motherboard

• Motherboard


  Everything in your PC system either plugs into your motherboard or plugs into something else that plugs into your motherboard
• Motherboard


  • The most important component in the computer because it connects all the other components together
  • Functionally, it acts much like the nervous system of the computer
  • Also known as the system board, mainboard and mobo

  
• Popular motherboard brands


  • Asus
  • Gigabyte
  • MicroStar (MSI)
• Motherboard form factor


  The design of the motherboard, which determines the size of the PC case needed

  
• Chipset


  • A collection of chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor
  • Provides interfaces for memory, expansion cards, and onboard peripherals
  • Generally dictates how a motherboard will communicate with the installed peripherals

  
• Northbridge


  Responsible for management of high-speed peripheral communications, including integrated video and processor-to-memory communications
• Frontside bus (FSB)


  The set of signal pathways connecting the CPU and main memory
• Backside bus (BSB)


  The set of signal pathways between the CPU and any external cache memory
• Southbridge


  Responsible for providing support to the onboard slower peripherals (PS/2, parallel ports, serial ports, Serial and Parallel ATA, and so on), managing their communications with the rest of the computer and the resources given to them
• CPU socket


  • A specific part on a motherboard that is purposely designed to hold a central processing unit (CPU)
  • Designed with thousands of pins or contact points for power and data transfer between the CPU and the rest of the processors on the motherboard

  
• CPU sockets are almost as varied as the processors they hold

  
• CPU socket locking mechanism

  A lever that applies constant pressure on the CPU and makes sure the CPU's contact points are properly aligned with the CPU socket
• CPU slots are made out of high-heat-resistant material that can withstand the heat from the CPU
• PGA (Pin Grid Array)


  A zero insertion force (ZIF) socket where there are thousands of metallic pins on the CPU that will connect to the CPU socket with thousands of pin gaps that match each of the CPU pins

  
• PGA


  • The pins are thick enough to handle more current, tougher compared to LGA, and it's easier to install or repair
  • The disadvantage is the fragile parts or the pins are located on the CPU, so the expensive CPU needs to be replaced when the pins get damaged
• LGA (Land Grid Array)

  A CPU socket type where the metallic pins are located at the socket on the motherboard and the CPU is designed with flat gold contact pads located on the bottom of the CPU

  
• LGA


  • Cheaper repairing costs on the motherboard and more pins can be fit in the same space compared to the PGA style
  • The disadvantage is the LGA pins are thinner and more fragile that makes it harder to repair damaged pins
• BGA (Ball Grid Array)


  A CPU socket type that requires soldering the CPU on the CPU socket during installment using tiny solder dust to create a stronger bond and permanent link between the CPU and the CPU socket

  
• BGA


  • More durable, required less space, and provide more precise and faster connections
  • The disadvantages are it requires special tools to install, complicated installation process, permanent installation, and is not replicable
• Intel uses mostly LGA socket type for their CPUs and AMD uses PGA for most of their CPUs

  
• SoC (System-on-Chip)


  An integrated circuit that contains CPU, GPU, RAM, peripherals interfaces, and more that are all configured into a single silicon chip
• SoC


  • Much more power-efficient and faster than separate CPU components due to the integrated design
  • Currently used in many portable devices, with the Apple M1 chip being a prominent example in laptops
• DIMM slots


  Memory slots for dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) used in desktops
• SODIMM slots


  Memory slots for small outline DIMMs (SODIMMs) used in laptops

  
• Expansion slots


  Slots used to install various devices in the computer to expand its capabilities, such as video, network, sound, and disk interface cards
• PCI expansion slots


  Operate at 33 MHz or 66 MHz over a 32-bit (4-byte) channel, resulting in data rates of 133 MBps and 266 MBps, respectively
• AGP expansion slots


  Used for legacy video card connections, have been supplanted by PCI Express slots
• PCIe expansion slots


  One of the newest expansion slot architectures, faster than AGP while maintaining the flexibility of PCI
• IDE/PATA connectors


  Older hard drive connectors
• SATA connectors


  Newer and much faster hard drive connectors
• ATX power connector


  A 24-pin connector that provides power to the motherboard
• Firmware


  Software encoded in hardware, usually a read-only memory (ROM) chip, that can be run without extra instructions from the operating system

  
• BIOS


  The firmware that provides runtime services for operating systems and programs and performs hardware initialization during the booting process