CHF- 2nd lesson

• Motherboard


  The main printed circuit board that resides inside the PC, equipped with sockets where the processor, memory, plug-in cards, daughterboard, and peripheral devices are connected
• Motherboard Form Factors

  • ATX motherboard
  • Micro-ATX motherboard
  • Mini-ITX motherboard
  • Mini-DTX motherboard
• ATX Motherboard


  • Standard for tower and desktop systems, most common from 1996 to present, supports high-end systems, 12 inches long with width varying from 6.7 to 9.6 inches
  • Widely used in low-cost home PCs and small form-factor corporate PCs, open non-proprietary industry specification developed by Intel in 1995, built-in I/O external connector panel, single main internal power supply connector, CPU and memory relocated next to power supply, internal I/O connectors for drives near drive bays, designed for improved cooling
• Micro-ATX Motherboard


  • Smaller version of ATX, used in mid-range systems, fits microATX or ATX chassis, 9.6" x 9.6" or 9.6" x 9.1"
• Mini-ITX Motherboard


  • Smaller than standard ATX, 6.7 inches x 6.7 inches, typically has only one expansion slot, ideal for small form factor computers
• Mini-DTX Motherboard


  • Developed by AMD in 2007, slightly larger than ITX at 9.6 inches x 8 inches, designed for compact PCs
• Obsolete Motherboards

  • PC/XT motherboard
  • Full-size AT motherboard
  • Baby-AT motherboard
  • LPX motherboard
• Chipsets


  Group of microchips on the motherboard that control the flow of data and instructions to and from the CPU, control memory cache, power management, external buses and some peripherals
• Modern Intel Chipsets

  • Z690
  • B660
  • H610
• Modern AMD Chipsets

  • X670
  • B650
  • A520
• Buses


  Electrical channels that transfer bits internally within the computer, allowing devices to communicate
• Types of Buses

  • System Bus
  • Data Bus
  • Address Bus
  • Control Bus
• System Bus


  Local bus that works synchronously with the CPU and system clock, connected directly to the CPU
• Data Bus


  Group of lines on the system bus that allow data to flow back-and-forth between devices
• Address Bus


  Communicates memory addresses and I/O devices to tell devices where data on the data bus should travel
• Control Bus


  Coordinates activity between various devices to prevent data collision
• BIOS

  BIOS or the basic input/output system is a low-level software that controls the system hardware, link between hardware and operating system, provides device drivers
• Sources of BIOS


  • Motherboard ROM
  • Adapter Card ROM
  • Loaded into RAM from disk
• Main BIOS Functions

  • POST (tests PC components)
  • Setup (configure PC settings)
  • Bootstrap Loader (reads disk drives and looks for master boot record)
  • BIOS (interface between hardware and OS after boot-up)
• Types of ROM Chips

  • Read-only Memory (ROM)
  • Programmable ROM (PROM)
  • Erasable PROM (EPROM)
  • Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM)
• Popular BIOS Manufacturers

  • American Megatrends, Inc. (AMI)
  • Phoenix Technologies
  • Award Software
• BIOS Setup Keystrokes

  • AMI BIOS - <delete>
  • Phoenix BIOS (FirstBIOS Pro) - <F2>
  • Award BIOS (FirstBIOS) - <delete> or <Ctrl+Alt+Esc>
  • Microaid Research (MR) BIOS - <Esc>
• BIOS Setup Menu Sections

  • Maintenance - Specifies the processor speed and clears the setup passwords. This menu is available only in CONFIGURE MODE, set by a jumper on the board.
  • Main - Allocates resources for hardware components.
  • Advanced- Specifies advanced features available through the chipset.
  • Security - Specifies passwords and security features.
  • Power - Specifies power management features.
  • Boot - Specifies boot options and power supply controls.
  • Exit - Saves and discards changes to the setup program options.