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The Motherboard
The Motherboard is
the biggest and most important board of the computer system. It accepts
the CPU,
These days there are two major architectures: AT and ATX, where AT is slowly giving way to the newer ATX form factor. Make sure that you buy the motherboard architecture that your case and power supply supports, or that you buy the right case for your motherboard. AT and ATX motherboards have different power connectors, different sizes, different mount holes, etc., but most importantly, a different back panel. Since AT is slowly disappearing from the market, I will concentrate on ATX boards here. Alongside a variety of connectors, a modern ATX motherboard normally features:
Depending on the make, some motherboards also feature:
Motherboards that are aimed at the server market will even feature more than one CPU socket/slot, onboard SCSI and more memory sockets, network adapters, etc., but I assume that you are more interested in the domestic market, so I will not mention these in any further detail. Selecting the motherboard is the most important part when deciding for a system, so be very selective and make sure that the board of your choice supports the kind of system you want to build. It has to accommodate the type and speed of your Processor, your preferred system bus type, your preferred type and amount of memory and any other features or onboard facilities you want. When buying your motherboard, always make sure you go for a major brand, it really pays off! Also make sure you get your motherboard manual, without which you are stranded come the time of your next CPU upgrade. The manual tells you about the features and the BIOS of the board and how to set the jumpers.
The features of a motherboard can easily be determined by looking its Chipset. Selecting a Chipset eliminates many decisions you have to make in selecting a motherboard. There are many different Chipsets on the market, Intel Chipsets being amongst the best and most popular. Take a look at the table below: |
memory,
various plug-in peripherals, connectors and supporting circuitry. The
motherboard defines the type of system by defining the type of processors
it accepts, by the Chipset features and by its architecture.
Jumpers are still the most popular method of telling
the motherboard on which frequency it is supposed to run and which
multiplier it should provide the CPU with. Each jumper consists of a
series of pins which can be connected in various ways by putting a little
connector (the jumper) over them. In the illustration on the right, Jumper 10 is set
to 66MHz on the left and to 100MHz on the right.You see that all chipsets have certain features in common, for example:
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AGP and PCI Support
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USB Support
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Power Management
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Input/Output Management
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IDE Support
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Real Time Clock
But there are differences, such as what CPU they accept, how many memory slots they have and how much memory they can take. So you see it all depends what you want to do with your computer and how much money you want to spend.
But there are more things to consider when deciding for a motherboard, such as the BIOS and the layout. Make sure that the motherboard of your choice contains a BIOS from a major manufacturer such as:
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AWARD Software Inc. (CMOS Setup Utility)
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Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (System Configuration Setup)
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AMI - American Megatrends Inc. (AMIBIOS Setup)
The BIOS is burned into the CMOS chip but all newer boards contain a FLASH BIOS which is re-programmable and therefore easy to update.
Make sure that the layout of your motherboard allows easy installation and handling. Some motherboards are unable to take on full sized plug-in cards because other components are in the way, although the ATX form factor has finally eliminated most of the old layout problems.
Whatever onboard features you may desire though, always think of the possibility a plug-in device offers you in case of a device failure. However, if this happens it is possible to reset the jumpers or the BIOS in order to disable the defect device and replace it with a plug-in card. Depending on your purse it certainly seems a good idea to go for a cheaper type motherboard with many onboard features, such as sound and video, but at the end of the day you will probably pay heavily for your decision.
The FSB Speed
The FSB (Front Side Bus) determines the overall speed of your motherboard and the speed at which all the other components that is takes are running. Currently most motherboards support s 100MHz FSB (slightly higher in some cases). But if the maximum speed of the motherboard is 100MHz, then how can your CPU run at, say 300MHz?
The answer lies again in your motherboard manual. Every FSB speed can be multiplied, so in case of your 300MHz CPU the jumpers on your motherboard have to be set to a bus frequency of 100MHz and a multiplier of x3. This is rather easier to understand if you think of the internal CPU processes as a construction site. Say the builders of the construction site can process (i.e. use) 300 bricks every hour, but the delivery van can only supply 100 bricks per hour. What do you do to get your workers use their full potential? You order another two vans! In layman's terms that is exactly what you tell your motherboard. There is, of course, a limit as to how high you can set the multiplier, so the top speed of your motherboard multiplied by the highest multiplier determine the maximum frequency for your processor. Most current motherboards will offer you a maximum multiplier of x5 or x5.5, giving you the opportunity to install a 500MHz or 550MHz CPU and many lower combinations. Have a look at the table below.
The reference as to how to set your own motherboard, where to find the jumpers or DIP switches or how to set up your BIOS is contained in your own motherboard manual. So, again, make sure you keep it safe.
