Scribd
Upload
16 views

English Presentation (Motherboard)

The motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer that connects the other components and allows them to communicate. It was first introduced by IBM in 1981 and has evolved significantly over time. Modern motherboards come in different form factors depending on their size and intended use, such as ATX for desktops, Mini-ITX for small systems, and BTX which was designed for high power components but was discontinued. The type of motherboard chosen must match the CPU socket and case size.

Uploaded by

Rui
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views

English Presentation (Motherboard)

The motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer that connects the other components and allows them to communicate. It was first introduced by IBM in 1981 and has evolved significantly over time. Modern motherboards come in different form factors depending on their size and intended use, such as ATX for desktops, Mini-ITX for small systems, and BTX which was designed for high power components but was discontinued. The type of motherboard chosen must match the CPU socket and case size.

Uploaded by

Rui
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Motherboard 

What’s a motherboard and what is it 


used to? 
➔ The biggest circuit board called the motherboard, located on the left or 
on the right side of the case, is the main component of a computer 
which makes the other components work. We can say that it is like a 
“brain” that sends information to the different parts of the body, in 
this case, to the rest of the components. 
➔ Not every motherboard will work with every processor and memory, it 
will depend on their socket (where the CPU goes) and their chipset 
(which transfers the data to the components). 
 

How does it work? 


➔ When you turn your computer on, power is sent from the power 
supply to the motherboard. 
➔ The data then, is transferred to the chipset. There are two types of 
chipset: The northbridge and the southbridge chipset. 
➔ The northbridge chipset will transfer the data to the CPU, to the 
memory RAM and to the PCI Express slots, which will transfer the 
information to an expansion card. 
➔ On the other hand, the southbridge chipset will transfer the data to the 
BIOS, to the USB ports, to the SATA ports and to the PCI slots. The 
SATA ports are used to power up your video, network and the sound 
card. 
 

When was it invented? 


➔ Before the invention of the motherboard, computer manufacturers 
installed each component onto its own circuit board and plugged it into 
a simpler kind of circuit board called “backplane”. 
➔ In 1981, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) featured 
the first motherboard called “planar” which was based on a “backplane” 
and sold on its first personal computer, nowadays known as “PC”. This 
motherboard housed the CPU and RAM, and it provided many functions 
like: audio, ports for keyboard and cassette tape, expansion cards and 
data buses to allow this information to flow. 

How has it evolved? 


➔ At the beginning, the motherboard had a minimum of things: liike ports 
for the keyboard, a cassette deck to be used as storage and 
expansion slots to connect the display adapter and the hard disk 
controllers. 
➔ Over time, more devices were integrated such as better CPU, RAM, 
BIOS and data buses. And some devices were changed such as the 
SCSI, replaced by a video card. Also, the form factor (the structure) 
of the motherboard had changed by the time. These changes had 
improved the speed and the performance above all. 
➔ These are two motherboards built in different years. One in 1995 (the 
Baby AT design) and the other one in 1998 (the ATX design). We can 
see some differences between them such as the form factor, the 
sockets and the chipsets.  
 

Different types of motherboards 


and their differences 
➔ AT​: They had dimensions of a few hundred millimeters and it used 
sockets and six pin plugs as power connectors. The first 
motherboards which lasted for a long period of time because of its 
difficulty to connect. 
➔ ATX​: It’s the extended edition of the AT, produced in the 90’s. They 
allow interchangeability because of the smaller size of ¡ts parts, and 
they improved the connector system. 
➔ LPX​: They contain output and input ports at its back, and they also 
introduced “riser cards” for an easier placement of more slots. 
However, low quality LPX motherboards connect directly to the PCI 
instead of on AGP slots. 
➔ BTX​: They were created to cope up with the changing technologies that 
demanded a lot of power and generated a lot of heat. Their 
development was cancelled in 2006 because it needed higher-power 
CPUs. 
➔ Pico-BTX​: They are small BTX motherboards but with a maximum of 
two supported expansion slots. They were designed for riser-card or 
half-height applications. 
➔ Mini-ITX​: They are small, low-power motherboards and have a very fast 
cooling so they are used in small form factor computer systems. 
➔ Depending on the brand they could be more or less useful. And to 
choose the perfect motherboard to your PC, you’ll need to know the 
type of processor you have, the socket and the size of your PC case 
in order to fit the motherboard in. 

You might also like