Mother Boards

The main printed circuit board in a computer containing the Central

Processing unit approximate co-processor, supporting chips and memory. It
may also exclude expansion slots and memory. The PC Board used in PC
board is made up of fiber glass. Thin copper track connect components. The
board in a modern PC contains many tracks and expensive to manufacture.
The board has seven layer and connected to each other and made at -15·C.
Introduction of the Personal Computers, various types of mother boards have
been used. The main point of this variation in design was based to take the
maximum advantages of the processor capabilities. In electronics, every new
type of component has its own architecture, capabilities and requires a new
type of circuit design using components compatible with it. Likewise, in
computers also the rapid changes in the mother boards and their designs are
based on this fact only. The mother boards have been classified in three
categories. The category differs according to the type of system they are
used in. These mother boards on the basis of the system types are Desktop
Mother Boards, Server Mother Boards and Laptop Mother Boards.

Desktop Mother Boards

The desktop mother boards are used
in personal computers and desktop
machines. Since the desktop
machines are used for some simple
applications at home or small
offices, hence these type of
motherboards are designed with
some general features. The
motherboard has only one processor
and limited upgradation facilities.
The figure below shows the typical
desktop motherboard. The form factor of desktop motherboard is known as
mainstream.

Server Motherboards
Server motherboards are more
advanced than desktop
motherboards and are designed to
offer high - end services. These
motherboards support expansion
and future upgradation features
and handles major and multiple
applications at a time. The speed of

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these types of motherboards is faster than the desktop mother boards. The
form factors used in server motherboards are known as Pedestal and Rack
mount etc. One of the biggest features of these motherboards may have two
processors on the board, improved graphics and usually support different
types of memory technology.

Laptop Motherboards
The laptop motherboard is quite smaller in size as compared to desktop
motherboards and connects to all the different parts of a laptop system. It is
the most important part of the laptop. These motherboards generally have
very advanced features as compared to desktop motherboards.

Desktop Motherboard Form Factors

The desktop motherboard form factor refers to the physical appearance of
the motherboard which includes the size, architecture base and to some
extent capabilities of the motherboard. This form factor of motherboard
could be classified into two main classes on the basis of the technological
developments.
Motherboard Form Factors

Multiple Board Technology Single Board

technology

XT Mother Boards AT Mother Boards Baby AT Mother Boards ATX

Mother Boards

Multiple Board Technology

This technology was used in early PC
motherboards. These types of motherboards
had some important components/sections

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whereas the device controllers such as Display controller, I/O Device
Controllers also known as Adapter Cards/Add - On Boards were used. These
cards were connected separately on the expansions slots given on the
motherboards. In general these motherboards had sections/components like
Processor, ROM, Clock Generator, Keyboard Interface Logic, RAM, Speaker
Logic, DMA Controller/Bus Controller, Reset Logic etc. Placed on one board
known as motherboard. The user had a choice to use the adapter cards and
devices as per the requirement and had the flexibility to change/upgrade the
system configuration as and when required.
There are two types of multiple boards used in the computer systems.
1. XT Motherboards [Extended Technology Motherboard]
XT boards are known as Extended
Technology motherboards. These
types of motherboards were mainly
used in the systems based on Intel
8088/Motorola 6800 processors. These
motherboards were based on ISA
architecture. These boards were
comparatively bigger in size and had
so many components mounted on it.
The figure on the left hand side shows
a typical XT motherboard based on
Intel 8088 processor.

2. AT Motherboards [Advance Technology Motherboard]

AT boards are known as Advance
Technology motherboards. These
types of motherboards were
introduced with the Intel 80286
processor. The introduction of 80286
processor had revolutionized the
computer industry by opening door for
faster processing with so many new
features such as improved display
support, real mode and protected
mode operation and graphic user
interface. The size of the early 80286
motherboards were similar to the
8088 motherboards but later on the size of the board reduce to just one
fourth size of the 8088 motherboard. The size of the board is 12*13 inch. The
only integrated port on this board is the keyboard.

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Single Board Technology
The single board technology is quite
different from the multiple board
technology motherboards. In single board
technology motherboards apart from
important sections/components some of
the necessary controller sections like
display controller and I/O Controllers are
also included on the motherboards as a
result these controllers are not required to
be attached on any expansions slot. Like
multiple board technology motherboards
single board technology motherboard’s are also of two types. AT
motherboards and ATX motherboards.

1. Baby AT Motherboards
The baby AT form factor was the most popular till recently. The baby AT form
factor fits into most of the system cases. A baby AT motherboard is 8.5
inches wide and about 13 inches long. The length of baby AT motherboards
is not fixed. The Baby AT motherboard are the type of motherboards which
uses AT power supply therefore these type of motherboards have AT power
connectors. This form factor matches the original IBM AT motherboard in
structure and layout.

3. Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) Form Factor

Intel invented the ATX form factor in the year
1995. The ATX and mini ATX form factors are
the most popular ones presently. The ATX
form factor has many of the best features of
the previous form factors. These type of
motherboards uses both AT and ATX power
supplies. Therefore some older motherboards
may have both AT and ATX type power
connectors but current motherboards have
only ATX connectors. The design of some
motherboards are different from the previous
AT type motherboards as a result, new system cases were designed to match
this form factor which have now become quite common.

What is Chipset?
The term chipset means a set of chips. It is a group of integrated circuits
which is compatible to the processor. The chipset on a motherboard

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determines its functionality. The chipset and controllers on a motherboard
are the intelligence of the system. The chipset therefore affects every aspect
of the performance of a system.
The chipset controls the data transfers between every component of the
system. Previously, a single chip or multiple chips performed every function
of the chipset. Over the time, all these chips were integrated in one or more
chips to form the chipset that controls the system operations. A modern
chipset consists of Graphic and Memory Control Hub (also known as North
Bridge) and I/O Control Hub (also known as south bridge). These two
microchips, to a large extent determine the features and capabilities of a
motherboard. The Graphic and Memory Control Hub handles data
communication between the memory and the CPU whereas the ICH handles
data from the PCI/ISA slots and other devices not under the control of
Graphic and Memory Control Hub.
Some of the leading processor and chipset manufacturers are as under:

1. Intel Chipset (Intel Corp. Inc. USA)

2. AMD Chipset
3. VIA Chipset (VIA Technologies USA)
4. SiS Chipset
5. Opti Chipset
6. Other Vendors - Such as Tomato, ALI, Vintron, Gigabyte, Kripton, PC
Partner etc.

Intel Chipsets
Intel Corp. USA, a pioneer processor manufacturing company prior to
Pentium systems was manufacturing processors only. Intel on introducing the
new generation processor branded as Pentium also introduced its compatible
supporting components which was a set of compatible chips and termed
them as Intel Chipsets in order to extract maximum benefits of the capability
of the processor. Soon after introducing next series of Pentium processor P II,
Intel also introduced its motherboards. These motherboards having Intel
compatible chipsets are widely known as Intel Chipset motherboards.

Intel 440 EX / LX
This motherboard supports Intel P - II category
processors. The Intel 440 EX / 440 LX chipset
motherboard is a Baby AT motherboard. The
chipset is a highly integrated solution for a cost
- effective and compact motherboard. The
motherboard supports SDRAM and 3.3V EDO.

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Features on - board include super-I/O, Ultra DMA33, PCI bus master IDE, AGP
Ver 1.0, PCI Ver 2.1 compliant, USB.

Intel 443 Chipset

This is a type of Intel chipset developed for Intel Pentium - II category
processors. This motherboard supports Slot - 1 type of processor, Infrared
Module, USB connectors, AGP expansion slot for display adapter, 3 nos. 32 -
bit PCI and 2 nos. ISA expansion slots. The motherboard form factor supports
Baby AT type having motherboard dimension 22cm X 22 cm. Apart from
these features this motherboard also supports the features of 440EX /LX
chipsets along with some additional features such as PS / 2 Mouse.

Intel 810 / 810 E

Chipset
The Intel 810 / 810 E
chipset was designed for
Intel Pentium III and Celeron
processors using PGA 370
socket. This motherboard
supports 66 M Hz and 100
M Hz system bus speed for
the processor operating
from 300 M Hz to 800 M Hz
processing speed
processors. The Intel 810 E
chipset also supports 133 M
Hz system bus speed. The
motherboard supports on
board VGA capable of 3D
hyper pipelined
architecture, full 2D hardware acceleration, 3D Visual enhancements, VGA
port etc. The board also has on board support for Ac97 sound card controller
having Line - In, Line - Out/Speaker Out, MIC In and MIDI/Game port. Some of
the later version of Intel 810/810 E chipset based motherboard also supports
on board LAN card, Internal Modem etc.

Intel 815 Chipset

The Intel 815 chipset family consists of high-flexibility chipsets designed to
extend from the basic graphics/multimedia PC platform up to the mainstream
performance desktop platform. In Intel 815 chipset based motherboard,
increased I/O bus bandwidth allows better concurrency for next-generation e-

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business applications. It also supports 100 M Hz and 133 M Hz system bus
speed. A dedicated graphics subsystem accelerator that compliments system
memory to provide up to 30% boost for better 2D and 3D performance. The
motherboard layout is similar to the Intel 810 chipset based motherboard.

Intel 845 GV / GL Chipset

The Intel 845 GV/GL chipset
supports Intel Pentium
4/Celeron processors using
socket 478. This is a Micro ATX
form factor motherboard
having dimension of 24.4 cm X
20.8 cm. The motherboard
uses a Intel 845 GV / GL chip
as GMCH (north bridge) having
FSB at 400 M Hz/533 M Hz.
and Intel ICH4 as I/O control
Hub (south bridge). The board
has on -board VGA known as
Intel Extreme Graphics with
64MB V RAM and sound card
based on Ac’97 5.1 channels.
Apart from these features the
Intel 815 supports 2 DDR
DIMM slots for memory
supporting 333 M Hz/PC 266 M
Hz up to max. 2 GB, PCI – LAN
card, AMR slot, PS/2 keyboard
and mouse ports.

Intel 910/ 915 Chipset

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This chipset has been designed for high - end Pentium 4 processors
supporting Hyper Threading Technology (HT Technology) using LGA 775 and
475 pin processor package. The chipset supports 533 M Hz Front Side Bus
(FSB) for high
performance Intel
processor and
greater system
performance. The
chipset provides
Intel Graphics Media
Accelerator for
stunning media,
incredible visuals
and new 3D
capabilities. For
business users, Intel
validates the
chipset, processor,
graphics and
software stack to
provide a well –
tested platform with
support for Microsoft
Windows
2000/XP/Linux etc. The PCI express bus architecture offers 500 MB/second
data transfer rate over 3.5 times more bandwidth than PCI at 133
MB/second, Dual - Channel DDR 400/DDR 333 memory configurable up to 2
GB RAM space. Apart from these features the Intel 910 / 915 chipset
motherboard provides four Serial ATA ports for high speed data transfer at up
to 150 MB/Second for each of 4 ports, allows easier hard drive upgrades and
expansion for new SATA optical drives, also supports Ultra ATA / 100 legacy
hard drives and optical drive support, eight high speed USB ports offering up
to 40X greater bandwidth over USB for high - speed I/O peripherals such as
digital video cameras and Intel Serial Video output offering maximum display
(digital CRT or TV) flexibility through existing PCI Express x16 connector.

Intel D102GGC2 Chipset

The Intel Desktop Board
D102GGC2 delivers an integrated
graphics solution for your next
value platform. The Intel Desktop
Board D102GGC2 supports the
Intel Pentium D Processor, the
Intel Pentium 4 Processor with
Hyper-Threading Technology and
the Intel Celeron D processor in

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the LGA775 package. This ATX board delivers both quality and value by
offering features such as High Definition Audio and Realtek RTL8101L 10/100
LAN. This desktop board also features PCI Express 16, DDR2 533/400
memory, and 8 USB 2.0 ports.

Intel D102GGC2 Features

Features:
Form Factor: microATX (9.60 inches by 8.60 inches).
Processors: Support for an Intel® Pentium® D processor in an LGA775 / 4
processor sockets with an 800 or 533MHz system bus.
Memory: Two 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM)
sockets. Support for DDR2 533MHz and DDR2 400MHz DIMMs Support for up
to 2GB of system memory
LAN Support: 10/100 Mbps LAN subsystem using the Realtek 8101L LAN
adapter device
Peripheral Interfaces: Eight USB 2.0 ports, one serial port, one parallel
port, Four Serial ATA interfaces, Two Parallel ATA IDE interfaces with UDMA
33, ATA-66/100 support Expansion Capabilities:
VIA Chipsets
VIA chipsets are designed and manufactured by VIA Technologies. VIA is
another leading manufacturer of chipsets. Earlier till the introduction of
Pentium II processors VIA Technologies were mainly engaged in
manufacturing its motherboards and processors which are compatible with
the chipset originally designed for Intel processors but from year 2003 / 2004
VIA Technologies started its production of motherboards based on the VIA
chipsets for its own processors like M-II/C3 on the pattern followed by Intel
Corp. Some of the most popular VIA chipsets and their features are given
below:
VIA CLE 266 Chipset
This motherboard has a VIA C3 CPU onboard with front-side bus speed up to
133 MHz. This motherboard support DDR 266MHz, Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133
function and remarkably high system performance under all types of system
operations it supports built - in USB 2.0 providing higher bandwidth. It
implements Universal Serial Bus Specification Revision 2.0. The motherboard
supports the built - in AC'97 Codec,
two 32-bit PCI slots, one CNR
(Communications and Networking
Riser) slot, and an onboard
10BaseT/I00Base TX Network
interface (optional). This motherboard
integrates a 128-bit 3D/2D graphics
engine and a high - performance 3D
accelerator.
In addition, this motherboard has a
full set of I/O ports including two PS/2
ports for mouse and keyboard, one

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serial port, one VGA port, one parallel port. one LAN port (optional), audio
jacks for microphone, line-in and line-out, four back-panel USB2.0 ports and
onboard USB header USB 1 providing two extra ports by connecting the
extended USB module to the motherboard.

Key Features: The key features of this motherboard include:

CPU Type: Supports the VIA C3 CPU on board. Supports 133 MHz Front - Side
Bus.
Chipset: There are VIA CLE266 Northbridge and 8235 Southbridge in this
chipset in accordance with an innovative and scalable architecture with
proven reliability and performance. A few of the chip sets advanced features
are:
1. High Performance CPU Interface: Support for VIA C3 processors;
133/100/66 MHz CPU Front Side Bus (FSB).
2. Advanced High-Performance DDR/SDR DRAM Controller: DRAM interface
synchronous with host CPU (133/100 MHz) for most flexible configuration;
Supports 4 banks up to 2 GB DRAMs.
3. Concurrent PCI Bus Controller: 33 MHz operation, PCI 2.2 compliant, 32 bit
3.3V PCI interface with 5V tolerant inputs
4. Fast Ethernet Controller: 1/10/100 MHz full and half duplex operation
8. Direct Sound Ready AC'97 Digital Audio Controller: AC'97 2.1 compliant
Expansion Slots: One CNR slot, two 32-bit PCI slots for PCI 2.2-compliant bus
interface
Onboard IDE: Two IDE Connectors Supports PIO (Programmable I/ O)
Channels and DMA (Direct Memory Access) modes, Supports IDE Ultra DMA
bus mastering with transfer rates of 133 / 100 / 66 / 33 MB / sec
VGA: Integrated Graphics/Video Accelerator supports optimized Shared
Memory Architecture (SMA), Separate 128-bit data paths between north
bridge and graphics core for pixel data flow and texture / command access,
Graphics engine clocks up to 133MHz decoupled from memory clock, High
quality DVD video playback

VIA VT 82C585 Chipset

The motherboard uses VIA VT82C585VPX PCI chipset. This motherboard is
designed to run Pentium II, AMD and Cyrix processors. The onboard system
memory consists of DIMM. In addition, two unbuffered, 3.3 Volts, 168-pin
SDRAM sockets are also included for 16 to 256MB synchronous Dynamic
memory support. A 321-pin, Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket allows an easy

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upgrade path for the future processors. The VIA VT82C586B PCI / ISA Bridge
provides an integrated Bus Mastering IDE controller with two high
performance Ultra DMA -33 EIDE interfaces for up to four IDE devices (such
as hard drives or CD-ROM). The PCI / ISA Bridge also including an USB
interface. The integrated I / O controller integrates the standard PC I/O
functions: floppy interface, two FIFO serial ports, one parallel port, and
support for an IrDA and Consumer Infra Red compatible interface. Four on-
board 32 - bit PCI local bus slots, which serves as a super highway for
intensive data - movement such as video or networking. The BIOS support
PCI bridge user configuration, which allows further expansion of the system
with PCI peripherals. Up to two 16-bit ISA slots are provided so that the board
is backward hardware compatible with the older expansion card.
Auto Jumper
This motherboard is one of our "Auto Jumper" series, which eliminates the
necessity for the user to set the jumper s on the motherboard. It is capable
of detecting the CPU brand, and setting of the appropriate CPU core voltage
and speed according to instructions from the user through CMOS setup
menu. In contrast to "Jumper less", "Auto Jumper" allows switching to manual
mode that enables physical jumpers on the mainboard, so as to prevent the
potential impacts on jumperless boards from the future CPU specifications.
Features Summary
This motherboard comes with following features:
1. Support Intel Pentium/Pentium-MMX, AMD K5/K6/K6-2/K6-III, Cyrix/IBM
6x86 / 6x86MX /M – II.
2. With an On-Board Crystal 3D Sound Chip for Sound Version.
3. Two DIMM slots Supporting up to 512MB Memory Capacity
4. 4 x PCI slots, 2 x ISA slots
5. 2 x USB ports, 1 x PS /2 Mouse port and 1x IrDA port
6. Dual IDE channel supporting four Ultra DMA 33 IDE Drives
7. Dual AT / ATX Power Supply Interface
8. Baby AT form factor dimension 220 mm x 170 mm.

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