1.

0 MOTHERBOARD

DEFINITION: is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in some

complex electronic systems, such as modern personal computers.

The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the main

board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board.[1] It

is also sometimes casually shortened to .

Motherboards are complex, and include many different integrated

devices, which makes it difficult to describe in simple terms how

to buy one. As a result, this section is rather long. Unfortunately, if

you want to get the motherboard that is best for you, you need to

consider a lot of different issues. In fact, I haven't even listed all

the different specific parts and minor selection issues involved in

motherboard selection, or this page would be even longer! You do

have to do your research if you have a specific need, especially if

you are looking to build or have someone build to order something

like a server. (For regular PCs the detail provided here should be

more than adequate.)

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1.1 HISTORY

Prior to the advent of the microprocessor, a computer was usually

built in a card-cage case or mainframe with components connected

by a backplane consisting of a set of slots themselves connected

with wires; in very old designs the wires were discrete connections

between card connector pins, but printed-circuit boards soon

became the standard practice. The central processing unit, memory

and peripherals were housed on individual printed circuit boards

which plugged into the backplane.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, it became economical to move an

increasing number of peripheral functions onto the motherboard

(see below). In the late 1980s, motherboards began to include

single ICs (called Super I/O chips) capable of supporting a set of

low-speed peripherals: keyboard, mouse, floppy disk drive, serial

ports, and parallel ports. As of the late 1990s, many personal

computer motherboards supported a full range of audio, video,

storage, and networking functions without the need for any

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expansion cards at all; higher-end systems for 3D gaming and

computer graphics typically retained only the graphics card as a

separate component.

The early pioneers of motherboard manufacturing were Micronics,

Mylex, AMI, DTK, Hauppauge, Orchid Technology, Elitegroup,

DFI, and a number of Taiwan-based manufacturers.

Popular personal computers such as the Apple II and IBM PC had

published schematic diagrams and other documentation which

permitted rapid reverse-engineering and third-party replacement

motherboards. Usually intended for building new computers

compatible with the exemplars, many motherboards offered

additional performance or other features and were used to upgrade

the manufacturer's original equipment.

The term mainboard is archaically applied to devices with a single

board and no additional expansions or capability. In modern terms

this would include embedded systems, and controlling boards in

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televisions, washing machines etc. A motherboard specifically

refers to a printed circuit with the capability to add/extend its

performance/capabilities with the addition of "daughterboards".

1.2 OVERVIEW

An Acer E360 motherboard made by Foxconn, from 2005, with a

large number of integrated peripherals. This board's nForce3

chipset lacks a traditional northbridge.

Most computer motherboards produced today are designed for

IBM-compatible computers, which currently account for around

90% of global PC sales. A motherboard, like a backplane, provides

the electrical connections by which the other components of the

system communicate, but unlike a backplane, it also hosts the

central processing unit, and other subsystems and devices.

Motherboards are also used in many other electronics devices such

as mobile phones, stop-watches, clocks, and other small electronic

devices.

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A typical desktop computer has its microprocessor, main memory,

and other essential components on the motherboard. Other

components such as external storage, controllers for video display

and sound, and peripheral devices may be attached to the

motherboard as plug-in cards or via cables, although in modern

computers it is increasingly common to integrate some of these

peripherals into the motherboard itself.

An important component of a motherboard is the microprocessor's

supporting chipset, which provides the supporting interfaces

between the CPU and the various buses and external components.

This chipset determines, to an extent, the features and capabilities

of the motherboard.

Modern motherboards include, at a minimum:

• sockets (or slots) in which one or more microprocessors are

installed[3]

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 • slots into which the system's main memory is installed

(typically in the form of DIMM modules containing DRAM

chips)

• a chipset which forms an interface between the CPU's front-

side bus, main memory, and peripheral buses

• non-volatile memory chips (usually Flash ROM in modern

motherboards) containing the system's firmware or BIOS

• a clock generator which produces the system clock signal to

synchronize the various components

• slots for expansion cards (these interface to the system via

the buses supported by the chipset)

• power connectors flickers, which receive electrical power

from the computer power supply and distribute it to the CPU,

chipset, main memory, and expansion cards.

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Diagram of The Octek Jaguar

The Octek Jaguar V motherboard from 1993. This board has 6 ISA

slots but few onboard peripherals, as evidenced by the lack of

external connectors.

Additionally, nearly all motherboards include logic and connectors

to support commonly-used input devices, such as PS/2 connectors

for a mouse and keyboard. Early personal computers such as the

Apple II or IBM PC included only this minimal peripheral support

on the motherboard. Occasionally video interface hardware was

also integrated into the motherboard; for example on the Apple II,

and rarely on IBM-compatible computers such as the IBM PC Jr.

Additional peripherals such as disk controllers and serial ports

were provided as expansion cards.

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Given the high thermal design power of high-speed computer

CPUs and components, modern motherboards nearly always

include heat sinks and mounting points for fans to dissipate excess

heat.

1.3 CPU SOCKETS

A CPU socket or CPU slot is an electrical component that attaches

to a printed circuit board (PCB) and is designed to house a CPU

(also called a microprocessor). It is a special type of integrated

circuit socket designed for very high pin counts. A CPU socket

provides many functions, including providing a physical structure

to support the CPU, providing support for a heat sink, facilitating

replacement (as well as reducing cost) and most importantly

forming an electrical interface both with the CPU and the PCB.

CPU sockets can most often be found in most desktop and server

computers (laptops typically use surface mount CPUs), particularly

those based on the Intel x86 architecture on the motherboard.

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A CPU will last for over a decade if it is properly installed and

cooled. As for obsolescence, it's really a matter of what your needs

are. After as little as six months even the fastest CPU around is

displaced by something newer; that doesn't mean the CPU needs to

be replaced however. Most people can use a system for at least

three years before the need to upgrade becomes more pressing.

CPU upgrades are relatively easy until you reach the fastest CPU

that can run in a particular motherboard. At that point you are

looking at a new motherboard and CPU--a platform change that

will radically alter the system as a whole

1.4 INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS

Block diagram of a modern motherboard, which supports many on-

board peripheral functions as well as several expansion slots.

With the steadily declining costs and size of integrated circuits, it

is now possible to include support for many peripherals on the

motherboard. By combining many functions on one PCB, the

physical size and total cost of the system may be reduced; highly-

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integrated motherboards are thus especially popular in small form

factor and budget computers.

For example, the ECS RS485M-M,[6] a typical modern budget

motherboard for computers based on AMD processors, has on-

board support for a very large range of peripherals:

• disk controllers for a floppy disk drive, up to 2 PATA drives,

and up to 6 SATA drives (including RAID 0/1 support)

• integrated ATI Radeon graphics controller supporting 2D and

3D graphics, with VGA and TV output

• integrated sound card supporting 8-channel (7.1) audio and

S/PDIF output

• Fast Ethernet network controller for 10/100 Mbit networking

• USB 2.0 controller supporting up to 12 USB ports

• IrDA controller for infrared data communication (e.g. with an

IrDA enabled Cellular Phone or Printer)

• temperature, voltage, and fan-speed sensors that allow

software to monitor the health of computer components

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Expansion cards to support all of these functions would have cost

hundreds of dollars even a decade ago, however as of April 2007

such highly-integrated motherboards are available for as little as

$30 in the USA.

1.5 PERIPHERAL CARD SLOTS

A typical motherboard of 2009 will have a different number of

connections depending on its standard. A standard ATX

motherboard will typically have 1x PCI-E 16x connection for a

graphics card, 2x PCI slots for various expansion cards and 1x

PCI-E 1x which will eventually supersede PCI.

A standard Super ATX motherboard will have 1x PCI-E 16x

connection for a graphics card. It will also have a varying number

of PCI and PCI-E 1x slots. It can sometimes also have a PCI-E 4x

slot. This varies between brands and models.

Some motherboards have 2x PCI-E 16x slots, to allow more than 2

monitors without special hardware or to allow use of a special

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graphics technology called SLI (for Nvidia) and Crossfire (for

ATI). These allow 2 graphics cards to be linked together, to allow

better performance in intensive graphical computing tasks, such as

gaming and video-editing.

As of 2007, virtually all motherboards come with at least 4x USB

ports on the rear, with at least 2 connections on the board internally

for wiring additional front ports that are built into the computer's

case. Ethernet is also included now. This is a standard networking

cable for connecting the computer to a network or a modem. A

sound chip is always included on the motherboard, to allow sound

to be output without the need for any extra components. This

allows computers to be far more multimedia-based than before.

Cheaper machines now often have their graphics chip built into the

motherboard rather than a separate card.

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1.6 RELIABILITY

Motherboards are generally air cooled with heat sinks often

mounted on larger chips, such as the northbridge, in modern

motherboards. If the motherboard is not cooled properly, it can

cause the computer to crash. Passive cooling, or a single fan

mounted on the power supply, was sufficient for many desktop

computer CPUs until the late 1990s; since then, most have required

CPU fans mounted on their heat sinks, due to rising clock speeds

and power consumption. Most motherboards have connectors for

additional case fans as well. Newer motherboards have integrated

temperature sensors to detect motherboard and CPU temperatures,

and controllable fan connectors which the BIOS or operating

system can use to regulate fan speed. Some higher-powered

computers (which typically have high-performance processors and

large amounts of RAM, as well as high-performance video cards)

use a water-cooling system instead of many fans.

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The CPU is definitely an important performance component.

However, its impact on overall performance is often overstated.

Large differences are important; small ones are not. Increasing

your CPU's speed from 400 MHz to 800 MHz will result in

noticeable improvement, but upgrading from 400 MHz to 500

MHz is probably a waste of money. Even though the CPU will be

25% faster, the system overall won't be, because there is much

more to system performance than just CPU clock speed. There are

diminishing returns, especially as you increase CPU speed while

leaving the rest of the system the same. Unless you're a hard-core

gamer, one of the most important ways to keep a PC under budget

is not to overspend on the CPU.

Some small form factor computers and home theater PCs designed

for quiet and energy-efficient operation boast fan-less designs. This

typically requires the use of a low-power CPU, as well as careful

layout of the motherboard and other components to allow for heat

sink placement.

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A 2003 study found that some spurious computer crashes and

general reliability issues, ranging from screen image distortions to

I/O read/write errors, can be attributed not to software or

peripheral hardware but to aging capacitors on PC motherboards.

Ultimately this was shown to be the result of a faulty electrolyte

formulation.

Motherboards use electrolytic capacitors to filter the DC power

distributed around the board. These capacitors age at a

temperature-dependent rate, as their water based electrolytes

slowly evaporate. This can lead to loss of capacitance and

subsequent motherboard malfunctions due to voltage instabilities.

While most capacitors are rated for 2000 hours of operation at 105

°C,[9] their expected design life roughly doubles for every 10 °C

below this. At 45 °C a lifetime of 15 years can be expected. This

appears reasonable for a computer motherboard, however many

manufacturers have delivered substandard capacitors, which

significantly reduce life expectancy. Inadequate case cooling and

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elevated temperatures easily exacerbate this problem. It is possible,

but tedious and time-consuming, to find and replace failed

capacitors on PC motherboards; it is less expensive to buy a new

motherboard than to pay for such a repair.

1.7 FORM FACTOR

microATX form factor motherboard

Motherboards are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes ("form

factors"), some of which are specific to individual computer

manufacturers. However, the motherboards used in IBM-

compatible commodity computers have been standardized to fit

various case sizes. As of 2007, most desktop computer

motherboards use one of these standard form factors—even those

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found in Macintosh and Sun computers which have not

traditionally been built from commodity components.

Laptop computers generally use highly integrated, miniaturized,

and customized motherboards. This is one of the reasons that

laptop computers are difficult to upgrade and expensive to repair.

Often the failure of one laptop component requires the replacement

of the entire motherboard, which is usually more expensive than a

desktop motherboard due to the large number of integrated

components.

1.8 NVIDIA SLI AND ATI CROSSFIRE

Nvidia SLI and ATI Crossfire technology allows two or more of

the same series graphics cards to be linked together to allow faster

graphics-processing capabilities. Almost all medium- to high-end

Nvidia cards and most high-end ATI cards support the technology.

They both require compatible motherboards. There is an obvious

need for 2x PCI-E 16x slots to allow two cards to be inserted into

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the computer. The same function can be achieved in 650i

motherboards by NVIDIA, with a pair of x8 slots. Originally, tri-

Crossfire was achieved at 8x speeds with two 16x slots and one 8x

slot; albeit at a slower speed. ATI opened the technology up to Intel

in 2006, and all new Intel chipsets now support Crossfire.

SLI is a little more proprietary in its needs. It requires a

motherboard with Nvidia's own NForce chipset series to allow it to

run (exception: select Intel X58 chipset based motherboards).

It is important to note that SLI and Crossfire will not usually scale

to 2x the performance of a single card when using a dual setup.

They also do not double the effective amount of VRAM or

memory bandwidth.

1.9 BOOTSTRAPPING USING THE BIOS

Motherboards contain some non-volatile memory to initialize the

system and load an operating system from some external

peripheral device. Microcomputers such as the Apple II and IBM

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PC used read-only memory chips, mounted in sockets on the

motherboard. At power-up, the central processor would load its

program counter with the address of the boot ROM, and start

executing ROM instructions, displaying system information on the

screen and running memory checks, which would in turn start

loading memory from an external or peripheral device (disk drive).

If none is available, then the computer can perform tasks from

other memory stores or display an error message, depending on the

model and design of the computer and version of the BIOS.

Most modern motherboard designs use a BIOS, stored in an

EEPROM chip soldered to the motherboard, to bootstrap the

motherboard. (Socketed BIOS chips are widely used, also.) By

booting the motherboard, the memory, circuitry, and peripherals

are tested and configured. This process is known as a computer

Power-On Self Test (POST) and may include testing some of the

following devices.

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System memory is comprised of silicon chips that are placed into

small black packages (themselves also sometimes called chips,

oops). These packages are in turn placed onto standard-sized

modules, to make installing and removing memory easier; these

modules are really very small circuit boards. The standard module

types today are 168-pin dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) for

SDRAM, 184-pin DIMMs for DDR SDRAM, and Rambus inline

memory modules (RIMMs) for RDRAM. Older systems used 30-

pin and 72-pin single inline memory modules or SIMMs. You must

be sure to get the right packaging for your motherboard

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