Motherboards

How Motherboards Work

 Motherboards
• Introduction To Motherboards
• Form Factor
• Sockets and CPUs
• Chipsets
• Bus Speed
• Memory
• Motherboard Power Connector. 2

• Slots And Ports On Motherboard.

 Motherboard
 The motherboard is the main printed circuit
board and contains the buses, or electrical
pathways, found in a computer. These buses
allow data to travel between the various
components that comprise a computer.
 A motherboard is also known as the system
board, the backplane, or the main board.

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 Motherboard
 The motherboard accommodates the central
processing unit (CPU), RAM, expansion slots,
heat sink/fan assembly, BIOS chip, chip set,
and the embedded wires that interconnect the
motherboard components. Sockets, internal
and external connectors, and various ports are
also placed on the motherboard.

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Motherboard

Specifications
Form Factor: Micro ATX, uATX
Processor Socket: Intel
Processor Interface: LGA1156
Processors Supported:
●
Intel Core
●
i7 Intel Core i5

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Motherboard
Specifications
•Form Factor : ATX .
• Processor Socket: Intel
•Processor interface : socket 775
• Processors Supported:
●
Intel Pentium D
●
Intel Pentium EE
●
Intel Core 2 Duo
●
Intel Core 2 Extreme
●
Intel Core 2 Quad
●
Intel Pentium Dual Core
6
●
Intel Penryn
 Motherboards Form Factor

 The form factor of motherboards pertains to the size

and shape of the board.
 It also describes the physical layout of the different
components and devices on the motherboard.
 The form factor affects where individual components
go and the shape of the computer's case. There are
several specific form factors that most PC
motherboards use so that they can all fit in standard
cases.
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Various Form Factors Exist For Motherboards

− AT – Advanced Technology
− ATX – Advanced Technology Extended
− Mini-ATX – Smaller footprint of ATX
− Micro-ATX – Smaller footprint of ATX
− LPX – Low-profile Extended
− NLX – New Low-profile Extended
− BTX – Balanced Technology Extended

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 Motherboards Form Factor
The form factor is just one of the many standards that apply to motherboards.
Some of the other standards include:
 The socket for the microprocessor determines what kind of Central
Processing Unit (CPU) the motherboard uses.
 The chipset is part of the motherboard's logic system and is usually made
of two parts -- the northbridge and the southbridge. These two "bridges"
connect the CPU to other parts of the computer.
 The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) chip controls the most basic
functions of the computer and performs a self-test every time you turn it
on. Some systems feature dual BIOS, which provides a backup in case
one fails or in case of error during updating.
 The real time clock chip is a battery-operated chip that maintains basic
settings and the system time. 9
Sockets and CPUs

Socket 775

LGA 1156 Socket 10

 Sockets and CPUs
 The central processing unit (CPU) is considered the
brain of the computer. It is sometimes referred to as
the processor.
 Most calculations take place in the CPU. the CPU is
the most important element of a computer system.
 CPUs come in different form factors, each style
requiring a particular slot or socket on the
motherboard. Common CPU manufacturers include
Intel and AMD

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 Sockets and CPUs
 The CPU socket or slot is the connector that interfaces
between the motherboard and the processor itself.
 Most CPU sockets and processors in use today are built
around the pin grid array (PGA) architecture, in which
the pins on the underside of the processor are inserted
into the socket, usually with zero insertion force (ZIF).
 ZIF refers to the amount of force needed to install a
CPU into the motherboard socket or slot. Slot-based
processors are cartridge-shaped and fit into a slot that
looks similar to an expansion slot.
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 Sockets and CPU's

LGA 1156 Socket

Motherboard spcification :
Form Factor: Micro ATX, uATX
Processor Socket: Intel
Processor Interface: LGA1156
Processors Supported: Intel Core i7
Intel Core i5 13
 Sockets and CPUs

Socket 775

Motherboard spcification :
Processors Supported:
•Form Factor : ATX .
Intel Pentium D , Intel Pentium EE
• Processor Socket: Intel Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Extreme
•Processor interface : socket 775 Intel Core 2 Quad , Intel
14 Pentium Dual Core
Intel Penryn
 Sockets and CPUs

PGA 370 Processor

The Socket 370 processor socket, a ZIF type PGA15socket

False

Sockets and CPUs

 The newest Intel CPU does not have a PGA. It has an LGA.
• LGA stands for Land Grid Array. An LGA is different from a
PGA in that the pins are actually part of the socket, not the
CPU.
 Anyone who already has a specific CPU in mind should select
a motherboard based on that CPU. For example, if you want
to use one of the new multi-core chips made by Intel or AMD,
you will need to select a motherboard with the correct socket
for those chips. CPUs simply will not fit into sockets that
don't match their PGA.
 The CPU communicates with other elements of the
motherboard through a chipset.
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 Chipsets
 An important set of
components on the
motherboard ,The chip
set is composed of
various integrated
circuits attached to the
motherboard that control
how system hardware
interacts with the CPU
and motherboard. Intel x58
chipest
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 Chipsets
 The chip set of a motherboard allows the CPU to
communicate and interact with the other components of the
computer, and to exchange data with system memory, or
RAM, hard disk drives, video cards, and other output devices.
 The chip set establishes how much memory can be added to a
motherboard. The chip set also determines the type of
connectors on the motherboard.
 Most chip sets are divided into two distinct components,
Northbridge and Southbridge.
• Northbridge controls access to the RAM, video card, and the
speeds at which the CPU can communicate with them. The
video card is sometimes integrated into the Northbridge.
• Southbridge, in most cases, allows the CPU to communicate
with the hard drives, sound card, USB ports, and
18 other I/O
ports.
 Northbridge, Southbridge
 The northbridge connects directly to the processor via the front side bus
(FSB). A memory controller is located on the northbridge, which gives the
CPU fast access to the memory. The northbridge also connects to the AGP
or PCI Express bus and to the memory itself.
 The southbridge is slower than the northbridge, and information from the
CPU has to go through the northbridge before reaching the southbridge.
Other busses connect the southbridge to the PCI bus, the USB ports and
the IDE or SATA hard disk connections .
 Chipset selection and CPU selection go hand in hand, because
manufacturers optimize chipsets to work with specific CPUs.
 The chipset is an integrated part of the motherboard, so it cannot be
removed or upgraded. This means that not only must the motherboard's
socket fit the CPU, the motherboard's chipset must work19 optimally with
the CPU.
 Bus Speed
 A bus is simply a circuit that connects one
part of the motherboard to another. The more
data a bus can handle at one time, the faster it
allows information to travel. The speed of the
bus, measured in megahertz (MHz).

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Busses Found On Motherboard

front side bus (FSB),

back side bus .
The memory bus
The IDE or ATA bus connects
The AGP bus connects
The PCI bus connects

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 Busses Found On Motherboard
 front side bus (FSB) OR CPU Bus is the bus that carries
data between the CPU and the northbridge.
 Depending on the processor used, some computers may
also have a back-side bus that connects the CPU to the
cache. This bus and the cache connected to it are faster
than accessing the system memory via the front side bus.
 The amount of data that a CPU can process at the one
time depends on the size of the front side bus (FSB). The
wider the processor data bus width, the more powerful
the processor is. Current processors have a 32-bit or a
64-bit processor data bus.
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 Busses Found On Motherboard
 back side bus connects the CPU with the level 2
(L2) cache, also known as secondary or external
cache. The processor determines the speed of the
back side bus.
 memory bus connects the northbridge to the
memory.
 IDE or ATA bus connects the southbridge to the disk
drives.
 AGP bus connects the video card to the memory and
the CPU. The speed of the AGP bus is usually
23 66
MHz.
 Busses Found On Motherboard
 The PCI bus connects PCI slots to the southbridge.
On most systems, the speed of the PCI bus is 33
MHz. Also compatible with PCI is PCI Express,
which is much faster than PCI but is still compatible
with current software and operating systems. PCI
Express is likely to replace both PCI and AGP
busses.
 The faster a computer's bus speed, the faster it will
operate, A fast bus speed cannot make up for a slow
processor or chipset.
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 Memory
 The speed of the chipset and busses controls how quickly it
can communicate with other parts of the computer. The speed
of the RAM connection directly controls how fast the
computer can access instructions and data, and therefore has a
big effect on system performance. A fast processor with slow
RAM is going nowhere.
 The amount of memory available also controls how much
data the computer can have readily available. RAM makes up
the bulk of a computer's memory. The general rule of thumb
is the more RAM the computer has, the better.

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 Memory
 Much of the memory available today is dual
data rate (DDR) memory. This means that the
memory can transmit data twice per cycle
instead of once, which makes the memory
faster. Also, most motherboards have space for
multiple memory chips, and on newer
motherboards, they often connect to the
northbridge via a dual bus instead of a single
bus. This further reduces the amount of time it
takes for the processor to get information from
the memory.
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 Memory
 A motherboard's memory slots directly affect
what kind and how much memory is
supported. Just like other components, the
memory plugs into the slot via a series of pins.
The memory module must have the right
number of pins to fit into the slot on the
motherboard.

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
 Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)- is 32-bit or 64-
bit expansion slot , PCI is standard slot currently used in most
computer, connections for video, sound and video capture
cards, network cards.
 Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) - is 32-bit expansion slot
, AGP is designed for video card .
 Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) - interfaces for the hard
drives , IDE, also called Advanced Technology Attachment
(ATA) is an early drive controller interface that connects
computers and hard disk drives. An IDE interface uses a 40-
pin connector.
 Memory slots .
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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
 PCI Express Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), is
a computer expansion card standard designed to replace the
older PCI, and AGP standards. Introduced by Intel in 2004,
PCIe is the latest standard for expansion cards, express is
backward compatible with PCI slot , PCI-express has
x1,x4,x8,x16 slot .
 serial ATA, or SATA computer bus, is a storage-interface for
connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as
hard disk drives and optical drives. The SATA host adapter is
integrated into almost all modern consumer laptop computers
and desktop motherboards.

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
 parallel port on a computer is a standard Type A DB-25
female connector .
 SCSI port can transmit data at rates in excess of 320 Mbps
and can support up to 15 devices.
 USB Ports and Cables
The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a standard interface that
connects peripheral devices to a computer. It was originally
designed to replace serial and parallel connections.
 serial port can be either a DB-9, or a DB-25 male connector.
Serial ports transmit one bit of data at a time. To connect a
serial device, such as a modem or printer.
 FireWire Ports .FireWire is a high-speed, hot-swappable
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interface that connects peripheral devices to a computer.
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
 network port, also known as an RJ-45 port, connects a
computer to a network.
 PS/2 port connects a keyboard or a mouse to a computer.
The PS/2 port is a 6-pin mini-DIN female connector. The
connectors for the keyboard and mouse are often colored
differently .
 Audio Ports
An audio port connects audio devices to the computer .
 Video Ports and Connectors
A video port connects a monitor cable to a compute
 Gameport/MIDI – Connects to a joystick 31or MIDI-
interfaced device
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Type Of Video Ports and Connectors
 Video Graphics Array (VGA) – VGA has a 3-row 15-pin female
connector and provides analog output to a monitor.
 Digital Visual Interface (DVI) – DVI has a 24-pin female
connector or a 29-pin female connector and provides a compressed
digital output to a monitor. DVI-I provides both analog and digital
signals. DVI-D provides digital signals only.
 High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMi) – HDMi has a 19-
pin connector and provides digital video and digital audio signals.
 S-Video – S-Video has a 4-pin connector and provides analog video
signals.
 Component/RGB – RGB has three shielded cables32 (red, green,
blue) with RCA jacks and provides analog video signals.
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

PCI
Express
slots

PCI slot

 PCI Express slots (from top to bottom: x4 , x16, x1 and

x16), compared to a traditional 32-bit PCI slot 33
(bottom).
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

PCI slots

 Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)- is 32-bit or 64-bit

expansion slot , PCI is standard slot currently used in most computer,
connections for video, sound and video capture cards, network cards…
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Slots And Ports On Motherboard

AGP
slot

Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) - is 32-bit expansion

35 .
slot , AGP is designed for video card
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

Parallel
ATA

Parallel ATA (PATA) is an interface standard for the

connection of storage devices such as hard disks, and CD-
ROM drives in computers. An IDE interface uses a 40-pin
connector. 36
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

First-generation
(1.5 Gbit/s) SATA
ports on a
motherboard

SATA – Serial ATA refers to the serial version of the ATA drive
controller interface. A SATA interface uses a 7-pin connector
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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Memory Slots

SDRAM DIMM slots

Dual inline memory module ( DIMM) is a circuit board that hold

SDRAM,DDR SDRAM and DDR2 SDRAM CHIPS there are 168-pin
SDRAM Dimm and 184-pin DDR SDRAM Dimms ,and 240-pin DDR2
SDRAM Dimms

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Memory Slots

Ram bus inline memory module ( RIMM) is a circuit board that

hold RDRAM CHIPS a typical RIMM has 184-pin configuration .

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Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Memory Slots

DIMM Slots using Dual

Channel 240-pin DDR2 with
a total capacity of up to
8GB-64bit. You can install
DDR2 533/667/800MHz
Memory.

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Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Memory Slots

4 DDR3 Memory Slot

Memory Type: DDR3

Memory Supported : 2000MHZ DDR3
1600MHZ DDR3
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 Motherboard Power Connector

Modern motherboards with socket 775 cpus get their input voltage
from a 24-pin ATX12 connector. This is the only way to obtain the
42
necessary power required.
Motherboard Power Connector

An additional connector for a 12-Volt supplementary input

voltage for the motherboard is provided 43
Motherboard Power Connector
AUX power
connector

8- pin AUX power connector found on the motherboard

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Firewire
Firewire
PORT
Cable

FireWire is a high-speed, hot-swappable interface that connects

peripheral devices to a computer. A single FireWire port in a
computer can support up to 63 devices. Some devices can also be
powered through the FireWire port, eliminating the need for an
external power source. FireWire uses the IEEE 1394 standard and is
also known as i.Link.
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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

Parallel
port

Parallel ports can transmit 8 bits of data at one time and use the
IEEE 1284 standard. To connect a parallel device, such as a printer.

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

SCSI port -BD 25 PIN

CN50 - 50 pin Centronics

SCSI port -BD 50 PIN

SCSI
port

A SCSI port can transmit data at rates in excess of 320 Mbps and can
support up to 15 devices.
NOTE : Some SCSI connectors resemble parallel connectors.
47
Be careful
not to connect the cable to the wrong port
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

USB port

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a standard interface that connects peripheral
devices to a computer. It was originally designed to replace serial and parallel
connections. A USB hub is used to connect multiple USB devices. A single USB
port in a computer can support up to 127 separate devices with the use of multiple
USB hubs .
USB 1.1 allowed transmission rates of up to 12 Mbps in full-speed mode and 1.5
Mbps in low speed mode.
USB 2.0 allows transmission speeds up to 480 Mbps. USB devices can only
transfer data up to the maximum speed allowed by the specific48port.
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

serial port

serial port can be either a DB-9, or a DB-25 male connector. Serial

ports transmit one bit of data at a time. To connect a serial device,
such as a modem or printer.
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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Network port
RJ 45

network port, also known as an RJ-45 port, connects a computer to

a network. The connection speed depends on the type of network
port. Standard Ethernet can transmit up to 10 Mbps, Fast Ethernet
can transmit up to 100 Mbps, and Gigabit Ethernet can transmit up to
1000 Mbps . 50
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

PS/2 port

PS/2 port connects a keyboard or a mouse to a computer. The PS/2

port is a 6-pin mini-DIN female connector. The connectors for the
keyboard and mouse are often colored differently .
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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
Audio Ports

An audio port connects audio devices to the computer. The following audio
ports are commonly used :
Line In – Connects to an external source, such as a stereo system
Microphone – Connects to a microphone 52
Line Out – Connects to speakers or headphones
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
DVI port

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) – DVI has a 24-pin female connector or a 29-
pin female connector and provides a compressed digital output to a monitor.
DVI-I provides both analog and digital signals. DVI-D provides digital signals
only. 53
 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

AVG port

Video Graphics Array (VGA) – VGA has a 3-row 15-pin female connector
and provides analog output to a monitor .

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard
HDMI PORT

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMi) – HDMi has a 19-pin

connector and provides digital video and digital audio signals.

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

S-VIDEO
PORT

S-Video – S-Video has a 4-pin connector and provides analog video

signals

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 Slots And Ports On Motherboard

RCA jacks

Component/RGB – RGB has three shielded cables (red, green, blue) with
RCA jacks and provides analog video signals.

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Ports On Motherboard

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EVGA P55 Motherboard
Specifications
 Form Factor: ATX
 Processor Socket: Intel
 Processor Interface: LGA1156
 Processors Supported:Intel Core i7
Intel Core i5

 Northbridge: Intel P55 express

 Number of Slots: 4

 Number of Pins: 240-Pin

 Maximum Memory Supported: 4GB -

32bit , 16GB - 64bit

 59
Memory Type: DDR3

 MemorySupported: 1066MHz DDR3

EVGA P55 Motherboard

Specifications
 Max. Memory Supported Per Slot: 4GB
 LAN Type: 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit
 PCI Express X16 Slots:
 1 - (PCIe 2.0)

2 - (PCIe 2.0 x8 mode)

 PS/2 Keyboard Connectors: 1

 USB Ports: 12
 USB Rear Panel Ports: 6
 USB Onboard Headers: 3 - (expandable to
6 USB ports)
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 FireWire Ports: 1
 LAN Ports: 2
EVGA P55 Motherboard

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