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Motherboards
Overview
In this chapter, you will learn to
Explain how motherboards work
Identify the types of motherboards
Explain chipset varieties
Upgrade and install motherboards
Troubleshoot motherboard problems
How Motherboards Work
Motherboard Layouts
The particular way in which the
components are positioned on a
motherboard is called the form factor
XT Mother-
boards
extended
technology.
Designed
around the
Intel 8088
processor.
Configured manually using jumpers,
switches or both.
Limited to 1MB of memory
Has an
eight-bit
ISA bus
AT-Style Form Factor
Motherboard come in a
variety of form factors
and are designed with
different clock speeds and
transfer rate capabilities.
Full size AT Baby AT
ATX LPX NLX
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The AT Form Factor
IBM invented the AT form factor in the
early 80s
Massive in size as they carry a large number of
individual chips
Lacked support for any connections other than the
keyboard
Expansion slots were used to add additional
connectors to the motherboard
As the technology grew demand for smaller PCs led
to creating a smaller motherboard called the Baby
AT
AT Mother-boards
Advanced
Technology.
CMOS added so configurations can be set through the keyboard
ISA expanded
to 16 bits
Still maintain
backward
compatibility with 8
bit channel
Designed for the
80286 and above
processor
Use 16 bit internal
and external bus
Designed for
flexibility and
expandability
Baby AT on an Older
AT Board
The Need for a New
Form Factor
Added components such as a mouse and
modem created a demand for a new form
factor with more dedicated connectors
The new form factors integrated
dedicated connectors for the mouse and
printer, as well as added connectors for
video, sound, and phone
Slimline Form Factors
The first slimline form factor was known as LPX
and was replaced by the NLX form factor
The LPX, and now the NLX, provide a slot for the
insertion of a special riser card
Inflexibility was the main problem with form
factors like the LPX
ATX
The ATX form factor was created in 1995
Uses the soft power feature to turn a PC on and off
through software
Micro ATX and Flex ATX two smaller
versions of ATX
Many techs and web sites use the term mini-ATX to
describe these boards
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ATX Motherboard Parts
ATX Motherboard External
Connection Ports
MicroATX FlexATX
BTX Layers of the PCB
Motherboards are
officially printed
circuit boards (PCBs)
PCBs come in multiple
layers with highways of
wires (bus systems) in
the layers carrying data
back and forth between
the CPU, Northbridge,
RAM, and peripherals
These highways of wires
are called traces as can
be seen coming from the
CPU on the back of the
motherboard shown
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Components of the
Motherboard
Power Connector
Processor
Socket/Slot
BIOS Expansion Bus Slots
North Bridge
South Bridge
Super I/O Memory Sockets CMOS/RTC/NVRAM
UART Chips Clock Speeds System Bus Types I/O Adapters
Chipset Varieties
Chipsets
A chipset defines the processor type,
type and capacity of RAM, and what
internal and external devices the
motherboard will support
Serves as an electronic interface among the CPU,
RAM, and input/output devices
Chipset Chips
Northbridge
Also called the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) or
system controller
Southbridge
Super I/O Chip
North Bridge
The North Bridge is the connection between
the high-speed Processor bus and the slower
AGP and PCI buses
430 FX Chipset
440 LX Chipset
440 ZX Chipset
The North Bridge is
often referred to as
the PAC (PCI/AGP
controller)
It is essentially the main
component of the
motherboard and is the
only circuit that runs at
full Processor Bus speed
South Bridge
82371 FB South Bridge
82371 EB South Bridge
The South Bridge is the lower-speed
component in the chipset
South Bridge connects to the 33MHz PCI bus
and contains the interface to the 8 MHZ ISA bus
Normally contains dual IDE hard disk controller
interfaces, one or two USB, the CMOS RAM and
RTC Clock functions
South Bridge contains all components
that make up the ISA Bus, including the
Interrupt and DMA controllers
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Super I/O Chip
Contains at lease a Floppy Controller, two
Serial Ports, and a Parallel Port
AT Super I/O Controller
The Super I/O allows you to plug in devices and have them work just
like any other device that is plugged into an Expansion Slot
In newer Motherboards, the Super I/O
has been placed into the South Bridge
Who Makes PC Chipsets?
Intel
VIA
AMD
SiS
Ali
NVidia
Schematic for VIA KT400A
Chipset
Intel 975x
Chipset Comparison
Chart
Chipsets change constantly but heres a
partial look and comparison
Legacy-free
Motherboards
Intel along with chipset manufacturers
like VIA, NVIDIA, and others have
dropped support for ISA slots, serial and
parallel ports, infrared, PS/2 ports, and
floppy drives
But many motherboards on the market today that
use these new chipsets include other chips to still
support some of these legacy features
Some of these motherboards also support better
technology than provided by the chipset alone
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Upgrading and Installing
Motherboards
Modern motherboards can fit into any type of
case manufactured today
Use AT boxes for AT motherboards
Use ATX boxes for ATX motherboards
Make the seller guarantee the CPU and
motherboard will work together
Cases come in five basic sizes: slimline, desktop,
mini-tower, mid-tower, tower
Most Micro and Flex ATX cases are too small for a
regular ATX motherboard
Best thing to do is to physically check to make sure the
motherboard fits in the case
Cases come with different options
Choosing the Motherboard
and Case
Removable Face or
Bezel
Motherboard Tray
Removing the
Motherboard
1. Remove all the cards
2. Remove obstructing drives
3. Remove the power supply (only if
necessary)
4. Document the position for wires for the
speaker, turbo switch, turbo light
5. Unscrew the old motherboard
The motherboard mounts to the case with small
connectors called standouts
Installing the New
Motherboard
1. Install the CPU and RAM on the new
motherboard before putting it in the
case
2. Mount the new motherboard in the case
3. Reinstall the hard drive(s), power
supply, and so forth that had to be
removed to get the old motherboard out
4. Insert the power connections and other
wires
5. Test!
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LED and Switch
Connections
Hardware
Configuration
Three ways to configure the
motherboard:
DIP switches, jumpers, CMOS RAM
Dual inline package (DIP) switch
Has ON (binary 1) and OFF (binary 0) positions
Reset DIP switch when adding or removing device
Use pointed instrument other than graphite pencil
Jumpers
Retain setup or installation information
Are opened and closed using jumper covers
Typical setting: enabling/disabling keyboard
power-up
DIP switches are sometimes used to store setup data
on motherboards
Setup information about the motherboard can be stored by
setting a jumper on (closed) or off (open). A jumper is closed
if the cover is in place, connecting the two pins that make up
the jumper; a jumper is open if the cover is not in place.
Troubleshooting Motherboards
Troubleshooting
Symptoms
Catastrophic failure
System will not boot
Although uncommon most motherboards will fail (if
theyre going to) within the first 30 days due to
manufacturing defects called burn-in failure
Electrostatic discharge is the other most common
cause
To fix, replace the motherboard
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More Troubleshooting
Symptoms
Component failure
Intermittent problems
Examples include a hard drive that shows up in
CMOS but not in Windows
Most common causes are electrical surges and ESD
Sometimes a BIOS upgrade may solve this problem
if the issue is lack of BIOS support for a newer
technology
Fixes include replacing the component with an add-
on card or flashing the BIOS
More Troubleshooting
Symptoms
Ethereal symptoms
Things just dont work all the time
PC reboots itself for no apparent reason
Blue screens of death
Causes include faulty components, buggy device
drivers or application software, slight corruption of
the operating system, and power supply problems
Fixes include flashing the BIOS or replacing the
motherboard
Troubleshooting
Techniques
Isolate the problem by eliminating
potential factors
If the hard drive doesnt work, try a different hard
drive or try the same hard drive with a different
motherboard
If the new hard drive works, then it wasnt the
motherboard
If the same hard drive with a different motherboard works,
then suspect the motherboard
New Stuff
Relatively new in PC technology
Intels WTX standard for multi-processor servers
VIAs two tiny form factors called ITX and Mini-ITX
Shuttles new form factor resulting in PCs the size
of a toaster but still just as powerful