Motherboard

Confidential
Motherboard

 If processor is the brain of the computer, the

Motherboard is the heart of the computer. The
Motherboard is the main circuit board inside the
computer. All the components and peripherals are
attached to it. Most of the compute features like
scalability, upgradeability depends on Motherboard.

Confidential
Motherboard

Confidential
.

Confidential
 System Board Set UP
Serial
USB
Mouse
Keyboard Parallel
Audio
In/Out Video

With USB Support

Confidential
1. Inside a PC

CD-ROM
Power drive
supply
Hard disk
drive
Mother
board Floppy
disk drive

Sound/network
cards
Wires and
ribbon cables

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 6
2. The Motherboard

 The most important part of a PC is the motherboard. It

holds:
 the processor chip
 memory chips
 chips that handle input/output (I/O)
 the expansion slots for connecting peripherals

 Some chips are soldered onto the

motherboard(permanent), and some are removable (so
they can be upgraded).

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 7
Motherboard Picture

Read-only
Random Access
Memory
Memory (RAM)
(ROM)
chips.
chips

Expansion slots
Processor chip
(the CPU)

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 8
Moving Data

 A data bus (a data path): connects the parts of the

motherboard.

RAM

via expansion cards

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 9
3. RAM

 Random Access Memory (RAM).

 RAM is used to hold programs while they are being execut
ed, and data while it is being processed.
 RAM is volatile, meaning that information written to RAM wi
ll disappear when the computer is turned off.

Confidential
continued
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 10
How much RAM is Enough?

 Computers typically have between 64 and 512 Mb (megabytes) of

RAM. Latest is 2GB, 4GB, 8GB etc.
 RAM access speeds can be as fast as 8 nanoseconds (8 billionth of
a second).

 The right amount of RAM depends on the software you are using.
 You can install extra RAM.

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 11
 4. ROM

 ROM chips are used to store the ins

tructions a computer needs during st
art-up, called firmware.
 Some kinds of ROM are PROM, EP
ROM, EEPROM, and CD-ROM.

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 12
5. CMOS Memory

 A computer needs a semi-permanent

way of keeping some start-up data the battery
 e.g. the current time, the no. of hard disks
 the data may need to be updated/changed

 CMOS memory requires (very little) power to retain its

contents.
 supplied by a battery on the motherboard

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 13
6. The CPU

 The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the chip on the mother

board that acts as the "computer's brain"
 it does calculations, and coordinates the other motherboard co
mponents
 CPU examples: the Pentium, the PowerPC chip

 The CPU is also known as the processor or microprocessor.

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 14
Some Processors (CPUs)

Pentium Chip

PowerPC Chip

Chip Fan
Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 15
The CPU and RAM

The RAM The CPU

contains data processes data.
and programs.

The data bus transports the

processed data to the RAM so
it can be stored, displayed, or
output.

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 16
The CPU Instruction Cycle

 The CPU executes a series of instructions by looping through an

instruction cycle.

The speed of the

instruction cycle
is controlled by
the CPU's clock.

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 17
The System Clock

 The system clock sends out 'ticks' to control the timing of all the
motherboard tasks
 e.g. it controls the speed of the data bus and the instruction cycle

 The time it takes to complete an instruction cycle is measured

in megahertz (MHz).
 1 MHz = one million cycles per second

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 18
7. Expansion Slots

Expansion slot containing

an expansion card.
Most expansion cards
contain a port.
Data
originates
in RAM

The expansion bus A connector cable plugs

transports data through into the port, and leads
the motherboard. to a peripheral.

Confidential
continued
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 19
 Common expansion cards:
 graphics card (for connecting to a monitor)
 network card (for transmitting data over a network)
 sound card (for connecting to a microphone and speakers)

 Most PCs offer 4-8 expansion slots.

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 20
Expansion Slot Types

 There are several different types of expansion slot:

 ISA: older technology, for modems and slow devices
 PCI: for graphics, sound, video, modem or network cards
 AGP: for graphics cards

Confidential
000-209 Intro to CS. 5/Mother 21
Key Assessable Parameters of Motherboard

 Form factor
 Chipset
 CPU support
 Video support
 Memory support
 Audio support
 Ports and slots
 BIOS upgradeability
 Device driver support

Confidential
Understanding BIOS

Acronym of BIOS is Basic

Input Output System. It is a
program (set of instructions)
written in machine level
language. This program is
stored in permanent
semiconductor memory called
Flash ROM located on the
motherboard.

Confidential
Interrupts

 Interrupts are the signals generated by the respective

devices to get the processor attention. These are
required as the processor is busy in performing the given
task. The processor listens to the device on receiving the
interrupt request (IRQ) and responds to it by performing
the appropriate interrupt service routine (ISR) stored in
the BIOS. In this process the processor need not waste
time waiting for the device, rather the device itself
generates a request when required.

Confidential
Direct Memory Access (DMA)

 Apart from IRQs, the devices used another kind of

technique to perform sending/receiving of information.
This technique is the Direct Memory Access (DMA). In
DMA, the device does not go through the processor to
access the system memory for reading and writing
information.

Confidential
Chipset

 The chipset handles the data transfer between devices

connected to motherboard.
 It consists of two integrated circuits (IC) known as
Northbridge and Southbridge.
 The names of the bridges are different and they are
paired to come under a collective name of chipset. For
example: the names of the bridges in Intel 945 chipset
are 82945 the Northridge and 82801 the Southbridge.

Confidential
Confidential