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CompTIA A+ Lesson 4 -Motherboard PIN outs , Jumpers ,External Ports ,Connectors

if you look at motherboard you will see many Pins , Ports and connectors on ,today im going to explain all of those one by one .f irst of all let we check Connectors

Connect ors

Audio front panel: T his ten-pin connector links to the f ront-panel headphone and microphone inputs. T he particular connector shown is an AC97 connector, which existed prior to multichannel HD audio. Its still in common use today. Azalia digital audio header: You rarely f ind this connector, used to tie the motherboard to multichannel digital outputs on the case, on current motherboards.

Serial-port header: T his connector isnt physically present on the board shownyou can just see the solder points f or it. But this header does appear on a f ew modern boards. It supports a nine-pin, RS-232 serial port, usually as a bracket that occupies a slot space on the back of the case. A number of RS-232 connections remain in use today, mostly in point-of -sale devices or specialized test instruments. Consumer boards typically dont have them. FireWire (IEEE 1994a): Once common as a digital camcorder interf ace, FireWire has largely been supplanted by USB, and the motherboard makers are gradually phasing it out. Some prof essional audio hardware still uses FireWire, though; you may also occasionally f ind higher-speed IEEE 1394b headers, but they are even rarer. USB 2.0 front panel: T hese connectors are used to link to the f ront-panel USB ports on PC cases. SATA connectors: T hese components connect via cables to various storage devices, including hard-disk drives, solid-state drives, and optical drives. IDE connector: Rarely f ound today, IDE connectors were used to link to older hard drives. In addition, until a couple of years ago, many optical drives supported IDE. Today, all new storage devices ship with SATA. Floppy disk connector: T he venerable 3.5-inch f loppy disk drive survived f or nearly two decadesan eternity in the tech universe. But unless you have a pile of old f loppies, you wont need a f loppy drive. And if you do f ind yourself needing a f loppy drive, you can always pick up an external, USB-connected drive.

sockets

DDR3 memory sockets: Current-generation PC systems use DDR3 memory, but in many instances they support dif f erent operating speeds. T he P67 chipset used in this board maxes out at DDR3-1600, but to achieve that level of speed youd have to overclock the chipsetof f icially the P67 supports only DDR3-1333. Here, we see f our memory sockets. T he system supports dual-channel memory, meaning that the system is populated with paired memory modules, which are mounted in sockets of the same color. CPU fan header: T his connector is specif ically designed to link to the CPU cooling f an. T he system BIOS monitors CPU cooling f an speeds; and if the f an isnt connected to this header, you may get an error at bootup. Eight-pin AT X12V (CPU power) connector: Back when the Pentium 4 processor f irst shipped, Intel realized that high-perf ormance CPUs needed their own source of clean, dedicated power beyond what the standard 24-pin power connector could deliver. T hus was born AT X12V. Youll see f our-pin connectors on lower-end boards supporting CPUs with lower thermal design power (T DP), but the eight-pin version of the connector is used with higher-end processors and on boards that users may overclock. Power for secondary fans: Many motherboards with secondary-f an power headers; these connectors are mainly used to power and monitor various case f ans. PCI Express x1 connector: PCI Express is a serial interf ace, though multiple lanes may be ganged together. T he x1 ref ers to a slot supporting a single PCI Express lane; it is used f or I/O devices that dont require bidirectional bandwidth greater than 500 megabytes per second (gen 1 PCIe). Sound cards, f or example, are typically PCIe x1 devices. PCI Express x16 (graphics): PCI Express x16 slots are used mostly f or graphics cards, though they can be used with any PCI Express card. Conf usion may arise, however, because not all PCIe x16 slots are true PCIe x16. Occasionaly, youll see PCIe x16 connectors that are physical slots f or accommodating graphics cards, but are actually eight-lane (x8) or even f our-lane (x4) electrically. On some boards, even slots that support true 16-lane PCI Express f or graphics may revert to eight lanes if you install a second graphics card into a second PCIe x16 slot on the motherboard. T he P67 chipset, f or instance, has only 16 total PCIe lanes f or graphics. So if you drop in two graphics cards to run in dual GPU mode, each card will have just eight lanes available to it. T his situation isnt as bad as it sounds, though, since even eight lanes in a PCIe 2.0- or 3.0-based system delivers plenty of bandwidth f or most games. 32-bit legacy PCI slot: T he now-classic 32-bit PCI slot has been around since 1993. A host of expansion cards support 32-bit PCI; and to accommodate them, most motherboards are likely to have at least one 32-bit PCI slot going f orward. You may see some system boards conf igured so that a particular back-panel case bracket can support either a PCI slot or a PCIe slot, with some overlap between the two because theyre very close together. Front-panel switch header: T his header connects various wires to the f ront panel of the case, where they link to power and reset buttons, and status LEDs f or power and storage-drive activity.

PIN Out s
NOW Lets go some deeper on Motherboard PINS : you can find below pins on all of Motherboards .

Here are the computer connections we need to plug in: Power (also called Message) T his is the connection f or the power LED on the f ront panel this will be green when your computer is on. PW (this is the power switch on the case) T his is the connection f or the actual power button on the f ront of your case SPEAK (this is the speaker on the case) T his is the connection f or the speaker on the inside of the case HD - T his is the connection f or the hard drive activity light. T his will be lit when your hard drive is running RESET - T his is the connection f or the reset button on the f ront of your case

JUMPER

A jumper is a removable wire or small plastic or metal plug whose absence or placement on a piece of hardware determines how the hardware is to be conf igured.For example, if a jumper on a hard drive is in Position A (I made this up), it may mean that the hard drive is to be the master hard drive on the system. If the jumper is in Position B it may mean that the hard drive is to be the slave hard drive in the computer.Jumpers have all but replaced an older hardware conf iguration mechanism called a DIP switch. Even jumpers are rare on most newer hardware today.

Jumper settings and f unctions


VGA int errupt select ion and VGA set t ing
T he INT _SEL jumper allows you to set the VGA interrupt method. T he def ault disables the chipsets internal interrupt routing. Some T V-Tuner or MPEG cards may require that the interrupt be assigned by the onboard chipset, in which case enable INT _SEL. T he VGA_SEL jumper allows you to enable or disable onboard video. Disable onboard video if you are using a video card in an expansion slot. INT _SEL and VGA_SEL jumper settings Figure 1: INT _SEL and VGA_SEL jumper settings

1 INT _SEL: 1-2 = Enable, 2-3 = Disable 2 VGA_SEL: 2-3 = Enable, 1-2 = Disable Real Time Clock (RT C) RAM (RT CLR) T he CMOS RAM is powered by the onboard button cell battery. To clear the RT C data: 1. Turn of f the computer and remove AC power. 2. Move this jumper to Clear Data. 3. Move the jumper back to Operation. 4. Turn on the computer. 5. Press the F1 key while the PC is starting, and re-enter the user password in the BIOS setup screens. 6. Battery test jumper (RT CLR) You can test the battery current by removing this jumper and attaching a current meter to the Operation pins. CAUT ION: T he CMOS RAM containing BIOS setup inf ormation may be cleared by this action. To ensure the motherboard has no power, unplug the power cord f rom the PC. You should Load BIOS Setup Def aults and reenter any settings af ter removing and reapplying this jumper. RT C RAM Normal Clear data RT CLR 1-2(def ault) 2-3(momentarily)

Figure 2: RT CLR Jumper

CPU ext ernal (BUS) f requency select ion (FS0, FS1, FS2, FS3)
T hese jumpers tell the clock generator what f requency to send to the CPU. T hese allow the selection of the CPUs external f requency (or BUS Clock). T he BUS Clock times the BUS Ratio equals the CPUs internal f requency (the advertised CPU speed). CPU to BUS f requency ratio (BF0, BF1, BF2) T hese jumpers set the f requency ratio between the internal f requency of the CPU and the external f requency (called the BUS Clock) within the CPU. T hese must be set together with the above jumpers CPU External (BUS) Frequency Selection. Processor Speed AMD K6-2 300 MHz(Vcore = 2.2V) AMD K6-2 333 MHz(Vcore = 2.2V) AMD K6-2 366 MHz(Vcore = 2.2V) CPU To Bus Freq Ratio BF0 = 2-3BF1 = 2-3BF2 = 2-3 BF0 = 1-2BF1 = 2-3BF2 = 2-3 BF0 = 1-2BF1 = 1-2BF2 = 2-3 CPU Ext. (BUS) Freq Selection FS0 = 2-3FS1 = 1-2f S2 = 2-3 FS3 = 1-2 FS0 = 2-3FS1 = 1-2f S2 = 2-3 FS3 = 1-2 FS0 = 2-3FS1 = 1-2f S2 = 2-3 FS3 = 1-2Voltage regulator output selection (VID0, 1, 2, 3)

T hese jumpers set the voltage supplied to the CPU: Manufacturer Intel AMD IBM/Cyrix Intel AMD AMD (.35 micron) AMD (.35 micron) IBM/Cyrix Intel AMD (.25 micron) CPU type P54C/P54CS K5 6 x 86 P54C/P54CS K5 K6-PR233 K6-166, 200 6 x 86 MX P55C-MMX K6-233, 266, 300 Single phase 3.5 V (VRE) 3.5 V (VRE) 3.5 V (VRE) 3.4 V (ST D) 3.4V (ST D) Dual plane 3.2 V (Dual) 2.9 V (Dual) 2.9 V (Dual) 2.8 V (Dual) 2.1 V (Dual) VID3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 1-2 VID2 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 VID1 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 2-3 VID0 2-3 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-2 1-2 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-2

And a trick f or you in end of this lesson , f ollow below instructions and Clear Your CMOS via CMOS pin outs on motherboard , Fisrt you have to f ind CMOS pin out on your motherboard

Ext ernal Port s

PS/2 Ports: Standard keyboards and mice of ten connect to the computer via the PS/2 ports. Serial & Parallel Ports: T he serial port and parallel port allow connections to printers and other external devices. USB Ports: Devices like digital cameras, scanners and printers of ten connect to the motherboard via the USB ports. LAN Port: T he LAN port is used to connect the PC to a local network or to high speed Internet services. VGA & Audio Ports: On this particular motherboard, the VGA port provides access to integrated video while the line-out, microphone and line-in ports provide access to integrated audio meaning there is no need f or video cards or sound cards.

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