-
What are the motherboard sizes?
- ATX > MicroATX > Mini-ITX > FlexATX > BTX
- mini-ITX aka ITX
-
Consider the following when purchasing a motherboard:
- –Form factor
- –Processor socket and chipset
- –Buses and number of bus slots
- –Other connectors, slots, and ports
-
Motherboard Form Factors Determines
- motherboard size, features
- –Compatible with power supplies, cases, processors,expansion cards
-
Processor socket determines
- which processors a board can support
- – Socket holds Intel or AMD processor
- Intel makes several Itanium and Xeon processors
- designed for servers
-
Sockets and processor use different methods to make contacts between them:
- Pin grid array (PGA) socket
- • Pins aligned in uniform rows around socket
- Land grid array (LGA)
- • Uses lands (pads) rather than pins
- • Examples of LGA sockets: LGA775 and LGA1366
- Flip-chip land grid array (FCLGA) socket
- • Chip is flipped over so that the top of the chip is on the bottom and makes contact with the socket
- Staggered pin grid array (SPGA)
- • Pins staggered over socket
- • Squeezes more pins into a small space
- • Easily bent
- Ball grid array (BGA)
- • Not really a socket
- • Processor is soldered to the motherboard
-
ZIF
- Zero insertion force (ZIF) sockets
- –All current processor sockets
- –Side lever lifts processor up and out of the socket
-
Sockets for AMD Processors
AMD uses the PGA socket architecture (desktops)
-
Chipset:
- set of chips on motherboard that work with processor to collectively control:
- Memory, motherboard buses, some peripherals
- Manufacturers
- – Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, SiS, and VIA
-
Intel Chipsets
- North Bridge and South Bridge - Uses hub interface
- All I/O buses (input/output buses) connect to hub
- – Hub connects to system bus
- North Bridge – fast end of hub
- South Bridge – slow end of hub
-
IntelsIvy Bridge chipset
- – 3rd generation processors released in 2012
- • Use less power
- • More transistors in a smaller place
- • Perform better than earlier products
- • Uses a single Platform Controller Hub
-
What is connected to the North Bridge?
- -Processor by FSB(front side bus)
- -Primary PCIe slot for video card by PCIe link
- -RAM by Memory bus
- -South Bridge
-
What is connected to the South Bridge?
- -North Bridge
- -PCIe slots by PCIe link
- -USB
- -sound
- -drives
-
Core i7 and X58 chipset
- -Nehalem chipset
- -contain memory controller within processor housing
- -memory connects directly to processor
- -has QuickPath Interconnect(QPI) technology(16 lanes for data packets)
-
QPI
QuickPath Interconnect(QPI) technology(16 lanes for data packets)
-
Bus
- – System of pathways used for communication
- • Carried by bus:
- – Power, control signals, memory addresses, data
- • Data and instructions exist in binary
- – Only two states: on and off
- • Data path size: width of a data bus
- – Examples: 8-bit bus has eight wire (lines) to transmit
-
System clock
- (system timer) – times activities on the motherboard
- • Speed of memory, Front Side Bus, processor, or
- other component is measured in hertz (Hz),
- which is one cycle per second
- – Megahertz (MHz): one million cycles per second
- – Gigahertz (GHz): one billion cycles per second
-
Conventional PCI
- –Improved several times
- –Four types of slots
- 32-bit 5V and 32-bit 3.3V
- 64-bit 5V and 64-bit 3.3V
- - six possible PCI card configurations
- 32-bit 5V, 32-bit 3.3V, 32-bit universal
- 64-bit 5V, 64-bit 3.3V, 64-bit universal
-
PCIe
- PCI Express (PCIe)
- –Not backward compatible with conventional PCI or
- PCI-X
- –Expected to replace both PCI and PCI-X in the future
- –Uses a serial bus, which is faster than parallel
- –Comes in four different slot sizes
- •PCI Express x1, x4, x8, and x16
- –Latest version is PCIe 3.0 which doubles the throughput of version 2.0
-
PCI Riser cards
- – Installs in a PCI slot and provides another slot at a
- right angle
- – Used to fit PCI, PCIe, and PCI-X cards into a low-
- profile or slimline case
-
AGP Buses
- –Accelerated Graphics Port – standard used by motherboard video slots and video cards for years
- –a dying technology
- –AGP standards include:
- Three major releases-AGP 1.0, AGP 2.0, AGP
- 3.0
- • One major change in slot length – AGP Pro
- • Four different speeds – 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x
- • Three different voltages
- • Six different slots
-
On-board ports
- -integrated components
- –Ports coming directly off the motherboard
- •USB, sound, network, video, eSATA ports
- •Older motherboards might have mouse and keyboard ports, parallel and serial ports
-
I/O shield
Plate installed in computer case providing holes for on-board ports
-
Internal connectors
- –Parallel ATA, floppy drive, serial ATA, SCSI, USB or
- FireWire (IEEE 1394) connectors
-
Most popular motherboard form factors are:
ATX, MicroATX and Mini-ITX
-
Motherboard will have one or more processor
sockets
-
most popular chipset manufacturers are:
Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and SiS
-
Major advancements in Intel:
- Accelerated Hub Architecture
- Nehalem chipsets
- Sandy Bridge
- Ivy Bridge chipsets
-
Buses include:
- conventional PCI
- PIC-X
- PCI Express
- AGP
-
on-board components
Some components can be built into the motherboard
|
|
