Instructions for motherboards | quick reference



Rep: (2114)
Instructions for motherboards

Attached Image

Content:


Post has been editedGloomy - 11.12.13, 10:28



Rep: (2114)
What is a motherboard.

The motherboard (English motherboard, MB, the English name is also used. The mainboard is the main board; mother slang memory and RAM, boot ROM, controllers basic input / output interfaces). It is the motherboard that unites and coordinates the work of such components and components that are different in their essence and functionality, such as a processor, RAM, expansion cards, and all kinds of drives. The basis of the motherboard is a set of key chips, also called a chipset or chipset. The type of chipset on which the motherboard is built fully determines the type and number of components that make up the computer, as well as its potential.


Wiki


Post has been editedGloomy - 29.09.13, 16:02



Rep: (2114)
What are the connectors on the motherboard.

  • Central processor connector - a slot or slot connector (socket), designed to install a central processor in it. The connector can be designed to install the processor itself. Each connector allows installation of only a certain type of processor.
  • DIMM slots for installing SDRAM / DDR / DDR2 / DDR3 memory modules (different for each memory type). Most often there are 3-4 of them, although on compact boards you can only find 2 such slots;
  • specialized connector type AGP or PCI-Express x16 to install a video card. However, recently, with a general transition to the video interface of the latter type, there are often boards with two or even three video connectors. There are also motherboards (of the cheapest) with no video connectors at all - their chipsets have an integrated graphics core, and an external graphics card is not necessary for them;
  • next to the video card slots there are usually slots for connecting additional PCI or PCI-Express x1 expansion cards;
  • The next rather important group of connectors is the interfaces (IDE and / or more modern Serial ATA) for connecting disk drives - hard drives and optical drives. Also there is still a connector for a floppy-drive (3.5 "floppy disks), although everything goes to the fact that it will eventually be completely abandoned. All disk drives are connected to the motherboard with the help of special cables, in colloquial speech also called "loops";
  • close to the processor are power connectors (most often of two types - 24-pin ATX and 4-pin ATX12V for an additional + 12V line) and a two-, three- or four-phase VRM (Voltage Regulation Module) voltage control module, consisting of power transistors, chokes and capacitors. This module converts, stabilizes and filters the voltages supplied from the power supply;
  • The back of the motherboard is occupied by a panel with connectors for connecting additional external devices - a monitor, keyboard and mouse, network, audio and USB devices, etc.
  • In addition to the above slots and connectors, any system board has a large number of auxiliary jumpers (jumpers) and connectors. It can be contacts for connecting the system speaker and buttons and indicators on the front panel of the case, and connectors for connecting fans, and contact pads for connecting additional audio and USB and FireWire connectors.
Each system board must have a special memory chip, most often installed in a special socket (0 “bed” in the jargon); however, individual manufacturers, in order to save it, are soldered into the board. The microcircuit contains the BIOS firmware plus a battery that provides power when the external voltage is lost. Thus, using all these slots and connectors, as well as additional controllers, the motherboard integrates all the devices that make up the computer into a single system.
Source: ru.wikipedia.org and 3dnews.ru


Post has been editedGloomy - 06.10.13, 10:18



Rep: (2114)
Types (form factors) of motherboards.

In addition to the functional, motherboards differ in size (form factors). All sizes are standard.
Attached Image
The form factor determines not only the size of the motherboard, but also its attachment to the case, the location of bus interfaces, I / O ports, the processor socket and slots for RAM, as well as the type of connector for connecting the power supply. Currently, the most common form factor is ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended), the rather large size of which allows manufacturers to integrate a large number of functions onto the motherboard. The potential of reduced-size ATX options is, of course, much lower, but at present, when progress in the field of integrated controllers of various types has almost equalized their basic capabilities with discrete solutions (primarily network and audio controllers, to a lesser extent, video), most unpretentious users of typical office (and not only) systems more and not needed. Although the board options are reduced in size and fit standard ATX packages, it is most advisable to use them in compact Micro-ATX packages.
Source: 3dnews.ru


Post has been editedGloomy - 06.10.13, 10:32



Rep: (2114)
What is a chipset.

Chipset (ChipSet - a set of chips), or a set of system logic, is one or more chips specially designed to ensure the interaction of the CPU with all other components of the computer. The chipset determines which processor can work on a given motherboard, the type, organization and maximum amount of RAM used (unless modern AMD processors have built-in memory controllers), how many and what external devices can be connected to the computer. The main chipset developers for computers are: Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, VIA. Most often, the chipset consists of 2 integrated circuits, called the north and south bridges.
The north bridge provides interconnection between the processor (via FSB - Front Side Bus), RAM (SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 and DDR3), the video card (AGP or PCI Express interfaces) and, through a special bus, with the south bridge, in which most I / O interface controllers. Some north bridges include a graphics core that uses the internal AGP or PCI Express interface — such chipsets are called integrated.
Southbridge devices include PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect) and / or PCI Express bus controllers, disk drives (IDE and SATA hard drives, and optical drives), embedded sound, network, USB, and RAID controllers. The south bridge also ensures normal operation of the system clock (RTC - Real Time Clock) and BIOS chips. Sometimes there are chipsets, consisting of only one chip (one-component chipsets), combining the functionality of both bridges.
Source: 3dnews.ru


Post has been editedGloomy - 06.10.13, 10:52



Rep: (2114)
The advantages of the chipset and video card from the same manufacturer.

Although manufacturers of modern chipsets and video cards (so far only two of them, NVIDIA and AMD) try to somehow “tie” buyers to the whole range of their products, offering unique proprietary features like SLI or CrossFire, most users are unlikely to when they use them. And in the standard configuration “one video card on the motherboard” any chipset is perfectly combined with any video card, regardless of their manufacturers.
Source: 3dnews.ru



Rep: (2114)
What is a computer bus.

A computer bus is used to transfer data between individual functional units of a computer and is a combination of signal lines that have certain electrical characteristics and information transfer protocols. Tires can differ in capacity, signal transmission method (serial or parallel, synchronous or asynchronous), bandwidth, number and types of supported devices, operation protocol, assignment (internal or interface).
Source: 3dnews.ru



Rep: (2114)
What is PCI.

The PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, despite its more than respectable (by computer standards) age, is still the main bus for connecting a wide variety of peripheral devices to the computer's motherboard. The 32-bit PCI bus provides the ability to dynamically configure connected devices, it operates at a frequency of 33.3 MHz (peak bandwidth of 133 Mbps). The servers use its extended versions of PCI66 and PCI64 (32-bit / 66 MHz and 64-bit / 33 MHz, respectively), as well as PCI-X, a 64-bit bus accelerated to 133 MHz. Other variants of the PCI bus are the recently popular AGP graphics bus and a pair of interfaces for mobile computers: an internal mini-PCI bus and the PCMCIA / Card Bus (16/32-bit external device interface options that allow hot peripherals). Despite the wide spreading, the time of the PCI bus (and its derivatives) ends - they are being replaced (albeit not as quickly as its developers would like) by the modern high-performance PCI-Express bus.
Source: 3dnews.ru



Rep: (2114)
What is PCI-Express.

PCI-Express is a serial interface developed by a PCI-SIG organization headed by Intel and intended to be used as a local bus instead of PCI. A characteristic feature of PCI-Express is its point-to-point organization, which excludes bus arbitration and, thus, resource shuffling. The connection between PCI-Express devices is called a link (link) and consists of one (called 1x) or several (2x, 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x or 32x) bidirectional serial lines (lane).
PCI-Express bus bandwidth:
Attached Image
Source: wikipedia and 3dnews.ru


Post has been editedGloomy - 06.10.13, 11:26



Rep: (2114)
What is the BIOS and why is it needed.

BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) - the basic input / output system, which is embedded in the ROM (hence the name ROM BIOS) is a set of programs necessary for quick testing and low-level computer hardware settings, as well as for organizing the subsequent loading of the operating system . Usually, for each model of the motherboard, its own version (on computer slang - firmware) of the basic BIOS developed by one of the specialized firms - Phoenix Technologies (Phoenix Award BIOS) or American Megatrends Inc. is developed. (AMI BIOS). Previously, the BIOS was stitched into a single-programmable ROM or in a UV-erasable ROM (there is a transparent window on the chip case), so it was practically impossible for the user to flash it. Currently, boards are mainly produced with electrically reprogrammable ROMs that allow BIOS flashing using the board’s means, which allows for the prompt addition of new device support (or functions) to the system, fix minor developer flaws, change factory defaults, etc.
Source: 3dnews.ru



Rep: (2114)
UEFI BIOS.

UEFI FAQ

Post has been editedGloomy - 06.12.13, 11:54


Full version    

Help     rules

Now: 07.28.19, 01:30