A crazy thought on PCI slots

japhjaph
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
The recent thread on case design made me think about the issue of front mounted USB/Firewire ports.



Would there be any benefit to a single PCI slot facing forward, hidden behind a door of some kind?



I'm thinking that for pros it might be handy to have, for instance, a specialized sound card with I/O ports that are easily accessible.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Apple is driven by design, followed by usability. If it looked beautiful they would have ports up front and PCI slots readily accessible.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    kupan787kupan787 Posts: 586member
    [quote]Originally posted by japh:

    <strong>The recent thread on case design made me think about the issue of front mounted USB/Firewire ports.



    Would there be any benefit to a single PCI slot facing forward, hidden behind a door of some kind?



    I'm thinking that for pros it might be handy to have, for instance, a specialized sound card with I/O ports that are easily accessible.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Why not just turn your case around, then you have 4 PCI slots, etehrnet, firewire, usb, everyting right there in front



    No, but seriously I doubt they would make a front mounting PCI slot. I think they would all have to be on the front then (can you have PCI slots at different places on teh motherboard)?
  • Reply 3 of 10
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    [quote]Originally posted by kupan787:

    <strong>



    Why not just turn your case around, then you have 4 PCI slots, etehrnet, firewire, usb, everyting right there in front



    No, but seriously I doubt they would make a front mounting PCI slot. I think they would all have to be on the front then (can you have PCI slots at different places on teh motherboard)?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    sure you can, the xserve does. But it makes it a pain to build the motherboard that way and have everything layout correctly.



    Why exactly would you want a front mounted PCI card? define a specific application...
  • Reply 4 of 10
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    [quote]Originally posted by M3D Jack:

    <strong>Why exactly would you want a front mounted PCI card? define a specific application...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I guess what he's going for is: offloading pictures from a digital camera through USB. Adjusting the iPod's music library, connecting an (travelling) external firewire harddrive. All things that require a USB/Firewire cable to be attached to the computer for a limited amount of time, and then are better detached.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    You can have front mounted ports without a forward facing PCI card. There really is no compelling argument for forward facing PCI cards.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    Even PC makers have thought forward facing PCI was too butt ugly. But now that the PowerMacs have 2 optical drive bays - what is there stopping you from using one of those creative sound 'drives' ie their IO ports in a unit that goes in a drive bay?



    David
  • Reply 7 of 10
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    the pro keyboard has a usb port for a camera



    professionals don't mess with their systems too much so once they have it hooked up they are normally good and dont need...and many times want...to be back behind their system



    firewire drives shouldn't need connecting and disconnecting THAT often, this is the only viable point i see, and it can be easily solved by having a firewire cord connected and ready to each computer so u only have to move the drive
  • Reply 8 of 10
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    [quote]Originally posted by iMacfan:

    <strong>Even PC makers have thought forward facing PCI was too butt ugly. But now that the PowerMacs have 2 optical drive bays - what is there stopping you from using one of those creative sound 'drives' ie their IO ports in a unit that goes in a drive bay?



    David</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You are right , in the PC world you have some of these stuff ; a PCI card connected to a unit in the front 51/4 bay. But at the difference of the PC , Apple is not very big with front 5 1/4 bay. It will be a waste to lose one of the two front bay for these purpose.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    I don't think a PCI card in front is the answer, <a href="http://www.koutech.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=102"; target="_blank">this</a> is how it should work. Works for me, at least.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    japhjaph Posts: 29member
    [quote]Originally posted by M3D Jack:

    <strong>



    sure you can, the xserve does. But it makes it a pain to build the motherboard that way and have everything layout correctly.



    Why exactly would you want a front mounted PCI card? define a specific application...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The same application people wat front-mounted USB and Firewire ports for. Convenience. A front-facing PCI slot would simply offer flexibility and convenience.



    Front-mounted FW would be great for quickly hooking up a digital video camera. A front PCI slot would be great for being able to quickly hook up an analog camera.
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