What is an expansion slot?

Let’s talk about one of the niftiest and most useful things that help you upgrade the features of your desktop or laptop– the expansion slot.

What is an expansion slot?

Also known as a bus slot or expansion port, the expansion slot is a connection port inside a computer’s motherboard. It is akin to a socket on the motherboard, used to insert expansion cards which provide a computer with upgraded capabilities such as a video card for upgraded graphics processing capabilities, superior sound output, ethernet, or even memory. Any slot on the motherboard that can hold an expansion card to expand the computer’s functionality can be referred to as an expansion slot.

ALSO READ: What is clock speed?

For example, if you want to install a new video card on your computer, you would purchase a video expansion card and install it onto a compatible expansion slot.

How many types of expansion slots are there?

There are multiple types of expansion slots on a motherboard, but three of the most popular ones are the AGP, PCI, and PCIe, which is also known as PCI express. Each of these is commonly attached to a specific type of expansion card or cards. For instance, PCIe slots can be used for the network card, video card, modem, and sound card.  

 You can determine the type and number of expansion slots on your computer by looking up the type of motherboard you have. Most manufacturers put this kind of information on their websites. You can also use a few programs to find this out without actually opening the CPU case and physically inspecting it.