Motherboard

A motherboard (also called mainboard) has been an integral part of most personal computers for more than 20 years. It is a multi-layered printed circuit board. Copper circuit paths called traces that resemble a complicated roadmap carry signals and voltages across the motherboard. Layered fabrication techniques are used so that some layers of a board can carry data for the input/output, processor and memory buses while other layers can carry voltage and ground returns without circuit paths short-circuiting at intersections. The insulated layers are manufactured into one complete, complex "sandwich." The motherboard is the data and power infrastructure for the entire computer. Various circuit cards performing various functions all plug into many similar sockets on a common circuit board. Each circuit card performs a unique function in the computer and gets its power from the socket as well.

Different motherboards of different vintages typically have different form factors. Form factor essentially means the size and shape of the actual motherboard. There are more than a half-dozen form factors for motherboards, with the most recent ones having the designation of NLX. Right now, the designation ATX is the most prevalent. By buying a computer with a true ATX motherboard, you are assured that you will have the ability to upgrade by being able to re-use the personal computer case with a more recent replacement ATX board design. Motherboards have helped to keep the "personal" in personal computing since pluggable components allow the user to personalize the system depending on their applications and needs. For example: prolific collectors of digital camera images or video will want to add a SCSI hard disk drive to an open bay and use an empty socket on the motherboard for the SCSI controller card; serious game enthusiasts will want the fastest video card possible with as much memory on the card as possible.

Common Motherboard Items

CPU (central processing unit) or microprocessor is the brain of the computer. It reads and interprets software instructions and coordinates the processing activities that must take place. All computer components channel data and instructions to and from the CPU.

RAM (random-access memory) is slots or sockets and integrated circuits or chips surface-mounted on small circuit boards. The more RAM you can install in a computer (up to the maximum supported by the system), the better. RAM enables a computer to store actively running applications and their data without swapping out to the hard disk drive. It’s a volatile type of memory.

Cache socket. This socket is reserved for a Level 2 cache (L2, cache memory that can be accessed more quickly than the primary cache) or secondary cache memory module. L2 cache consists of fast memory called SRAM (static RAM). Computers with L2 cache perform better than those that lack L2 cache. This cache stores operations or data recently accessed by the CPU, allowing the processor to retrieve this information much more quickly than if the data resided in conventional RAM.

System chipset is also called the "support chipset." This collection of logic circuits is responsible for transferring information to and from all other motherboard circuits, adapter card connectors, and disk drives. Chipset specifications allow for compatibility with PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) buses and the IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) disk storage interface.

Expansion bus slots typically include PCI, ISA, and AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) connectors for adapter cards designed to handle audio, video, and other subsystems. Once added, adapter cards fasten to the back of the case with a screw. Without slots, a computer would be limited to the circuitry permanently wired to the motherboard.

Disk interface presents connectors for floppy diskette and IDE hard disk drives. You attach a ribbon cable from a disk interface connector on the motherboard to the hard drive or floppy drive.

Miscellaneous I/O (input/output) ports and connectors. These devices get their name because information is sent in and out of them. Previously there were a lot of different cables to be connected to the board. Newer computers eliminate the need for cables because the connectors are integrated on the board. Modern motherboards also have hardwired USB (Universal Serial Bus) connectors letting you attach USB devices to the computer's back panel. A mouse connector on the motherboard cables to a PS/2-style port at the back of the computer for input devices such as a mouse or trackball. A keyboard connector (typically hardwired to the motherboard) cables to a keyboard port at the panel at the back of the computer so you can attach a keyboard.

The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) chip holds the code that starts up your computer. Newer systems have a flash BIOS, storing the code on EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory; memory that can be erased when exposed to ultraviolet light), so users can update a system's existing BIOS with new code.

Miscellaneous parts. This category includes the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, an electronic component used for RAM and fast data switching), real-time clock (the battery-powered device that keeps track of system time and date), plus several configuration jumpers and switches, power connectors, light-emitting diodes, and front-panel electrical connectors.

As the motherboard works, data and timing signals transfer from one connected component to the other by way of interconnected leads etched into the board. These leads are known as the system bus. The power supply, which also connects to the motherboard, distributes power to all system components via the bus. The processor also communicates with motherboard components by sending and receiving instructions and data over the bus.

VII. Answer and discuss the following questions:

1. What is motherboard?

2. How do you understand “layered fabrication techniques” of motherboard?

3. What does form factor influence?

4. What are the main parts of motherboard?

5. With what part the principle “The more, the better” is true and why?

6. What new developments in motherboard fabrication do you know?

VIII. Match the words with their definitions:

motherboard traces layered fabrication technique form factor CPU RAM cache system chipset BIOS

a. computer’s central processing and control circuitry b. system for starting up of the computer c. multilayered printed circuit board d. transfers information to and from other circuits and disc drive e. complex “sandwich” fabrication f. copper circuit paths g. size and shape of motherboard h. very fast memory of great capacity i. volatile memory for temporary storage