the PCI Express 2.0 specifications allowed for newer and much more powerful motherboards and graphics cards to be made. Still, as time moves on, technologies become outdated and unable to handle next-generation products. The PCI Express 2.0 can't really be said to have reached this stage, but neither is it far from doing so. In fact, in order to avoid issues of insufficient bandwidth, the PCI-SIG executives wanted to release the PCI Express 3.0 specification last year.
Obviously, this did not come to pass. Back then, the standard was delayed because of compatibility issues, and while products based on it were said to be slated for 2011, an exact release date of the specification itself was not given. This piece of information is still unavailable, but PC World reports that it might not take overly long for the launch to take place.
PC World received an invitation to an event that will take place on June 23. There, details on the technology and the publication will be presented.
“Here you will receive a comprehensive update on PCI technologies, including information on the PCIe 3.0 specification publication coming in the second half of this year," a spokeswoman reportedly said in an e-mail.
The benefits of the next-generation interface started being hinted at as far back as 2008. The most relevant detail was the transfer rate of 8.0 gigatransfers per second (the bandwidth will depend on the bit width). For mainstream PC users, this won't be particularly relevant, mostly because graphics cards won't need any sort of new connectors. On the other hand, enthusiasts that multitask or those that perform video-intensive tasks like graphics design will no longer be restricted by the interface's bottleneck. The spec should be made public later this year and motherboard and graphics cards with support for it should start showing up in 2011.