Motherboards

Parts of a motherboard
 Motherboards connect the diverse elements of a
PC, enabling them to communicate with one another
and work together.
 Motherboards have easily identifiable slots designed
to fit the various PC components that need to
communicate, indicating the CPU, memory, hard
drive, and video card. Each component slot is easily
identifiable.
 Motherboards have external ports that enable input
devices such as mice and keyboards to
communicate with the system.
 CPU socket/slot
 Slotted – older Athlon, Celeron
 Socketed – current Pentium 4, Athlon XP, Dual Cores
 CPU fan connector
 Small three- or four-wire power connector
 Plugging incorrectly will cook the fan or short the power
connector
 Memory slots
 ATX – have two to four black slots
 Also DIMM or RIMM slots
 Power connector
 - P1 power connector only powers the CPU and memory
 EIDE and FDD ports
 Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics

 Floppy Disk Drive

 EIDE – 40 pins

 FDD – 34 pins

 Chipset
 Two chips: Northbridge and Southbridge

 Northbridge – helps CPU work with RAM

 Southbridge – handles expansion devices and mass storage

 VIA Technologies (brand)

 Expansion slots (AGP, PCI, CNR)

 Accelerated Graphics Port – for 32bit, 66-MHz connections for

video cards
 Peripheral Component Interconnect – general purpose, 33-MHz

slots
 Communications and Networking Riser – for Internet and small

network connections
 Date and Time Battery
 Enables system to reatin accurate date and time settings
 Flash ROM
 BIOS (Basic Input Output System) – a small set of code that
enables the CPU to communicate properly with the devices
built into the motherboard.
 AMI, Award BIOS and Phoenix (brand)
 Front Panel Connectors
 Power and reset buttons, power and hard drive activity
lights and the tiny speaker.
 Jumpers and DIP switches
 Jumper – a pair of wires that you enable or disable by
placing a small plastic and metal shunt over both wires.
 DIP switch – a little plastic box, often blue, with tiny
switches.
 External Ports
 PS/2 – two small round ports on the edge closest to the
CPU mini-DIN ports
 Green – mouse plug , purple – keyboard plug
 Parallel and serial ports
 Parallel – 25-pin, D-shaped female port (printer and scanner)
 Serial – 9-pin, male port (mouse)
 USB (Universal Serial Bus) – enables you to connect up to
127 different devices at the same time
 Network Port – Internet connection via a standard RJ-45
port
 Sound and Game Ports
 Green (speaker), pink (microphone), blue (line-in)
 Game port – 15-pin, two row, female, D-shaped port
Types of Motherboard

 The ATX mother board is the most common

motherboard form factor
 The ATX form factor was developed from the
earlier AT form factor. AT motherboards were
original motherboards for PC system.
 Baby AT motherboards were smaller, but did
not solve the problematic issues with the AT
design.
Form Factors
 The form factor usually defines a motherboard's
size, shape and how it is mounted to the case,
but now includes:
 size, shape and function of the system case
 type, placement and size of the power supply
 system power requirements
 location and type of external connectors
 case airflow and cooling systems.
 A backplane is a circuit board into which other
circuit boards can be plugged.
 AT
 Old-style computer motherboard
 Invented by IBM
 Large keyboard plug (DIN connector), split P8/P9 style
power socket
 Baby AT
 Smaller AT version
 ATX
 Standard motherboard form factor at present time
 MicroATX
 Smaller version of ATX
 Less expensive
 FlexATX
 Created by Intel, 1999
 9x7.5 inches dimension
 For lowest cost computers
 AT
motherboard

Baby AT above AT
AT and ATX

microATX
Install a motherboard in a
system
 Installing a motherboard requires four things:
 Research, preparation, common sense and patience

 Make certain that you have the proper case for you motherboard
form factor, antistatic protection, and the standout screws and
standard screws ready and waiting.
 Use common sense: don’t force something if it doesn’t seem to
want to go in easily. Be patient and through; check and double
check your connections to make certain that they line up, and
that you have the parts oriented properly.
 It is often easier on the tech and the motherboard to install the
CPU, CPU fan, and RAM on a motherboard before installing the
motherboard in the case.
Review Questions

1. The original form factor for a PC

motherboard was the .
a) AT

b) Baby AT

c) ATX

d) LBX
Review Questions

2. Which external port is usually used for

printers?
a) Serial

b) Parallel

c) Game

d) Print
Review Questions

3. Which port allows simultaneous

connection of up to 127 devices?
a) USB

b) Parallel

c) Serial

d) Game
Review Questions

4. Which port on the motherboard provides

a standardized interface for hard drives?
a) FFD

b) AGP

c) PCI

d) EIDE
Review Questions

5. What portion of the motherboard

connects to the power supply?
a) P8/P9 power connector

b) P1 power connector

c) P4 power connector

d) P1/P2 power connector

Review Questions

6. What portions of a motherboard can

enable or disable some built-in devices?
a) Jump switches

b) Serial switches

c) Jumpers

d) Parallel switches
Review Questions

7. What is the generic name for DIMM slots

and RIMM slots?
a) Memory slots

b) AGP slots

c) PCI slots

d) P8/P9 slots
Review Questions

8. What is the name of the keyboard

connector on an AT motherboard?
a) Flex

b) PS/2

c) P8

d) DIN