Comparing PCI  to PXI Switching Systems

We off a variety of switching systems in PCI format. These control bases are similar to PXI (which uses the PCI bus), but the mechanical format is different. PCI uses the familiar slots seen on desktop PCs. The availability of these slots on modern desktop machines is declining in favor of PCIe slots. However, a large industry is based around industrial PCs, which continue to prefer the PCI format. For that reason, we offer PCI-based switching systems and resistance simulators.

The most common reasons for choosing PCI in preference to PXI are:

• Chassis costs are generally lower than PXI
• There may be spare slots in the PC which can be used to avoid adding a different chassis type
• Some products are available in PCI but not PXI

The principal reason for not offering all switching designs in PCI are:

• Not enough commercial demand
• Some switching systems may not be suited for inclusion on cards that might reside in a PC for EMC reasons
• PCI slots may have less cooling, are cooling from an unexpected direction than PXI
• The chassis power supply is less well defined

For these reasons, PCI solutions tend to concentrate on systems that are not high-power and will have fewer compromises when included in a desktop PC or an industrial chassis.

Pickering Interfaces is always willing to consider PCI versions of our PXI designs; don't hesitate to contact us for more information.