Motherboard

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For other uses, see Motherboard (disambiguation).

Motherboard for an Acer desktop personal computer, showing the typical components
and interfaces that are found on a motherboard. This model was made by Foxconn in
2007 and follows the microATX layout (known as the "form factor") usually employed
for desktop computers. It is designed to work with AMD's Athlon 64 processor

Intel D945GCPE: A microATX Motherboard LGA775 for Intel Pentium 4, D, XE, Dual-
Core, Core 2 (circa 2007)
A motherboard (sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, main circuit board,
system board, baseboard, planar board or logic board,[1] or colloquially, a mobo)
is the main printed circuit board (PCB) found in general purpose computers and
other expandable systems. It holds and allows communication between many of the
crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit
(CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a
backplane, a motherboard usually contains significant sub-systems such as the
central processor, the chipset's input/output and memory controllers, interface
connectors, and other components integrated for general purpose use and
applications.

Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability and as the name
suggests, this board is often referred to as the "mother" of all components
attached to it, which often include peripherals, interface cards, and
daughtercards: sound cards, video cards, network cards, hard drives, or other forms
of persistent storage; TV tuner cards, cards providing extra USB or FireWire slots
and a variety of other custom components.

Similarly, the term mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and no
additional expansions or capability, such as controlling boards in laser printers,
televisions, washing machines, mobile phones and other embedded systems with
limited expansion abilities.

Contents
1 History
2 Design
2.1 Form factor
2.2 CPU sockets
2.3 Integrated peripherals
2.4 Peripheral card slots
2.5 Temperature and reliability
3 Bootstrapping using the Basic Input/Output System
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
History
Prior to the invention of the microprocessor, the digital computer consisted of
multiple printed circuit boards in a card-cage case with components connected by a
backplane, a set of interconnected sockets. In very old designs, copper wires were
the discrete connections between card connector pins, but printed circuit boards
soon became the standard practice. The Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, and
peripherals were housed on individual printed circuit boards, which were plugged
into the backplane. The ubiquitous S-100 bus of the 1970s is an example of this
type of backplane system.

The most popular computers of the 1980s 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.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, it became economical to move an increasing
number of peripheral functions onto the motherboard. In the late 1980s, personal
computer motherboards began to include single ICs (also called Super I/O chips)
capable of supporting a set of low-speed peripherals: keyboard, mouse, floppy disk
drive, serial ports, and parallel ports. By the late 1990s, many personal computer
motherboards included consumer-grade embedded audio, video, storage, and networking
functions without the need for any expansion cards at all; higher-end systems for
3D gaming and computer graphics typically retained only the graphics card as a
separate component. Business PCs, workstations, and servers were more likely to
need expansion cards, either for more robust functions, or for higher speeds; those
systems often had fewer embedded components.

Laptop and notebook computers that were developed in the 1990s integrated the most
common peripherals. This even included motherboards with no upgradeable components,
a trend that would continue as smaller systems were introduced after the turn of
the century (like the tablet computer and the netbook). Memory, processors, network
controllers, power source, and storage would be integrated into some systems.

Design

The Octek Jaguar V motherboard from 1993.[2] This board has few onboard
peripherals, as evidenced by the 6 slots provided for ISA cards and the lack of
other built-in external interface connectors. Note the large AT keyboard connector
at the back right is its only peripheral interface.

The motherboard of a Samsung Galaxy SII; almost all functions of the device are
integrated into a very small board
A motherboard provides the electrical connections by which the other components of
the system communicate. Unlike a backplane, it also contains the central processing
unit and hosts other subsystems and devices.

A typical desktop computer has its microprocessor, main memory, and other essential
components connected to 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; in modern microcomputers 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:

Sockets (or slots) in which one or more microprocessors may be installed. In the
case of CPUs in ball grid array packages, such as the VIA C3, the CPU is directly
soldered to the motherboard.[3]
Memory Slots into which the system's main memory is to be 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 (the interface to the system via the buses supported by
the chipset)
Power connectors, which receive electrical power from the computer power supply and
distribute it to the CPU, chipset, main memory, and expansion cards. As of 2007,
some graphics cards (e.g. GeForce 8 and Radeon R600) require more power than the
motherboard can provide, and thus dedicated connectors have been introduced to
attach them directly to the power supply.[4]
Connectors for hard drives, typically SATA only. Disk drives also connect to the
power supply.
Additionally, nearly all motherboards include logic and connectors to support
commonly used input devices, such as USB for mouse devices and keyboards. 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.

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.

Form factor
Main article: Comparison of computer form factors
Motherboards are produced in a variety of sizes and shape called computer form
factor, some of which are specific to individual computer manufacturers. However,
the motherboards used in IBM-compatible systems are designed to fit various case
sizes. As of 2007, most desktop computer motherboards use the ATX standard form
factor � even those found in Macintosh and Sun computers, which have not been built
from commodity components. A case's motherboard and power supply unit (PSU) form
factor must all match, though some smaller form factor motherboards of the same
family will fit larger cases. For example, an ATX case will usually accommodate a
microATX motherboard.

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 a large number of integrated components and their custom
shape and size. The motherboard layout for laptops depends on the laptop case.

CPU sockets
A CPU socket (central processing unit) or 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
a physical structure to support the CPU, 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 on the motherboard 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. A CPU socket
type and motherboard chipset must support the CPU series and speed.

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 integrated motherboards are thus especially popular in small form
factor and budget computers.

Disk controllers for a floppy disk drive, up to 2 PATA drives, and up to 6 SATA
drives (including RAID 0/1 support)
integrated 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
Ethernet network controller for connection to a LAN and to receive Internet
USB 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.
Peripheral card slots
A typical motherboard will have a different number of connections depending on its
standard and form factor.

A standard, modern ATX motherboard will typically have two or three PCI-Express 16x
connection for a graphics card, one or two legacy PCI slots for various expansion
cards, and one or two PCI-E 1x (which has superseded PCI). A standard EATX
motherboard will have two to four PCI-E 16x connection for graphics cards, and a
varying number of PCI and PCI-E 1x slots. It can sometimes also have a PCI-E 4x
slot (will vary between brands and models).

Some motherboards have two or more PCI-E 16x slots, to allow more than 2 monitors
without special hardware, or use a special graphics technology called SLI (for
Nvidia) and Crossfire (for AMD). These allow 2 to 4 graphics cards to be linked
together, to allow better performance in intensive graphical computing tasks, such
as gaming, video editing, etc.

Temperature and reliability

A motherboard of a Vaio E series laptop (right)

A microATX motherboard with some faulty capacitors

Main article: Computer cooling
Motherboards are generally air cooled with heat sinks often mounted on larger
chips, such as the Northbridge, in modern motherboards.[5] Insufficient or improper
cooling can cause damage to the internal components of the computer, or cause it to
crash. Passive cooling, or a single fan mounted on the power supply, was sufficient
for many desktop computer CPU's 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 computer fans and
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.[6] Alternatively computers can use a water cooling system instead of
many fans.

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 a careful layout of the motherboard and other
components to allow for heat sink placement.

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.[7] Ultimately this was shown to be the result of a faulty electrolyte
formulation,[8] an issue termed capacitor plague.

Standard 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 (221 �F),[9]
their expected design life roughly doubles for every 10 �C (18 �F) below this. At
65 �C (149 �F) a lifetime of 3 to 4 years can be expected. However, many
manufacturers deliver substandard capacitors,[10] which significantly reduce life
expectancy. Inadequate case cooling and elevated temperatures around the CPU socket
exacerbate this problem. With top blowers, the motherboard components can be kept
under 95 �C (203 �F), effectively doubling the motherboard lifetime.

Mid-range and high-end motherboards, on the other hand, use solid capacitors
exclusively. For every 10 �C less, their average lifespan is multiplied
approximately by three, resulting in a 6-times higher lifetime expectancy at 65 �C
(149 �F).[11] These capacitors may be rated for 5000, 10000 or 12000 hours of
operation at 105 �C (221 �F), extending the projected lifetime in comparison with
standard solid capacitors.

Bootstrapping using the Basic Input/Output System

Motherboards contain some non-volatile memory to initialize the system and load
some startup software, usually an operating system, from some external peripheral
device. Microcomputers such as the Apple II and IBM PC used ROM 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 instructions
from the ROM. These instructions initialized and tested the system hardware
displayed system information on the screen, performed RAM checks, and then loaded
an initial program from a peripheral device. If none was available, then the
computer would perform tasks from other memory stores or display an error message,
depending on the model and design of the computer and the ROM version. For example,
both the Apple II and the original IBM PC had Microsoft Cassette BASIC in ROM and
would start that if no program could be loaded from disk.

Most modern motherboard designs use a BIOS, stored in an EEPROM chip soldered to or
socketed on the motherboard, to boot an operating system. Non-operating system boot
programs are still supported on modern IBM PC-descended machines, but nowadays it
is assumed that the boot program will be a complex operating system such as
Microsoft Windows or Linux. When power is first supplied to the motherboard, the
BIOS firmware tests and configures memory, circuitry, and peripherals. This Power-
On Self Test (POST) may include testing some of the following things:

Video adapter
Cards inserted into slots, such as conventional PCI
Floppy drive
Temperatures, voltages, and fan speeds for hardware monitoring
CMOS memory used to store BIOS setup configuration
Keyboard and Mouse
Network controller
Optical drives: CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
SCSI hard drive
IDE, EIDE, or Serial ATA Hard disk drive
Security devices, such as a fingerprint reader or the state of a latching switch to
detect intrusion
USB devices, such as a memory storage device
On recent motherboards, the BIOS may also patch the central processor microcode if
the BIOS detects that the installed CPU is one for which errata have been
published.

Many motherboards now use an update to BIOS called UEFI.