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The motherboard is the main part of the computer. It is the board where all other parts of the computer are attached to. It is also called system board or main board. Some parts which can be found on a modern board are:
They are available in several models and formats: AT, ATX, Mini-ATX etc.These days there are 3 processor trademarks where the CPU sockets are based on: AMD, Intel and VIA. For Intel there are the Sockets 3, 5 and 7, Slot I, Slot II, PGA-370, 478, Xeon and LGA-775. For AMD there are the Sockets 7, Slot II, PGA-370, Socket A, 754, 939, AM2 and Opteron (940). VIA makes these days also boards itself with their own processors integrated, called VIA Epia. The processors VIA makes are: VIA C3, VIA Eden, VIA Antaur and earlier the VIA Cyrix. |
In the picture below I will describe the parts of it.
Bios
The BIOS chip tells the computer what to do when the system starts and in which order he must do that. These settings you can set in the BIOS Setup. The settings which were made in the setup are being stored in the CMOS chip. The CMOS battery takes care that there is always power on the CMOS, if not it will lose its settings. So if you remove the battery from the battery dock, the BIOS settings are gone. This is the way to reset your BIOS. For example if you have set a BIOS password on the BIOS and you want to change some settings to it but you forgot the password. Then you simply remove the battery for a few seconds and you place it back again. Now the BIOS is reset and the password is gone.
Northbridge and Southbridge
As I said on the Northbridge (better known as Front Side Bus) are the fastest parts attached to (like the processor and the RAM), and on the Southbridge the slower parts (like the PCI bus and the PS2 ports).These two chips take care for the communication between the parts. The Northbridge is normally cooled well because it handles much processes and it could get quite hot. Often this chip is cooled by a heatsink. See the picture below.
The Northbridge receives and handles the information from:
- PCI Express and AGP slots (which are used by graphical cards)
- Video (if the video card is onboard)
- Processor
- Memory
- IDE and SATA interface (used by hard disks)
- USB devices
- PCI bus (used by network cards or sound cards)
- Audio (if the sound card is onboard)
- RS 232 Serial interface (used by old modems or old keyboards)
Here are the settings from the BIOS stored. To clear the CMOS you simply remove the battery for a few seconds and you place it back again.
PCI Slots
As said before the PCI slots are used to connect cards to the motherboard like network cards, television cards, sound cards, extra USB interface, etc.
PCI Express Slots
These slots are used to connect a graphical card to the main board. This is quite a new slot. This will replace the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) were also graphical cards can be connected to and in the future the AGP slot will disappear.
The PCI Express is a huge step forward in graphical way because it makes a much faster connection between the graphical card and the rest of the system.
The speed of a PCI express slot goes up to 4GB/second. So heavy graphical games can be played with such card easily, without problems.
Connectors (USB, PS2, RJ45, etc.)
There can be several connectors where you can connect several different devices to.
USB Connector
Using this connector you can connect all your USB devices to the computer. For example your USB sticks, USB printer, digital camera, USB mouse and keyboard, etc.
There are a few speeds of USB connectors and USB devices.
- USB 1.1 LowSpeed
- USB 1.1 FullSpeed
- USB 2.0 HighSpeed
USB 1.1 LowSpeed can be used for devices like a USB Mouse, USB Keyboard, analog modem, smartcard readers etc. But it is no problem to use higher speeds for these devices but it isn’t necessary.
USB 1.1 FullSpeed can be used for devices like a USB scanner, Printer, PDA, digital camera, webcam, etc. But it is no problem to use higher speeds for these devices but it isn’t necessary.
USB 2.0 HighSpeed can be used for devices like an extern hard disk, USB 2.0 hub, extern DVD or CD writer, etc.
Below I will give a list of devices and their best type of USB connection.
| Device | Best Connection |
| USB to COM port converter | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| USB keypad | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| Smartcard readers | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| ISDN modem | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| Analog modem | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| Keyboard | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| Mouse | USB 1.1 LowSpeed |
| Digital camera | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| USB speakers | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| USB printer | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| USB scanner | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| Webcam | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| GPS receiver | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| USB 1.1 hub | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| USB to LPT port converter | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| PDA | USB 1.1 FullSpeed |
| External hard disk | USB 2.0 |
| External DVD or CD writer | USB 2.0 |
| USB 2.0 hub | USB 2.0 |
| Card reader (Compact Flash, Memory stick, Smart media card) | USB 2.0 |
| Ethernet | USB 2.0 |
PS2 Connectors
These connectors are used to connect your PS2 mouse and PS2 keyboard. A PS2 connector is a connector as shown below.
RJ-45 Connector
These connectors are used for the network interface. Using a network cable you can connect your computer (via the RJ-45 connector) to the internet or network.
A RJ-45 connector is shown below.
CPU Socket
The CPU socket is the socket where the processor is connected to the motherboard. As said before there are several types of sockets for several types of processors. So not every processor fits in every socket. For example if you have board which has a Socket A you must be sure that the processor you want to use is a Socket A processor. Furthermore there are boards which only support AMD processors and others which support only Intel processors.
Memory Slots
Memory slots are used to attach memory modules to the motherboard. The memory (RAM) of a computer is a together with the processor the hart of a computer. Without the memory the computer will not work. These memory modules are attached to the motherboard in the memory slots.There are several types of memory. The type of memory you need depends on the type of computer you use and which board is in that computer.
IDE Connectors
These connectors are used to connect the IDE hard disks to your motherboard. There are several types of hard disks and therefore several types of hard disk connectors but if you have an IDE hard disk you can connect it to this connector.
ATX Connectors (power)
This is the power connector for your computer. Without power no device will work. The power comes from the power supply from your computer. As I said before there are several models and formats of motherboard and therefore also several models of power connector. In my example it is ATX connector which is used much in the most newer boards.
SATA Connectors
These connectors are used to connect the SATA hard disks to your motherboard. There are several types of hard disks and therefore several types of hard disk connectors but if you have a SATA hard disk you can connect it to this connector.
Summary
If you want to buy a new motherboard or a new computer you should know for what you are going to use that computer. If you want to play high graphical games you should choose a motherboard with at least 1 PCI Express slot or AGP slot. You can ask yourself questions like:
- Do I want to make my computer a gaming computer?
- Do I want to make my computer a server?
- Do I want to look television on the computer?
- Do I want to edit a lot of video’s?
- Do I need to connect many USB devices to the computer at once?
If yes: you should choose a motherboard with more memory slots which where you can install enough memory to play the games. Also you have to be sure that there is a PCI Express slot on it. Choose a motherboard which supports the newer types of processors.
If yes: you should choose a motherboard which has 2 RJ-45 connectors or that it has 2 PCI slots where you can connect 2 network cables to. This if you want to make your server the first computer in the network, like in a DMZ. If you want to make it a fileserver you should choose a motherboard with SATA connectors to connect fast SATA hard disks.
If yes: you must be sure that there is a PCI slot available on the motherboard where you can connect a television card.
If yes: you should choose a motherboard which has more memory slots where you can install enough memory. Video editing asks a lot of memory and processor speed so you also have to be sure that the motherboard has a socket where you can connect a very good processor to. If you edit video’s I recommend that you connect fast hard disks so a SATA connector must be on the motherboard.
If you want to connect for example a USB printer, a digital camera, a webcam and you also have a USB mouse and keyboard you must be sure that there are enough USB ports on the motherboard with the right speed.
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