Adapters can plug into these expansion slots instead of directly into the motherboard. A riser board plugs into the motherboard and has its own expansion slots. A technician must also realize the abilities and limitations of each type of expansion slot when installing upgrades, replacing parts, and making recommendations.Īn alternative to an adapter plugging directly into the motherboard is the use of a riser board. A technician must be able to distinguish among adapters and expansion slots and be able to identify the adapters/devices that use an expansion slot. Other types of expansion slots that have been included with older PCs are ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture), MCA (Micro Channel Architecture), and VL-bus (sometimes called VESA bus).
Expansion slots used in PCs are usually some form of PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), or PCIe (PCI Express).
