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MOTHERBOARD
Motherboard aka (system board, planar board, main board, logic board)

Motherboard manufacturers Tyan, Intel, Gigabyte, Shuttle and Asus

Motherboard is the main circuit board of a microcomputer.

AT / ATX DIFFERENCES

The following is some of the ways in determining if your motherboard is an AT motherboard or an ATX
motherboard.

The Keyboard:

AT Motherboard = DIN/5 connector

ATX Motherboard = PS/2 connector

Motherboard power connector

AT Motherboard = Single Row two connectors 5v & 12v
ATX Motherboard = Double row single connector 5v, 12v, and 3.3v
In this section, you learned that the motherboard holds all the components of the computer that serves as
their main attachment point.
What components are found on a typical motherboard
CPU type: CPU socket or CPU slot
Memory slots: SIMM slots, DIMM slots or RIMM slots
Cache memory: Internal or External Cache found on the CPU and as support chips
Chipsets: Northbridge, Southbridge, Cache, Heatsink, MCC, sound and video chipsets
System BIOS: ROM usually a DIPP chip and complemented by the CMOS battery
Expansion slots: AGP, ISA, PCI, AMR and CNR
Motherboard connectors: FDC, IDE Controllers, Fan Controllers, CD/DVD and sound controllers
Motherboard settings: Jumpers and Switches
Power connectors: AT socket vs. ATX socket

Types of motherboards

(old school)
AT (Full vs. Baby)
XT (rip)
LPX (rip)
(newer)
ATX
NLX

Full-AT (12" wide x 13.8" deep) Matches the original IBM AT motherboard design, which only fits into full
size AT or tower cases only, not being produced much any more if any. This form factor is no longer
produced because it cannot be placed into the popular Baby-AT chassis.
Baby- AT (8.57" wide x 13.04" deep) Almost the same as the original IBM XT motherboard with
modifications in the screw hole position to fit into AT style case, with connections built onto the
motherboard to fit the holes in the case

A. Primary and Secondary IIDE Controllers

B. ROM/BIOS
C. ISA slots
D. CMOS Battery
E. PCI slots
F. DIN/5 Keyboard Connector
G. AT Socket
H. ATX Socket
I. DIMM Slots
J. SIMM Slots
K. Chipset
L. L2 Cache
M.CPU Socket
N. Floppy Drive Controller
O.LPT Connector
P.COM Connector

Full-ATX - (12" wide x 9.6" deep) / Mini-ATX - (11.2" wide x 8.2" deep) The official specifications were
released by Intel in 1995 and was revised to version 2.01 in February 1997. The ATX form factor is an
advancement over previous AT style motherboards. Therefore requires a new case design. ATX is not a
abbreviation however is actually a trademark, which belongs to Intel.
On a socket 7 ATX motherboard the socket has been placed a further distance from the expansion slots
allowing for long boards to be placed in easier.
Relocation of the memory and the CPU creating better ventilation and easier upgrade
Power management possible with proper BIOS support.

Micro ATX - A smaller version of Full ATX

Flex ATX - Another version of the ATX motherboard

NLX (Supports motherboards with overall dimensions of 9.0" x 13.6" [maximum] to 8.0" x 10.0"
[minimum]) Implemented in 1998 by Intel this form factor is gaining popularity the last couple of years
because there found on most clone computers
Support for the Pentium II
Support for AGP
Support for USB.
Support for DIMM.
Easier Access to internal components
Support for motherboards that can be removed without using tools
Motherboard Components
Click Here to identify different components of the Motherboard
AT Motherboard Diagram
ATX Motherboard Diagram
Motherboard Diagram 1
Motherboard Diagram 2

ATX Motherboard Diagram

A. Audio Ports
B. USB Ports
C. Firewire Ports
D. RJ45/Ethernet Ports
E. TV Tuner
F. PS2 Mouse and Keyboard Ports
G. P4 Socket
H. Cooling Tube Pipes
I. LGA CPU Socket
J. Memory (DIMM Slots)
K. Floppy Drive Controller
L. ATX 24pin Socket
M. Serial ATA Sockets
N. Northbridge Chipset
O. Southbridge Chipset
P. IDE Controller
Q. PCI-express X1
R. AGP
S. PCI
T. PCI-express X16
U. CMOS Battery
V. BIOS
W. Front Panel Connectors

Special Thanks to ASUS, GB, Intel and Shuttle

Copyright © 1997-2008 Escotal.Com

2.

2.
Type of
Description
Motherboard
* Oldest type of Motherboard, still used in some systems
AT * Uses P8 and P9 power connectors
* Measures 30.5 cm x 33 cm (12 inches x 13 inches
* Smaller version of AT
Baby AT * Uses P8 and P9 power connectors
* Measures 33 cm x 22 cm (13 inches x 8.7 inches
* Developed by Intel for Pentium systems
* Has a more conveniently accessible layout than AT boards
* Includes a power on switch that can be software-enabled and extra power
ATX
connection for extra fans
* Use a single P1 connector
* Measures 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm (12 inches x 9.6 inches)
* An ATX board with a more compact design
Mini ATX
* Measures 28.4 cm x 20.8 cm (11.2 inches x 8.2 inches)
Recently released new form factors include:
* BTX has up to 7 expansion slots and can be up to 325.12 wide
BTX * MicroBTX has up to 4 expansion slots and can be up to 264.16 mm wide
* PicoBTX has none or one expansion slot and can be up to 103.20 mm
wide

Latest Processor System Bus

Processor Speeds (MHz or Primary L1 Cache Secondary L2 Cache Speeds
GHz) (MHz)
Classic Pentium 60 to 200 MHz 16K none 66
Pentium MMX 133 to 266 MHz 32K none 66
Pentium Pro 150 to 200 MHz 16K 256K to 1 MB 60, 66
Pentium II 233 to 450 MHz 32K 256K, 512K 66, 100
32K or Execution 128K or 256K
850 MHz to 2.9
Celeron Trace Cache Advanced Transfer Up to 533
GHz
(ETC) Cache (ATC)
512K, 1 MB, or 2
Pentium II Xeon 400 or 500 MHz 32K 100
MB
512K unified , non-
Pentium III 450 to 1.33 GHz 32K blocking cache or 100, 133
256K ATC
600 MHz to 1 256K, 1 MB, or 2
Pentium III Xeon 32K 100 or 133
GHz MB ATC
L2: 256K, 512K, or 1
1.4 GHz to 3.6 MB
Xeon MP ETC 400, 533, 800
GHz L3 512K, 1 MB, 2
MB, or 4 MB
1.8 GHz to 3.2
Xeon ETC 512K or 1 MB ATC 400, 533, 800
GHz
1.4 GHz to 2.8 256K, 512K, or 1 MB
Pentium 4 ETC 200,533
GHz ATC
Pentium $ with HT 2.4 GHz to 3.8
ETC 512K to 1 MB 800
Technology GHz
Pentium 4 Extreme 3.2 GHz to 3.46 512K L2 and 2 MB
ETC 800, 1066
Edition with HT GHz L3

Processor Latest Clock Compares to System Bus Package Socket or Slot

 Speeds (MHz or
speed (MHz) Type
GHz)
Pentium II, Socket 7 or
AMD-K6-2 166 to 475 MHz 66, 95, 100 CPGA
Celeron Super Socket 7
AMD-K6-
350 to 450 MHz Pentium II 100 CPGA Super Socket 7
III
CPGA or
Duron 1 GHz to 1.3 GHz Celeron 200 Socket A
OPGA
Athlon Up to 1.9 GHz Pentium III 200 card Slot A
Athlon
Up to 1.4 GHz Pentium III 266 CPGA Socket A
Model 4
1.4 GHz to 2.1
Athlon MP Pentium III 200 to 400+ OPGA Socket A
GHz
Athlon XP Up to 2.2 GHz Pentium 4 266, 333, 400 OPGA Socket A
Sempron Up to 2.0 GHz Celeron 333 754 pins Socket A

Latest Clock Speeds (MHz System Bus speed Socket or

Processor Compares to
or GHz) (MHz) Slot
Pentium II,
Cyrix M II 300, 333, 350 66, 75, 83, 95, 100 Socket 7
Celeron
Celeron, Pentium
Cyrix III 433to 533 66, 100, 133 Socket 370
III
VIA C3 Up to 1.4 GHz Celeron 100, 133, 200 Socket 370

Processor Current Processor Speeds L1 Cache L2 Cache L3 Cache System Bus Speed
Itanium 733 and 800 MHz 32K 96K 2 MB or 4 MB 266 MHz
Itanium 2 900 MHz to 1.6 MHz 32K 256K 1.5 MB to 9MB 400 or 500 MHz
• The Opteron is a 64-bit processor designed for servers. It runs at up to 2.0 GHz, uses a
244 MHz system bus, and is housed in a 940-pin ceramic micro pin grid array (µPGA)
package, which uses Socket 940.
• The Athlon 64 runs up to 2.2 GHz and can us up to a 2000 MHz system bus. It is housed
in a 754-pin or 93-0in organic micro PGA (OµPGA) package and uses Socket 754 or
Socket 939.
• The Athlon 64 FX runs at up to 3.6 GHz and can use up to a 1.0 GHz system bus. It is
housed in a 940-pin or 939-pin organic micro PGA (OµPGA) package
• The Mobile AMD Athlon 64 is a low voltage processor designed for notebooks. It uses
Socket 754 and can run on a 1600 MHz system bus.
CPU packages
• SECC (Single Edge Contact Cartridge)
• SECC2
• SEP (Single Edge Processor)
• PPGA (Plastic Pin Grid Array)
• PGA (Pin Grid Array)
• OOI/OLGA (Organic Land Grid Array)
• FC-PGA (Flip Chip Pin Grid Array)
• FC-PGA2
• PAC (Pin Array Cartridge)
• CPGA (Ceramic Pin Grid Array
• OPGA (Organic Pin Grid Array)
 • µPGA (Micro Pin Grid Array)
• FC-LGA, FC-LGA2 FC-LGA4, mPGA478, PPGA INT3 and PPGA INT 2
Connector Name Used by CPU Number of Pins Voltage
Socket 4 Classic Pentium 60/66 273, 21 x 21 PGA grid 5 V
320 pins 37 x 37
Socket 5 Classic Pentium 75/90/100/120/133 3.3 V
SPGA grid
Pentium MMX, Fast Classic Pentium, 321 pins 37 x 37 2.5 V to 3.3
Socket 7
AMD KS, AMD KS, Cyrix M SPGA grid V
321 pins 37 x 37 2.5 V to 3.3
Super Socket 7 AMD KS-2, AMD KS-III
SPGA grid V
387 pins 24 x 26
Socket 8 Pentium Pro 3.3 V
SPGA grid
Socket 370 or Pentium III FC-PGA, Celeron PPGA, 370 pins in a 37 x 37 1.5 V or 2
PGA370 Socket Cyrix III SPGA grid V
242 pins in 2 rows, 2.8 V and
Slot 1 or SC242 Pentium II, Pentium III
rectangular shape 3.3 V
242 pins in 2 rows in 1.3 V to
Slot A AMD Athlon
rectangular shape 2.05 V
Socket A or 462 pins, SPGA grid, 1.5 V to
AMD Athlon and Duron
Socket 462 rectangular shape 1.85 V
333 pins in 2 rows, 1.5 V to 3.5
Slot 2 or SC320 Pentium II Xeon, Pentium III Xeon
rectangular shape V
423 pins 39 x 29 1.7 V and
Socket 423 Pentium 4
SPGA grid 1.75 V
478 pins in a dense 1.7 V and
Socket 478 Pentium 4
micro PGA (mPGA) 1.75 V
Socket PAC418 Itanium 418 pins 3.3 V
PAC611 Itanium 2 611 pins 3.3 V
1.5 and 1.7
Socket 603 Xeon DP and MP 603 pins
V
1.5 to 1.6
Socket LGA775 Pentium 4, Celeron 775 lands, not pins
volts
Sockets 754 and
Athlon 64 754 or 939 pins N/A
939
LIF- low insertion force
ZIF- zero insertion force
Common System Bus
Model number Processor supported Memory Supported
Name Speed Supported
"E" chip set Up to four Itanium Up to 128 GB on
E8870 400 MHz
family 2 processors DDR DIMMs
E7500, E7501, Dual Xeon 400 MHz or 533 Up to 16 GB on DDR
E7505 processors MHz DIMMs
533 MHz or 400 Up to 4 GB on DDR
E7205 Pentium 4
MHz DIMMs
I900 Express 800 MHz, 1066 Up to 4 GB on DDR2
925E Pentium 4
Series MHz DIMMs
Pentium 4, Pentium Up to 4 GB on DDR2
925X 800 MHz
4 Extreme Edition DIMMs
925P, 915G, 800 MHz , 533 Up to 4 GB on DDR2
Pentium 4
915GV MHz DIMMs
 Pentium 4, Celeron, Up to 2 GB on DDR2
910GL 533 MHz
Celeron D DIMMs
800 MHz or 533 Up to 4 GB on DDR
1800 Series 875P Pentium 4
MHz DIMMs
800 MHz, 533 Up to 4 GB on DDR
865G or 865PE Pentium 4
MHz or 400 MHz DIMMs
533 MHz or 400 Up to 4 GB on DDR
865P Pentium 4
MHz DIMMs
Up to 4 GB of
Dual Xeon
860 400 MHz memory on up to 8
processor
RIMMs
Up to 2 GB of
Pentium 4 or 400 MHz or 533
850, 850E memory on up to 4
Celeron MHz
RIMMs
845PE, 845GE, Up to 2 GB on DDR
Pentium 4 or 400 MHz or 533
845E, 845G, DIMMs or SDR
Celeron MHz
845V DIMMs
815, 815E, or Celeron or Pentium 133 MHz, 100 Up to 512 MB of
815EP III MHz, or 66MHz SDRAM DIMMs
Up to four Itanium Up to 128 GB of DDR
Orion 460GX 400 MHz
2 processors SDRAM DIMMs

Data path Bus speed in

Bus Bus Type Address Lines Throughput
in bits MHz
800, 533,
System bus local 64 32 Up to 3.2 GB/sec
400, 133…
1, 4, 8, 16 1, 4, 8, or 16 2.5 GHz 40 312 MB/sec to 6.4
PCI express local
lines lanes GHz MB/sec
PCI-X Local I/O 64 32 133 1.06 GB/sec
66, 75,
AGP Local video 32 N/A Up to 528 MB/sec
100…
PCI Local I/O 32 32 33, 66 Up to 250 MB/sec
VESA or Local video or
32 32 Up to 33 Up to 250 MB/sec
VL bus expansion
Local I/O or Addresses are Up to 3.2 Gb/sec
FireWire 1 N/A
expansion sent serially (gigabits)
MCA Expansion 32 32 12 Up to 40 MB/sec
EISA Expansion 32 32 12 Up to 32 MB/sec
16-bit ISA Expansion 16 24 8.33 8 MB/sec
8-bit ISA Expansion 8 20 4.77 1MB/sec
Addresses are Up to 480 Mbps
USB expansion 1 3
sent serially (megabits)

BIOS Key to Press During POST to Access Setup

AMI BIOS Del
Award Bios del
Older Phoenix BIOS Ctrl+Alt+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+s
Newer Phoenix BIOS F2 or F1
Dell computer using Phoenix BIOS Ctrl+Alt+Enter
Older Compaq computers such as the Place the diagnostics disk in the disk drive, reboot your
Deskpro 286 or 386 system, and choose Computer setup from the menu
Newer Compaq computer such as the Press the F10 key while the cursor is in the upper-right
Prolinea, Deskpro, Deskpro XL, corner of the screen, which happens just after the two
Deskpro XE, or Presario beeps during booting*
All other older computers Use a setup program on the disk that came with the PC
* For Compaq computers, the CMOS setup program is stored on the hard drive in a small, non-
DOS partition of about 3 MB. If this partition becomes corrupted, you must run setup from a
bootable CD or floppy disk that comes with the system. If you can not run setup by pressing F10
at startup, suspect a damaged partition or a virus taking up space in conventional memory.

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