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Motherboard and user experience
Conference Paper · January 2013
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Motherboard and user experience
J. Tomljanović*, T. Turina**, E. Krelja Kurelović***
Polytechnic of Rijeka
Vukovarska 58, Rijeka, Croatia
* jasminka.tomljanovic@veleri.hr
** tturina@veleri.hr
*** elena@veleri.hr
Abstract: The motherboard is the heart of the computer and
also the most neglected part of the hardware. The main
purpose of the motherboard is to connect all parts of a
computer such as: memory, processor, disks and other devices
in a better and faster way. Unlike other hardware devices
development of motherboard is very unique and has a great
impact on the market. While other devices developed
independently of each other, it depends on the development of
the motherboard whether these devices will work together. The
objectives of this study were to describe the most important
sections of the motherboard and its development starting from
chipsets, through memory, processor, which is one of the parts
that are selected first when designing a computer, to the bus
and the other slots. In addition, there will be a describtion of
the motherboard models and their development. An online
survey was conducted and that gave the answers to the
questions like: how much computer users are familiar with
their motherboards, have they ever had motherboard failures
and what were they.
I. INTRODUCTION – MOTHERBOARD BASICS
The motherboard is a printed board on which are located
the main parts of a computer: CPU, memory, bus and other
internal circuits can be soldered to the motherboard and can
be added into the corresponding sockets and connectors.
The motherboard is often sold separately without the
processor, memory, and additional circuits so that customers
could assemble a computer to suit their needs. [1]
The motherboard is located inside the case and attached
with small screws through pre-drilled holes. The front of the
motherboard contains ports that connect all the internal
components of a computer. There is one slot for the
processor, more memory module slots and several ports to
connect the floppy drive, hard drive and optical drive via
cable-like ribbons. Power from the power supply is provided
to the motherboard with the help of a specially designed
connector. The front side of the motherboard also includes
slots for various cards (video, audio, etc.) that serve to
expand the capabilities of the computer. On the left side of
the motherboard are numerous slots which are used to
connect most of the external input/output devices such as a
monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, speakers and more.
Motherboard and case are made so that if you use some of
the cards the connections for input/output units are located at
the back of the computer to make them more accessible to
use. [8]
II. CHIPSET
Chipset greatly determines the features of the
motherboard, so the motherboard is sometimes classified
into groups according to them. These additional integrated
circuits are soldered to the motherboard and can not be
changed. They determine the most important features of the
computer: processor type that can be on the motherboard,
memory type, bus, the method of exchanging data with the
environment, etc. [1]
When the IBM (International Business Machines)
constructed the first motherboard for PCs it took six
different chips and later, developing that motherboard, the
number increased to nine different chips that have ensured
the functioning of the system. Building the copy of one of
these IBM systems require more than one hundred
individual chips. Therefore, the price of motherboards was
extremely high and there remained little space to add other
functions. In 1986 the company Chips and Technologies has
introduced a revolutionary component called 82C206 - the
main part of the first chipset for personal computers. The
single chip had all the functions of the main chips of the
motherboard for the AT (Advanced Technology) systems.
This meant that, in addition to the processor, all the major
components of the motherboard can be replaced with a
single chip and that the functionality can be achieved with
an additional 4 chip. That chipset was called CS8220. The
next update of that chipset was NEAT (New Enhanced AT)
CS8221 and had a set of only three chips, and that version
was followed 82C836 Single Chip AT chipset that finally
united all the functional chips into one chip. [2]
Other chip makers have begun to copy the idea of that
chipset, but for most of them the market was short-lived and
unstable, and after just a few years, most of them stopped
producing and the rest were struggling to survive in the
market. This was due to the new manufacturer that came
into the market and in a little more than a year he dominated
the chipset market. It was Intel, and since 1994. he has held
the advantage.
Intel has worked for a short time a special chipset for
EISA (Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture) bus,
although she eventually was dormant, but Intel got the
inspiration in making chipsets. Intel has become impatient
waiting for chipsets which are adjusted to the new
processors. It took almost two years of waiting for the
chipset that supports the new processors to be developed,
MIPRO 2013/CE 819
and Intel could not sell their processors until the producers
did not make motherboards that support them. Intel's idea
was to simultaneously develop a new processor and a
chipset that supports it, thereby encouraging manufacturers
of motherboards in a faster response since the two main
components are already on the market. Intel tested that with
the presentation of the 420 chipset that is accompanying 486
processor in 1989. This has enabled motherboard
manufacturers to start with the preparation and after just a
few months came the first motherboard that supports it. Intel
soon realized that processors and related chipsets are 90% of
the components in a typical motherboard and in 1993 for
their Pentium processor Intel immediately released their
430LX chipset and a fully completed motherboard. In a year
Intel has dominatet the chipset and motherboard market. [2]
Most previous chipset used multistorey architecture that
includes what is called the North Bridge and South Bridge
and Super I / O chip [2]:
 North Bridge chip – connects to the processor, the
AGP and PCI buses and memory. He is actually the
control system.
 South Bridge chip - apart from the North Bridge
chip is connected to the PCI bus and the ISA bus
and UCB bus if the system has any.
 Super I / O chip - it is a special chip connected to
the ISA bus. It includes most of the common
external units into one chip.
All of the more recent South Bridge chips include the
Super I / O functions and newer architecture do not need a
separate Super I / O chip.
III. MEMORY
Memory, of which we speak here is called the working
memory and is built into the computer itself. Working
memory is the one memory that the processor uses for
immediate storage and supply data. While the computer is
on and processing data, the data and programs can be found
in the working memory. Usually a few bits is stored in a
specific location in memory. That place is called the
memory location. [1]
RAM is a memory with limited access. It is a working
memory in which you can write and read data from it as
many times as you want. The stored data remains in this
memory until they are deliberately changed or until the
power supply is interrupted. The main features of RAM are
capacity and speed. It is desirable that RAM has a larger
capacity in order to store more data. [1]
SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or static
working memory is a type of memory in which each bit is
stored in one of bistable circuits located in the memory
integrated circuits. Without external shocks, bistable circuit
permanently occupies one of the two stable states. The
transition from one state to another encourages the
appropriate signal from outside and the state can present a
logical 0 and logical 1. The registered data will remain
stored until a power failure or intentional changes. The
benefits of SRAM memory is very fast memory access. The
disadvantage is relatively large dimensions of the bistable
circuits which limits the number of bistables that can be
placed on a plate. [1]
DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) is a type of
memory where each bit is stored as a charge in miniature
condenser located in the memory integrated circuits. Data
exchange with DRAM memory is slower and more
complicated than the exchange with SRAM memory due to
the need to renew the charge in the capacitor in order to
preserve data. The advantage of DRAM capacitors is the
small dimensions. Therefore there can be more of them on
the same plate. The disadvantage is the need for relatively
complex drive frame and slow work caused by restoring
memory. [1]
Because of its importance and cost computer memory is
built so that it can be easily installed and modified. To
facilitate the expansion of memory it is sold and installed in
the so-called memory modules. Memory module is a printed
circuit on which the memory integrated circuits are soldered,
and on one edge there are connectors. There are several
different models of memory modules that are not
interchangeable. SIMM (Single Inline Memory Modules) is
the oldest type of memory modules and not used more in
modern computers. There are versions with 30 and 72
contact. They must be installed in pairs. DIMM (Dual Inline
Memory Module) is currently the most prevalent types of
memory modules. There are versions with 168 and 184
contact. They can be installed individually. RIMM (Rambus
Inline Memory Module) is designed for Rambus memories.
There are versions with 168 and 184 contact.
IV. SOCKET AND PROCESSOR
Port for the processor, or socket, is the connector that the
processor is plugged into. In all motherboards processor is
connected through the socket so it could be changed. The
reason is twofold. On the one hand, making it possible to
install the motherboard processor according to user
preference, on the other hand it is possible to substitute in
case of failure. [1]
The processor is a semiconductor device in which one
plate of a semiconductor holds all the important parts of the
central processing unit, such as for example the arithmetic-
logic unit, internal tanks, supervisory circuits, etc. [1]
Intel was the first who invented the first processors that
user could install and replace and has developed standards
for the CPU (Central Processing Unit) sockets and slots that
allow different models of equivalent processors to go on the
same socket. The main finding was the use of ZIF (Zero
Insertion Force) design for sockets, which means that the
processor can be easily placed or removed without tools.
ZIF sockets use the lever that engages or releases chip, and
is open until the chip can be easily removed and replaced by
another. ZIF sockets have a label that is usually printed on
them, which indicates the type of socket. [2]
All processors were mounted on sockets, but Intel and
AMD in 1990’s temporary switch to the processors that
820 MIPRO 2013/CE
plug into the slots on the motherboard because the L2 cache
memory, which is located on a separate chip, started to be
added to the processors. Then the processor is located on
two different chips and the costs of such processors were
higher. Then Intel began to incorporate Intel L2 cache
directly on the processor die, which meant no additional
chips. Shortly after that AMD has done the same. [2]
Since 2000 Intel and AMD are in constant rivalry. Since
switching from one, and later 3 megahertz, introducing 64-
bit processors, the introduction of multi-core processors,
either on one or more chips, to the possibility of improving
the performance of videos, pictures and web operations and
the minimum use of energy a lot of novelty can be expected
of the two leading manufacturers.
V. BUS
Bus is standardized connection to exchange data
between two or more devices. By this definition bus
includes all connections to exchange data. [1] Considering
the place of exchange of data bus is divided into internal and
external. The internal bus is used to exchange data within a
computer and an external bus is used to exchange data
between a computer and peripheral devices.
Bus is usually performed as a conductor on the surface
of the printed circuit board, and is connected to the
terminals for additional circuits in the computer. There are
three main types of buses. Data bus is a set of guidelines for
the transmission of electrical signals that represent data. The
number of these guides is equal to the number of bits that
can be processed by the CPU. Address bus is a set of
guidelines for the transmission of electrical signals, which
are represents the addresses, and their number depends on
the computer architecture. Control bus is a set of guidelines
for the transmission of electrical signals which represents
the supervisory and control signals, and their number and
function vary from computer to computer. Additional
assemblies, which are subsequently incorporated into the
computer must be connected to the bus in the computer and
are built mostly as printed circuit boards with soldered
electronic components and connectors on one end. In order
to avoid that every computer manufacturer has its own bus
several standardized internal bus was arranged. [1]
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus is the
most common in most PC’s. It has general purpose and is
intended for connection to different cards. It is independent
of the processor, and in principle can be used with any
processor which enables the processor and the bus to work
at different speeds. In addition, the PCI bus can
communicate directly with the memory. Benefits of PCI bus
are high-speed, independance of applied processor,
adaptation to new computer architectures, automatic
configuration and good definition. The PCI bus supports a
'plug and play' technology which is its important advantage.
[1]
Significantly improved PCI bus is a PCI Express bus
that transmits data over high speed serial channels (corridor)
and in essence can support multiple graphics devices. Speed
per a corridor was significantly increased compared to the
standard PCI bus. Within the corridors the transmission is
serial with a significantly improved synchronization system.
When the PCI Express bus uses more corridors for the
transmission of data it performes parallel transmission data
groups, which means that data has elements of parallel and
serial communication. [3]
AGP bus (Accelerated / Advanced Graphic Port) is a bus
connector primarily intended to display images (graphics
card). Requirements for data throughput of modern graphics
cards are such that virtually all the available capacity of the
PCI bus would be spent on serving the graphics card
significantly slowing the exchange of data with other
additional circuitry. Therefore, one AGP bus is added the
computer and is then used to display data on a monitor. [1]
VI. MOTHERBOARD MODELS
There are several models of motherboards, and when we
talk about the model motherboards usually entails format,
size and arrangement of elements on the motherboard.
Differences between models of motherboards are physical
size and shape, mounting locations, layouts, power
connectors, and more. There are dozens of official models
of motherboards, but only a few of them dominated the PC
industry. [4] In the following paragraphs you can read more
about these models of motherboards:
 Backplane Systems - components that are normally
found on the motherboard are located on the adapter
card that is plugged into the slot. Backplane systems
come in two forms: passive and active. Passive
design means that the main panel does not include
any electrical connections other than bus connectors
and maybe some compounds for powertrains. In the
active form panel contains all the classic
motherboard components except the processor. The
advantage of a backplane system is that it can be
easily upgraded with new processors and other
properties just by changing the card but are often
more expensive to upgrade. [3]
 Full-size AT - coincides with the original IBM AT
motherboard design. First appeared in August 1984
when IBM introduced the IMB PC AT (Personal
Computer Advanced Technology). Shortly after that
reducing the size of components started to progress
and thus decreasing the need for large
motherboards. [2]
 Baby-AT - can completely replace the full-size AT
motherboard and can be placed in several types of
housing. Because of the flexibility of the Baby-AT
that motherboard model was the most popular
model until early 1996 when the more powerful
ATX (Advanced Technology Extended)
motherboard design, which is not directly
interchangeable, began to replace it. [2]
 LPX - LPX (Low Profile eXended) and mini-LPX
motherboard model is semi proprietary design
which was originally developed by Western Digital
1987 for some of their motherboards. Most
MIPRO 2013/CE 821
noticeable feature is that the slots for additional
extensions are placed on a raised card that plug into
the motherboard. The slots are located on one or
both sides raised card, depending on the system and
design of the casing. [2]
 NLX - an enhanced version of the LPX design
except that the NLX (New Low profile eXtended) is
fully standardized, which means that one NLX
motherboard can be replaced with another that is not
necessarily from the same manufacturer, which
could not be done with LPX motherboards. The
main feature of the system is that NLX motherboard
is inserted into a raised card unlike LPX systems
where raised card plugges into the motherboard. All
devices that normally connect to the motherboard
connect to the raised card. Therefore, the
motherboard can be extracted from the system
without disrupting the raised card or any expansion
card that is located on it. [2]
 BTX - Intel announces BTX (Balanced
Technology eXtended) model in 2003 with the
purpose to alleviate the increasing strength of
components and cooling requirements and to enable
better targeting of the circuit. Because of the new
trend for dual-processor the need for BTX model
decreases and in 2006 Intel gives up from further
development. BTX motherboard model is not
compatible with ATX model or some other design.
The input / output connectors on the back are
similar for BTX models and the ATX model but
they are on the other side of the motherboard. Some
major manufacturers have never even started to
produce BTX systems and held to ATX-based
systems. [2]
 ATX - ATX form is essentially a Baby-AT design
rotated by 90 º. Expansion slots are now parallel to
the shorter side of the motherboard and do not
disturb the CPU, memory and input/output
terminals. Intel also prescribed Mini-ATX, which is
not an official standard as the two official versions
microATX and FlexATX models that are intended
for cheaper and more consumer-oriented systems
and personal computers. They can use the
specialised SFX / TFX (Small Form Factor / Thin
Form Factor) power supply because they require
less energy. [2]
VII. DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE OF RESEARCH AND
METHODOLOGY
The aim of this study was to determine how well the PC
users know their motherboard, have they met with
malfunctions and determine the incidence of occurrence of
failures on the motherboard in each category of using a
computer. According with this goal set following
hypothesis:
H01: There is no statistically significant difference in the
occurrence of malfunctions on motherboards with respect to
the purpose of computer use.
This study was conducted using a survey method of
testing. The survey was made with Google's service for
creating documents 'Google Docs'. Questions in the survey
are composed to give everyone an opportunity to reply, they
do not engage in extensive and unnecessary detail, and
provide a quality way to obtain the required information
from the user.
The research results have been collected in an on-line
database of Google's tools to create online surveys. The
survey was conducted from June to August 2012. Survey
was anonymous and collected 328 completed
questionnaires.
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and to
test the hypothesis using the chi-square test. Statistical
analysis of data was made in Statistica8.
VIII. DATA AND ANALYSIS
Table I. contains the frequencies of answers that are
grouped by age. The numbers in the fields indicate the
number of a certain group of people who responded to this
question. Most respondents were younger than 25 years, and
then followed by people between 26 and 35 years of age. It
is reasonable that most participants in the first group are
students while in the second group most of them are
employed and the relatively even distribution of students
and the unemployed respondents. Most participants own
both a PC and a laptop, followed by those who only have a
PC and last are laptop owners. In almost all groups,
participants indicated that they spend more than 4 hours per
day on a computer, and the average age of a computer in all
of the groups is 3 years or less. Most common use of
computers for the group under the age of 25 years for fun,
79 out of 171 participants, followed by communication and
education, and work is in last place. In the second group,
most people (54) also chose fun, 30 people chose work and
23 people chose communication. Education is in the last
place. The next groups also use their computer mostly for
the work while the other categories are poorly represented.
Acording to the type of the chipset Intel is leading in all
groups, followed by AMD. A relatively small number of
people do not know what chipset they have, and only a few
people have chosen the option 'Other'. These responses are:
nVidia (3 persons), Gigabyte, ASRock, and nForce 4.
Chart I. shows the response to the question of whether
there were any malfunctions on the motherboard where it
shows that in the first age group, more respondents said no
although quite a large number of people responded
affirmatively to this question. In second age group, the
situation is reversed. More respondents encountered
motherboard failure than those who did not. The third age
group also has more affirmative answer.
822 MIPRO 2013/CE
Chart II. contains answers to the most common failures
that the respondents had encountered. In the first 3 groups
most answers were the power connector and the CMOS
battery, but the largest number of respondents chose 'Other'
where they had to enter themselves which component is
broken. That was the aim of the questions and provoked the
greatest interest. The answeres are obtained in table II.
From the answers to two questions: whether the
respondents had to change the motherboard because of a
failure and whether they change the motherboard, regardless
of the failure it can be seen that most of the respondents in
the first group did not change the motherboard because of a
failure, nor have they changed it regardless of it. In the
second group of answers are the similar, although a little
more answered no on both questions. In the other groups, the
answers are also mostly no. It is interesting that some
respondents changed the motherboard regardless of any
failures, thus it can be concluded that they upgrade and
enhance their computer and follow the development of
technology.
TABLE I. TABLE WITH DANA
DESCRIPTION
Respondents age groups
Less
than
25
26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55
More
than
55
Total 171 116 34 5 2
Sex
Male 127 104 30 3 2
Female 44 12 4 2 0
Level of education
Primary school 3 3 0 0 1
High school degree 134 62 27 4 0
University degree or
Bachelor
27 25 3 0 0
Specialist or Master
degree
6 24 4 1 0
Mr. sc or Dr. sc 1 2 0 0 1
Current situation
Student 140 37 7 1 0
Employed 13 50 23 3 0
Unemployed 18 29 4 1 2
Type of computer
PC 56 44 17 1 1
Laptop 28 9 3 1 0
Both 87 63 14 3 1
Time spent on a computer per day
Less than 1 hour 7 0 1 1 0
1 – 2 14 7 5 1 0
2 – 3 45 10 4 0 2
3 – 4 28 26 6 0 0
More than 4 hours 77 73 18 3 0
Age of computer in years
1 or less 61 46 12 0 0
2 38 27 4 2 0
3 34 15 6 2 1
4 18 16 4 1 0
5 or more 20 12 8 0 1
Purpose of use
For work 16 30 18 2 0
For communication 40 23 6 1 1
For education 36 19 6 2 1
For fun 79 54 4 0 0
Type of chipset
AMD 40 46 13 2 0
Intel 109 76 19 3 2
Asus 14 6 5 1 0
Via Technologies 5 2 1 0 0
I dont know 13 5 4 0 0
Other 3 2 1 0 0
Was there any malfunction to the MB?
Yes 70 69 21 2 0
No 101 37 13 3 2
If so, what malfunctioned?
Power connector 18 13 10 1 0
Socket 12 3 2 0 0
CMOS battery 18 16 9 0 0
BIOS 10 15 5 0 0
Other 21 33 5 0 0
Did you change the MB because of a failure?
Yes 49 54 13 1 0
No 122 62 21 4 2
Did you change the MB regardless of the failure?
Yes 51 55 13 1 0
No 120 61 21 4 2
Was there any malfunctions
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Less than 25 26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55 More than 55
Respondents age groups
Number
of
respondents
Yes
No
CHART I. OVERVIEW OF MP FAILURES BY AGE GROUP
Motherboard malfunctions
10
1
0
16
9
0 0
21
5
0 0
13
18 18
33
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Less than
25
26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55 More than
55
Respondents age groups
Number
of
respondents
Power connector
Socket
CMOS battery
BIOS
Other
CHART II. THE MOST FREQUENT MALFUNCTION IN MP
BY AGE GROUP
MIPRO 2013/CE 823
A. Proof of the hypothesis
The proposed hypothesis was to determine whether there
is a statistically significant difference in the occurrence of
malfunctions on motherboards with regard to the purpose of
using the computer. Table III. i IV. shows a comparison of
the observed and expected frequency of malfunctions by
category of computer use. Limit value is chi-square with 3
degrees of freedom at a significance level of 5% of 7.815,
while the calculated value is the chi-square (2
(3,
N=328)=6,05817; p=0,05).
Since the calculated chi-square is less than the limit value
(6.05817 <7.815), accepts the set null hypothesis and
conclude that there is no statistically significant difference
in the occurrence of malfunction in the computer's
motherboard that are used for different purposes.
IX. CONCLUSION
The main components of the computer are located on the
motherboard, so the motherboard is often sold separately to
allow users to assemble a PC according to their needs. The
most irreplaceable part of the motherboard is chipset that
determines the processor type, the type of memory, bus and
method of data exchange with the environment.
The results showed that with the increasing age of the
respondents the use of a computer moves from
entertainment exclusively for business purposes. Middle-
aged respondents most commonly encountered with the
motherboard malfunctions and their replacement due to
failure. It is interesting that respondents in almost all age
groups are changing their motherboard although there are
not any faults which suggest that respondents upgrade their
computer and follow the development of new technologies.
It is confirmed that the appearance of failures on the
motherboard is not a consequence of our communication via
computer, or when you use it for fun, or when it enable us to
carry out our important business tasks, and even when we
use it to further education.
REFERENCES
[1] Grundler, M., „Kako radi računalo“, PRO-MIL, Varaždin, 2004.
[2] Mueller, S., „Upgrading and repairing PCs 20th ed“, QUE, USA
Indiana, 2011.
[3] Mueller, S., „Upgrading and repairing PC's 17th ed“, 2006.,
http://flylib.com/books/en/4.57.1.40/1/
[4] „Motherboard Form Factors“, motherboards.org, 2004.,
http://www.motherboards.org/articles/tech-planations/4_1.html
[5] „Organizacija mikroračunalnog susatava“,
http://www.informatika.buzdo.com/s125.htm
[6] Wilson, T. V., Johnson, R., „How Motherboards Work“,
HowStuffWorks,
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/motherboard.htm
[7] Comp TIAA+ Certification Study Guide, „Personal Computer
Components – Motherboards and Processors“, pdf,
http://www.mhprofessional.com/downloads/products/0071701451/00
71701451_Chap01.pdf
[8] Fisher, T., „What's a motherboard“, About.com Guide,
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/componentprofiles/p/p_mobo.htm
[9] PCTehcGuide.com, „What is a Motherboard?“,
http://www.pctechguide.com/01mboards.htm
TABLE II. VIEW OTHER FAILURES
Other:
Capacitors (15)
Memory slots (9)
Network interface card (9)
I don't know (6)
PCI-e slot (5)
Northbridge (5)
Lightning strike (5)
Voltage regulator (4)
Chipset (6)
Sound card (3)
Grafhics card (2)
Graphics card slot
Cooler
Default error
TABLE III. PLOT OF THE OBSERVED FAILURE FREQUENCY BY
FUNCTION OF COMPUTER
Summary Observed Frequencies (O1)
Marked cells have counts > 10
computer use
Var2
no
Ne
Var2
yes
Da
Row
Totals
For fun
For communication
For work
For education
Totals
73 64 137
37 24 61
27 39 66
29 35 64
166 162 328
TABLE IV. EXPECTED FREQUENCY OF FAILURES BY FUNCTION OF
COMPUTER USE
Summary Table: Expected Frequencies (O1)
Marked cells have counts > 10
Pearson Chi-square: 6,05817, df=3, p=,108821
computer use Var2
no
Ne
Var2
yes
Da
Row
Totals
For fun 69,3354 67,6646 137,0000
For communication 30,8720 30,1280 61,0000
For work 33,4024 32,5976 66,0000
For education 32,3902 31,6098 64,0000
All Grps 166,0000 162,0000 328,0000
824 MIPRO 2013/CE
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Miproce2013 motherboardanduserexperience

  • 1. See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261424537 Motherboard and user experience Conference Paper · January 2013 CITATIONS 0 READS 550 3 authors, including: Jasminka Tomljanovic Polytechnic of Rijeka 13 PUBLICATIONS   62 CITATIONS    SEE PROFILE Elena Krelja Kurelovic Polytechnic of Rijeka 20 PUBLICATIONS   97 CITATIONS    SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Elena Krelja Kurelovic on 21 July 2021. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
  • 2. Motherboard and user experience J. Tomljanović*, T. Turina**, E. Krelja Kurelović*** Polytechnic of Rijeka Vukovarska 58, Rijeka, Croatia * [email protected] ** [email protected] *** [email protected] Abstract: The motherboard is the heart of the computer and also the most neglected part of the hardware. The main purpose of the motherboard is to connect all parts of a computer such as: memory, processor, disks and other devices in a better and faster way. Unlike other hardware devices development of motherboard is very unique and has a great impact on the market. While other devices developed independently of each other, it depends on the development of the motherboard whether these devices will work together. The objectives of this study were to describe the most important sections of the motherboard and its development starting from chipsets, through memory, processor, which is one of the parts that are selected first when designing a computer, to the bus and the other slots. In addition, there will be a describtion of the motherboard models and their development. An online survey was conducted and that gave the answers to the questions like: how much computer users are familiar with their motherboards, have they ever had motherboard failures and what were they. I. INTRODUCTION – MOTHERBOARD BASICS The motherboard is a printed board on which are located the main parts of a computer: CPU, memory, bus and other internal circuits can be soldered to the motherboard and can be added into the corresponding sockets and connectors. The motherboard is often sold separately without the processor, memory, and additional circuits so that customers could assemble a computer to suit their needs. [1] The motherboard is located inside the case and attached with small screws through pre-drilled holes. The front of the motherboard contains ports that connect all the internal components of a computer. There is one slot for the processor, more memory module slots and several ports to connect the floppy drive, hard drive and optical drive via cable-like ribbons. Power from the power supply is provided to the motherboard with the help of a specially designed connector. The front side of the motherboard also includes slots for various cards (video, audio, etc.) that serve to expand the capabilities of the computer. On the left side of the motherboard are numerous slots which are used to connect most of the external input/output devices such as a monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, speakers and more. Motherboard and case are made so that if you use some of the cards the connections for input/output units are located at the back of the computer to make them more accessible to use. [8] II. CHIPSET Chipset greatly determines the features of the motherboard, so the motherboard is sometimes classified into groups according to them. These additional integrated circuits are soldered to the motherboard and can not be changed. They determine the most important features of the computer: processor type that can be on the motherboard, memory type, bus, the method of exchanging data with the environment, etc. [1] When the IBM (International Business Machines) constructed the first motherboard for PCs it took six different chips and later, developing that motherboard, the number increased to nine different chips that have ensured the functioning of the system. Building the copy of one of these IBM systems require more than one hundred individual chips. Therefore, the price of motherboards was extremely high and there remained little space to add other functions. In 1986 the company Chips and Technologies has introduced a revolutionary component called 82C206 - the main part of the first chipset for personal computers. The single chip had all the functions of the main chips of the motherboard for the AT (Advanced Technology) systems. This meant that, in addition to the processor, all the major components of the motherboard can be replaced with a single chip and that the functionality can be achieved with an additional 4 chip. That chipset was called CS8220. The next update of that chipset was NEAT (New Enhanced AT) CS8221 and had a set of only three chips, and that version was followed 82C836 Single Chip AT chipset that finally united all the functional chips into one chip. [2] Other chip makers have begun to copy the idea of that chipset, but for most of them the market was short-lived and unstable, and after just a few years, most of them stopped producing and the rest were struggling to survive in the market. This was due to the new manufacturer that came into the market and in a little more than a year he dominated the chipset market. It was Intel, and since 1994. he has held the advantage. Intel has worked for a short time a special chipset for EISA (Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture) bus, although she eventually was dormant, but Intel got the inspiration in making chipsets. Intel has become impatient waiting for chipsets which are adjusted to the new processors. It took almost two years of waiting for the chipset that supports the new processors to be developed, MIPRO 2013/CE 819
  • 3. and Intel could not sell their processors until the producers did not make motherboards that support them. Intel's idea was to simultaneously develop a new processor and a chipset that supports it, thereby encouraging manufacturers of motherboards in a faster response since the two main components are already on the market. Intel tested that with the presentation of the 420 chipset that is accompanying 486 processor in 1989. This has enabled motherboard manufacturers to start with the preparation and after just a few months came the first motherboard that supports it. Intel soon realized that processors and related chipsets are 90% of the components in a typical motherboard and in 1993 for their Pentium processor Intel immediately released their 430LX chipset and a fully completed motherboard. In a year Intel has dominatet the chipset and motherboard market. [2] Most previous chipset used multistorey architecture that includes what is called the North Bridge and South Bridge and Super I / O chip [2]:  North Bridge chip – connects to the processor, the AGP and PCI buses and memory. He is actually the control system.  South Bridge chip - apart from the North Bridge chip is connected to the PCI bus and the ISA bus and UCB bus if the system has any.  Super I / O chip - it is a special chip connected to the ISA bus. It includes most of the common external units into one chip. All of the more recent South Bridge chips include the Super I / O functions and newer architecture do not need a separate Super I / O chip. III. MEMORY Memory, of which we speak here is called the working memory and is built into the computer itself. Working memory is the one memory that the processor uses for immediate storage and supply data. While the computer is on and processing data, the data and programs can be found in the working memory. Usually a few bits is stored in a specific location in memory. That place is called the memory location. [1] RAM is a memory with limited access. It is a working memory in which you can write and read data from it as many times as you want. The stored data remains in this memory until they are deliberately changed or until the power supply is interrupted. The main features of RAM are capacity and speed. It is desirable that RAM has a larger capacity in order to store more data. [1] SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or static working memory is a type of memory in which each bit is stored in one of bistable circuits located in the memory integrated circuits. Without external shocks, bistable circuit permanently occupies one of the two stable states. The transition from one state to another encourages the appropriate signal from outside and the state can present a logical 0 and logical 1. The registered data will remain stored until a power failure or intentional changes. The benefits of SRAM memory is very fast memory access. The disadvantage is relatively large dimensions of the bistable circuits which limits the number of bistables that can be placed on a plate. [1] DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) is a type of memory where each bit is stored as a charge in miniature condenser located in the memory integrated circuits. Data exchange with DRAM memory is slower and more complicated than the exchange with SRAM memory due to the need to renew the charge in the capacitor in order to preserve data. The advantage of DRAM capacitors is the small dimensions. Therefore there can be more of them on the same plate. The disadvantage is the need for relatively complex drive frame and slow work caused by restoring memory. [1] Because of its importance and cost computer memory is built so that it can be easily installed and modified. To facilitate the expansion of memory it is sold and installed in the so-called memory modules. Memory module is a printed circuit on which the memory integrated circuits are soldered, and on one edge there are connectors. There are several different models of memory modules that are not interchangeable. SIMM (Single Inline Memory Modules) is the oldest type of memory modules and not used more in modern computers. There are versions with 30 and 72 contact. They must be installed in pairs. DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) is currently the most prevalent types of memory modules. There are versions with 168 and 184 contact. They can be installed individually. RIMM (Rambus Inline Memory Module) is designed for Rambus memories. There are versions with 168 and 184 contact. IV. SOCKET AND PROCESSOR Port for the processor, or socket, is the connector that the processor is plugged into. In all motherboards processor is connected through the socket so it could be changed. The reason is twofold. On the one hand, making it possible to install the motherboard processor according to user preference, on the other hand it is possible to substitute in case of failure. [1] The processor is a semiconductor device in which one plate of a semiconductor holds all the important parts of the central processing unit, such as for example the arithmetic- logic unit, internal tanks, supervisory circuits, etc. [1] Intel was the first who invented the first processors that user could install and replace and has developed standards for the CPU (Central Processing Unit) sockets and slots that allow different models of equivalent processors to go on the same socket. The main finding was the use of ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) design for sockets, which means that the processor can be easily placed or removed without tools. ZIF sockets use the lever that engages or releases chip, and is open until the chip can be easily removed and replaced by another. ZIF sockets have a label that is usually printed on them, which indicates the type of socket. [2] All processors were mounted on sockets, but Intel and AMD in 1990’s temporary switch to the processors that 820 MIPRO 2013/CE
  • 4. plug into the slots on the motherboard because the L2 cache memory, which is located on a separate chip, started to be added to the processors. Then the processor is located on two different chips and the costs of such processors were higher. Then Intel began to incorporate Intel L2 cache directly on the processor die, which meant no additional chips. Shortly after that AMD has done the same. [2] Since 2000 Intel and AMD are in constant rivalry. Since switching from one, and later 3 megahertz, introducing 64- bit processors, the introduction of multi-core processors, either on one or more chips, to the possibility of improving the performance of videos, pictures and web operations and the minimum use of energy a lot of novelty can be expected of the two leading manufacturers. V. BUS Bus is standardized connection to exchange data between two or more devices. By this definition bus includes all connections to exchange data. [1] Considering the place of exchange of data bus is divided into internal and external. The internal bus is used to exchange data within a computer and an external bus is used to exchange data between a computer and peripheral devices. Bus is usually performed as a conductor on the surface of the printed circuit board, and is connected to the terminals for additional circuits in the computer. There are three main types of buses. Data bus is a set of guidelines for the transmission of electrical signals that represent data. The number of these guides is equal to the number of bits that can be processed by the CPU. Address bus is a set of guidelines for the transmission of electrical signals, which are represents the addresses, and their number depends on the computer architecture. Control bus is a set of guidelines for the transmission of electrical signals which represents the supervisory and control signals, and their number and function vary from computer to computer. Additional assemblies, which are subsequently incorporated into the computer must be connected to the bus in the computer and are built mostly as printed circuit boards with soldered electronic components and connectors on one end. In order to avoid that every computer manufacturer has its own bus several standardized internal bus was arranged. [1] PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus is the most common in most PC’s. It has general purpose and is intended for connection to different cards. It is independent of the processor, and in principle can be used with any processor which enables the processor and the bus to work at different speeds. In addition, the PCI bus can communicate directly with the memory. Benefits of PCI bus are high-speed, independance of applied processor, adaptation to new computer architectures, automatic configuration and good definition. The PCI bus supports a 'plug and play' technology which is its important advantage. [1] Significantly improved PCI bus is a PCI Express bus that transmits data over high speed serial channels (corridor) and in essence can support multiple graphics devices. Speed per a corridor was significantly increased compared to the standard PCI bus. Within the corridors the transmission is serial with a significantly improved synchronization system. When the PCI Express bus uses more corridors for the transmission of data it performes parallel transmission data groups, which means that data has elements of parallel and serial communication. [3] AGP bus (Accelerated / Advanced Graphic Port) is a bus connector primarily intended to display images (graphics card). Requirements for data throughput of modern graphics cards are such that virtually all the available capacity of the PCI bus would be spent on serving the graphics card significantly slowing the exchange of data with other additional circuitry. Therefore, one AGP bus is added the computer and is then used to display data on a monitor. [1] VI. MOTHERBOARD MODELS There are several models of motherboards, and when we talk about the model motherboards usually entails format, size and arrangement of elements on the motherboard. Differences between models of motherboards are physical size and shape, mounting locations, layouts, power connectors, and more. There are dozens of official models of motherboards, but only a few of them dominated the PC industry. [4] In the following paragraphs you can read more about these models of motherboards:  Backplane Systems - components that are normally found on the motherboard are located on the adapter card that is plugged into the slot. Backplane systems come in two forms: passive and active. Passive design means that the main panel does not include any electrical connections other than bus connectors and maybe some compounds for powertrains. In the active form panel contains all the classic motherboard components except the processor. The advantage of a backplane system is that it can be easily upgraded with new processors and other properties just by changing the card but are often more expensive to upgrade. [3]  Full-size AT - coincides with the original IBM AT motherboard design. First appeared in August 1984 when IBM introduced the IMB PC AT (Personal Computer Advanced Technology). Shortly after that reducing the size of components started to progress and thus decreasing the need for large motherboards. [2]  Baby-AT - can completely replace the full-size AT motherboard and can be placed in several types of housing. Because of the flexibility of the Baby-AT that motherboard model was the most popular model until early 1996 when the more powerful ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) motherboard design, which is not directly interchangeable, began to replace it. [2]  LPX - LPX (Low Profile eXended) and mini-LPX motherboard model is semi proprietary design which was originally developed by Western Digital 1987 for some of their motherboards. Most MIPRO 2013/CE 821
  • 5. noticeable feature is that the slots for additional extensions are placed on a raised card that plug into the motherboard. The slots are located on one or both sides raised card, depending on the system and design of the casing. [2]  NLX - an enhanced version of the LPX design except that the NLX (New Low profile eXtended) is fully standardized, which means that one NLX motherboard can be replaced with another that is not necessarily from the same manufacturer, which could not be done with LPX motherboards. The main feature of the system is that NLX motherboard is inserted into a raised card unlike LPX systems where raised card plugges into the motherboard. All devices that normally connect to the motherboard connect to the raised card. Therefore, the motherboard can be extracted from the system without disrupting the raised card or any expansion card that is located on it. [2]  BTX - Intel announces BTX (Balanced Technology eXtended) model in 2003 with the purpose to alleviate the increasing strength of components and cooling requirements and to enable better targeting of the circuit. Because of the new trend for dual-processor the need for BTX model decreases and in 2006 Intel gives up from further development. BTX motherboard model is not compatible with ATX model or some other design. The input / output connectors on the back are similar for BTX models and the ATX model but they are on the other side of the motherboard. Some major manufacturers have never even started to produce BTX systems and held to ATX-based systems. [2]  ATX - ATX form is essentially a Baby-AT design rotated by 90 º. Expansion slots are now parallel to the shorter side of the motherboard and do not disturb the CPU, memory and input/output terminals. Intel also prescribed Mini-ATX, which is not an official standard as the two official versions microATX and FlexATX models that are intended for cheaper and more consumer-oriented systems and personal computers. They can use the specialised SFX / TFX (Small Form Factor / Thin Form Factor) power supply because they require less energy. [2] VII. DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE OF RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY The aim of this study was to determine how well the PC users know their motherboard, have they met with malfunctions and determine the incidence of occurrence of failures on the motherboard in each category of using a computer. According with this goal set following hypothesis: H01: There is no statistically significant difference in the occurrence of malfunctions on motherboards with respect to the purpose of computer use. This study was conducted using a survey method of testing. The survey was made with Google's service for creating documents 'Google Docs'. Questions in the survey are composed to give everyone an opportunity to reply, they do not engage in extensive and unnecessary detail, and provide a quality way to obtain the required information from the user. The research results have been collected in an on-line database of Google's tools to create online surveys. The survey was conducted from June to August 2012. Survey was anonymous and collected 328 completed questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and to test the hypothesis using the chi-square test. Statistical analysis of data was made in Statistica8. VIII. DATA AND ANALYSIS Table I. contains the frequencies of answers that are grouped by age. The numbers in the fields indicate the number of a certain group of people who responded to this question. Most respondents were younger than 25 years, and then followed by people between 26 and 35 years of age. It is reasonable that most participants in the first group are students while in the second group most of them are employed and the relatively even distribution of students and the unemployed respondents. Most participants own both a PC and a laptop, followed by those who only have a PC and last are laptop owners. In almost all groups, participants indicated that they spend more than 4 hours per day on a computer, and the average age of a computer in all of the groups is 3 years or less. Most common use of computers for the group under the age of 25 years for fun, 79 out of 171 participants, followed by communication and education, and work is in last place. In the second group, most people (54) also chose fun, 30 people chose work and 23 people chose communication. Education is in the last place. The next groups also use their computer mostly for the work while the other categories are poorly represented. Acording to the type of the chipset Intel is leading in all groups, followed by AMD. A relatively small number of people do not know what chipset they have, and only a few people have chosen the option 'Other'. These responses are: nVidia (3 persons), Gigabyte, ASRock, and nForce 4. Chart I. shows the response to the question of whether there were any malfunctions on the motherboard where it shows that in the first age group, more respondents said no although quite a large number of people responded affirmatively to this question. In second age group, the situation is reversed. More respondents encountered motherboard failure than those who did not. The third age group also has more affirmative answer. 822 MIPRO 2013/CE
  • 6. Chart II. contains answers to the most common failures that the respondents had encountered. In the first 3 groups most answers were the power connector and the CMOS battery, but the largest number of respondents chose 'Other' where they had to enter themselves which component is broken. That was the aim of the questions and provoked the greatest interest. The answeres are obtained in table II. From the answers to two questions: whether the respondents had to change the motherboard because of a failure and whether they change the motherboard, regardless of the failure it can be seen that most of the respondents in the first group did not change the motherboard because of a failure, nor have they changed it regardless of it. In the second group of answers are the similar, although a little more answered no on both questions. In the other groups, the answers are also mostly no. It is interesting that some respondents changed the motherboard regardless of any failures, thus it can be concluded that they upgrade and enhance their computer and follow the development of technology. TABLE I. TABLE WITH DANA DESCRIPTION Respondents age groups Less than 25 26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55 More than 55 Total 171 116 34 5 2 Sex Male 127 104 30 3 2 Female 44 12 4 2 0 Level of education Primary school 3 3 0 0 1 High school degree 134 62 27 4 0 University degree or Bachelor 27 25 3 0 0 Specialist or Master degree 6 24 4 1 0 Mr. sc or Dr. sc 1 2 0 0 1 Current situation Student 140 37 7 1 0 Employed 13 50 23 3 0 Unemployed 18 29 4 1 2 Type of computer PC 56 44 17 1 1 Laptop 28 9 3 1 0 Both 87 63 14 3 1 Time spent on a computer per day Less than 1 hour 7 0 1 1 0 1 – 2 14 7 5 1 0 2 – 3 45 10 4 0 2 3 – 4 28 26 6 0 0 More than 4 hours 77 73 18 3 0 Age of computer in years 1 or less 61 46 12 0 0 2 38 27 4 2 0 3 34 15 6 2 1 4 18 16 4 1 0 5 or more 20 12 8 0 1 Purpose of use For work 16 30 18 2 0 For communication 40 23 6 1 1 For education 36 19 6 2 1 For fun 79 54 4 0 0 Type of chipset AMD 40 46 13 2 0 Intel 109 76 19 3 2 Asus 14 6 5 1 0 Via Technologies 5 2 1 0 0 I dont know 13 5 4 0 0 Other 3 2 1 0 0 Was there any malfunction to the MB? Yes 70 69 21 2 0 No 101 37 13 3 2 If so, what malfunctioned? Power connector 18 13 10 1 0 Socket 12 3 2 0 0 CMOS battery 18 16 9 0 0 BIOS 10 15 5 0 0 Other 21 33 5 0 0 Did you change the MB because of a failure? Yes 49 54 13 1 0 No 122 62 21 4 2 Did you change the MB regardless of the failure? Yes 51 55 13 1 0 No 120 61 21 4 2 Was there any malfunctions 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Less than 25 26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55 More than 55 Respondents age groups Number of respondents Yes No CHART I. OVERVIEW OF MP FAILURES BY AGE GROUP Motherboard malfunctions 10 1 0 16 9 0 0 21 5 0 0 13 18 18 33 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Less than 25 26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55 More than 55 Respondents age groups Number of respondents Power connector Socket CMOS battery BIOS Other CHART II. THE MOST FREQUENT MALFUNCTION IN MP BY AGE GROUP MIPRO 2013/CE 823
  • 7. A. Proof of the hypothesis The proposed hypothesis was to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in the occurrence of malfunctions on motherboards with regard to the purpose of using the computer. Table III. i IV. shows a comparison of the observed and expected frequency of malfunctions by category of computer use. Limit value is chi-square with 3 degrees of freedom at a significance level of 5% of 7.815, while the calculated value is the chi-square (2 (3, N=328)=6,05817; p=0,05). Since the calculated chi-square is less than the limit value (6.05817 <7.815), accepts the set null hypothesis and conclude that there is no statistically significant difference in the occurrence of malfunction in the computer's motherboard that are used for different purposes. IX. CONCLUSION The main components of the computer are located on the motherboard, so the motherboard is often sold separately to allow users to assemble a PC according to their needs. The most irreplaceable part of the motherboard is chipset that determines the processor type, the type of memory, bus and method of data exchange with the environment. The results showed that with the increasing age of the respondents the use of a computer moves from entertainment exclusively for business purposes. Middle- aged respondents most commonly encountered with the motherboard malfunctions and their replacement due to failure. It is interesting that respondents in almost all age groups are changing their motherboard although there are not any faults which suggest that respondents upgrade their computer and follow the development of new technologies. It is confirmed that the appearance of failures on the motherboard is not a consequence of our communication via computer, or when you use it for fun, or when it enable us to carry out our important business tasks, and even when we use it to further education. REFERENCES [1] Grundler, M., „Kako radi računalo“, PRO-MIL, Varaždin, 2004. [2] Mueller, S., „Upgrading and repairing PCs 20th ed“, QUE, USA Indiana, 2011. [3] Mueller, S., „Upgrading and repairing PC's 17th ed“, 2006., http://flylib.com/books/en/4.57.1.40/1/ [4] „Motherboard Form Factors“, motherboards.org, 2004., http://www.motherboards.org/articles/tech-planations/4_1.html [5] „Organizacija mikroračunalnog susatava“, http://www.informatika.buzdo.com/s125.htm [6] Wilson, T. V., Johnson, R., „How Motherboards Work“, HowStuffWorks, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/motherboard.htm [7] Comp TIAA+ Certification Study Guide, „Personal Computer Components – Motherboards and Processors“, pdf, http://www.mhprofessional.com/downloads/products/0071701451/00 71701451_Chap01.pdf [8] Fisher, T., „What's a motherboard“, About.com Guide, http://pcsupport.about.com/od/componentprofiles/p/p_mobo.htm [9] PCTehcGuide.com, „What is a Motherboard?“, http://www.pctechguide.com/01mboards.htm TABLE II. VIEW OTHER FAILURES Other: Capacitors (15) Memory slots (9) Network interface card (9) I don't know (6) PCI-e slot (5) Northbridge (5) Lightning strike (5) Voltage regulator (4) Chipset (6) Sound card (3) Grafhics card (2) Graphics card slot Cooler Default error TABLE III. PLOT OF THE OBSERVED FAILURE FREQUENCY BY FUNCTION OF COMPUTER Summary Observed Frequencies (O1) Marked cells have counts > 10 computer use Var2 no Ne Var2 yes Da Row Totals For fun For communication For work For education Totals 73 64 137 37 24 61 27 39 66 29 35 64 166 162 328 TABLE IV. EXPECTED FREQUENCY OF FAILURES BY FUNCTION OF COMPUTER USE Summary Table: Expected Frequencies (O1) Marked cells have counts > 10 Pearson Chi-square: 6,05817, df=3, p=,108821 computer use Var2 no Ne Var2 yes Da Row Totals For fun 69,3354 67,6646 137,0000 For communication 30,8720 30,1280 61,0000 For work 33,4024 32,5976 66,0000 For education 32,3902 31,6098 64,0000 All Grps 166,0000 162,0000 328,0000 824 MIPRO 2013/CE View publication stats View publication stats