Non-graphics PCI Express products start to appear

The model is an Intel SRCU42E, which has an onboard 500MHz XScale processor, and is the fist RAID controller to be based on the next-generation PCI-Express x8 interface, giving it a huge theoretical speed that should be of real benefit to server applications which rely on fast storage.

We're starting to see some real benefits obtainable from the PCI-Express platform, in contrast to the underwhelming introduction that Intel faced when first pushing the standard earlier this year. There are still some areas where we are waiting to see any kind of performance increase, but all the signs are that uptake of the platform is getting quicker, and will speed up as we start to see wide availability of AMD-based platforms.

Video editing is one area where there are performance benefits to be had right now. As video luminary James Morris told the INQ this morning, users of applications such as Pinnacle Liquid and the forthcoming 3D Edit from Tenomichi, which use 3D graphics hardware to render effects, are already starting to see speed increases from the bus which make a technology transition compelling. ATI's Dinesh Sharma, in a recent interview over at Digital Media Net, also explained that bandwidth limited applications like HD video compositing are seeing a swift shift to PCI-Express, and outlines how ATI expects the workstation market to move to the new platform quicker than consumers.

The Intel RAID card is an example of how storage can benefit from the bus, even though this version is only supported on Tumwater and nForce 4 at the moment, due to the new 8x interface. Recent articles in the printed tech press have been blasting SATA RAID for not offering a discernable benefit over standard SATA, due to the limitations of the PCI bus that many of these controllers use. When PCI-Express RAID cards arrive in volume, there will be a great demand for them, we suspect.

Of course, there is a great deal of noise on the consumer side, because the prospect of transferring the current PC user base to a new standard is one which makes beancounters at all the firms involved lie awake at night dreaming of their new Ferraris. The home media centre movement that is in full swing at the moment is looking forward to PCI-Express as a way to stream multiple video streams all over the house, as Intel demonstrated at their Developer Forum this year. However, with awareness of media centre boxes still relatively low, major uptake is looking unlikely for a while yet.

There is no doubt that PCI-Express will take off next year, as it slowly spreads through the system builder community and more demand is seen for it. In a sense, it needs a killer application - either a game that will utilise all the extra graphics bandwidth, or perhaps high-definition multi-streaming surround-porno that can only be viewed with the extra bandwidth (hurr!) and faster hard drives (fnar!) that PCI-Express provides. Without something to give it a kick, the transition will continue to be slow in the consumer market, whilst professionals will continue to lap it up. µ