Motherboard

Motherboard for an Acer desktop personal computer,

showing the typical components and interfaces that
are found on a motherboard. This model was made by
Foxconn in 2007 and follows the microATX layout
(known as the "form factor") usually employed for
desktop computers. It is designed to work with AMD's
Athlon 64 processor
Intel D945GCPE: A microATX Motherboard LGA775 for
Intel Pentium 4, D, XE, Dual-Core, Core 2 (circa 2007)

A motherboard (sometimes alternatively

known as the mainboard, main circuit
board, system board, baseboard, planar
board or logic board,[1] or colloquially, a
mobo) is the main printed circuit board
(PCB) found in general purpose computers
and other expandable systems. It holds,
and allows, communication between many
of the crucial electronic components of a
system, such as the central processing
unit (CPU) and memory, and provides
connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a
backplane, a motherboard usually
contains significant sub-systems such as
the central processor, the chipset's
input/output and memory controllers,
interface connectors, and other
components integrated for general
purpose use and applications.

Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB

with expansion capability and as the name
suggests, this board is often referred to as
the "mother" of all components attached
to it, which often include peripherals,
interface cards, and daughtercards: sound
cards, video cards, network cards, hard
drives, or other forms of persistent
storage; TV tuner cards, cards providing
extra USB or FireWire slots and a variety of
other custom components.

Similarly, the term mainboard is applied to

devices with a single board and no
additional expansions or capability, such
as controlling boards in laser printers,
televisions, washing machines, mobile
phones and other embedded systems with
limited expansion abilities.
History
Prior to the invention of the
microprocessor, the digital computer
consisted of multiple printed circuit
boards in a card-cage case with
components connected by a backplane, a
set of interconnected sockets. In very old
designs, copper wires were the discrete
connections between card connector pins,
but printed circuit boards soon became
the standard practice. The Central
Processing Unit (CPU), memory, and
peripherals were housed on individual
printed circuit boards, which were plugged
into the backplane. The ubiquitous S-100
bus of the 1970s is an example of this
type of backplane system.

The most popular computers of the 1980s

such as the Apple II and IBM PC had
published schematic diagrams and other
documentation which permitted rapid
reverse-engineering and third-party
replacement motherboards. Usually
intended for building new computers
compatible with the exemplars, many
motherboards offered additional
performance or other features and were
used to upgrade the manufacturer's
original equipment.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, it
became economical to move an
increasing number of peripheral functions
onto the motherboard. In the late 1980s,
personal computer motherboards began
to include single ICs (also called Super I/O
chips) capable of supporting a set of low-
speed peripherals: keyboard, mouse,
floppy disk drive, serial ports, and parallel
ports. By the late 1990s, many personal
computer motherboards included
consumer-grade embedded audio, video,
storage, and networking functions without
the need for any expansion cards at all;
higher-end systems for 3D gaming and
computer graphics typically retained only
the graphics card as a separate
component. Business PCs, workstations,
and servers were more likely to need
expansion cards, either for more robust
functions, or for higher speeds; those
systems often had fewer embedded
components.

Laptop and notebook computers that were

developed in the 1990s integrated the
most common peripherals. This even
included motherboards with no
upgradeable components, a trend that
would continue as smaller systems were
introduced after the turn of the century
(like the tablet computer and the netbook).
Memory, processors, network controllers,
power source, and storage would be
integrated into some systems.

Design

The Octek Jaguar V motherboard from 1993.[2] This

board has few onboard peripherals, as evidenced by
the 6 slots provided for ISA cards and the lack of other
built-in external interface connectors. Note the large AT
keyboard connector at the back right is its only
peripheral interface.
The motherboard of a Samsung Galaxy SII; almost all
functions of the device are integrated into a very small
board

A motherboard provides the electrical

connections by which the other
components of the system communicate.
Unlike a backplane, it also contains the
central processing unit and hosts other
subsystems and devices.

A typical desktop computer has its

microprocessor, main memory, and other
essential components connected to the
motherboard. Other components such as
external storage, controllers for video
display and sound, and peripheral devices
may be attached to the motherboard as
plug-in cards or via cables; in modern
microcomputers it is increasingly common
to integrate some of these peripherals into
the motherboard itself.

An important component of a
motherboard is the microprocessor's
supporting chipset, which provides the
supporting interfaces between the CPU
and the various buses and external
components. This chipset determines, to
an extent, the features and capabilities of
the motherboard.

Modern motherboards include:

Sockets (or slots) in which one or more

microprocessors may be installed. In the
case of CPUs in ball grid array
packages, such as the VIA C3, the CPU
is directly soldered to the
motherboard.[3]
Memory Slots into which the system's
main memory is to be installed, typically
in the form of DIMM modules containing
DRAM chips
A chipset which forms an interface
between the CPU's front-side bus, main
memory, and peripheral buses
Non-volatile memory chips (usually
Flash ROM in modern motherboards)
containing the system's firmware or
BIOS
A clock generator which produces the
system clock signal to synchronize the
various components
Slots for expansion cards (the interface
to the system via the buses supported
by the chipset)
Power connectors, which receive
electrical power from the computer
 power supply and distribute it to the
CPU, chipset, main memory, and
expansion cards. As of 2007, some
graphics cards (e.g. GeForce 8 and
Radeon R600) require more power than
the motherboard can provide, and thus
dedicated connectors have been
introduced to attach them directly to the
power supply.[4]
Connectors for hard drives, typically
SATA only. Disk drives also connect to
the power supply.

Additionally, nearly all motherboards

include logic and connectors to support
commonly used input devices, such as
USB for mouse devices and keyboards.
Early personal computers such as the
Apple II or IBM PC included only this
minimal peripheral support on the
motherboard. Occasionally video interface
hardware was also integrated into the
motherboard; for example, on the Apple II
and rarely on IBM-compatible computers
such as the IBM PC Jr. Additional
peripherals such as disk controllers and
serial ports were provided as expansion
cards.

Given the high thermal design power of

high-speed computer CPUs and
components, modern motherboards nearly
always include heat sinks and mounting
points for fans to dissipate excess heat.

Form factor

Motherboards are produced in a variety of

sizes and shape called computer form
factor, some of which are specific to
individual computer manufacturers.
However, the motherboards used in IBM-
compatible systems are designed to fit
various case sizes. As of 2007, most
desktop computer motherboards use the
ATX standard form factor — even those
found in Macintosh and Sun computers,
which have not been built from commodity
components. A case's motherboard and
power supply unit (PSU) form factor must
all match, though some smaller form
factor motherboards of the same family
will fit larger cases. For example, an ATX
case will usually accommodate a
microATX motherboard.computers
generally use highly integrated,
miniaturized and customized
motherboards. This is one of the reasons
that laptop computers are difficult to
upgrade and expensive to repair. Often the
failure of one laptop component requires
the replacement of the entire motherboard,
which is usually more expensive than a
desktop motherboard
CPU sockets

A CPU socket (central processing unit) or

slot is an electrical component that
attaches to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
and is designed to house a CPU (also
called a microprocessor). It is a special
type of integrated circuit socket designed
for very high pin counts. A CPU socket
provides many functions, including a
physical structure to support the CPU,
support for a heat sink, facilitating
replacement (as well as reducing cost),
and most importantly, forming an
electrical interface both with the CPU and
the PCB. CPU sockets on the motherboard
can most often be found in most desktop
and server computers (laptops typically
use surface mount CPUs), particularly
those based on the Intel x86 architecture.
A CPU socket type and motherboard
chipset must support the CPU series and
speed.

Integrated peripherals
Block diagram of a modern motherboard, which
supports many on-board peripheral functions as well
as several expansion slots

With the steadily declining costs and size

of integrated circuits, it is now possible to
include support for many peripherals on
the motherboard. By combining many
functions on one PCB, the physical size
and total cost of the system may be
reduced; highly integrated motherboards
are thus especially popular in small form
factor and budget computers.

Disk controllers for a floppy disk drive,

up to 2 PATA drives, and up to 6 SATA
drives (including RAID 0/1 support)
integrated graphics controller
supporting 2D and 3D graphics, with
VGA and TV output
integrated sound card supporting 8-
channel (7.1) audio and S/PDIF output
Ethernet network controller for
connection to a LAN and to receive
Internet
 USB controller supporting up to 12 USB
ports
IrDA controller for infrared data
communication (e.g. with an IrDA-
enabled cellular phone or printer)
Temperature, voltage, and fan-speed
sensors that allow software to monitor
the health of computer components.

Peripheral card slots

A typical motherboard will have a different

number of connections depending on its
standard and form factor.

A standard, modern ATX motherboard will

typically have two or three PCI-Express
16x connection for a graphics card, one or
two legacy PCI slots for various expansion
cards, and one or two PCI-E 1x (which has
superseded PCI). A standard EATX
motherboard will have two to four PCI-E
16x connection for graphics cards, and a
varying number of PCI and PCI-E 1x slots.
It can sometimes also have a PCI-E 4x slot
(will vary between brands and models).

Some motherboards have two or more

PCI-E 16x slots, to allow more than 2
monitors without special hardware, or use
a special graphics technology called SLI
(for Nvidia) and Crossfire (for AMD).
These allow 2 to 4 graphics cards to be
linked together, to allow better
performance in intensive graphical
computing tasks, such as gaming, video
editing, etc.

Temperature and reliability

A motherboard of a Vaio E series laptop (right)

A microATX motherboard with some faulty capacitors

Motherboards are generally air cooled with

heat sinks often mounted on larger chips,
such as the Northbridge, in modern
motherboards.[5] Insufficient or improper
cooling can cause damage to the internal
components of the computer, or cause it
to crash. Passive cooling, or a single fan
mounted on the power supply, was
sufficient for many desktop computer
CPU's until the late 1990s; since then,
most have required CPU fans mounted on
their heat sinks, due to rising clock speeds
and power consumption. Most
motherboards have connectors for
additional computer fans and integrated
temperature sensors to detect
motherboard and CPU temperatures and
controllable fan connectors which the
BIOS or operating system can use to
regulate fan speed.[6] Alternatively
computers can use a water cooling
system instead of many fans.

Some small form factor computers and

home theater PCs designed for quiet and
energy-efficient operation boast fan-less
designs. This typically requires the use of
a low-power CPU, as well as a careful
layout of the motherboard and other
components to allow for heat sink
placement.

A 2003 study found that some spurious

computer crashes and general reliability
issues, ranging from screen image
distortions to I/O read/write errors, can be
attributed not to software or peripheral
hardware but to aging capacitors on PC
motherboards.[7] Ultimately this was
shown to be the result of a faulty
electrolyte formulation,[8] an issue termed
capacitor plague.
Standard motherboards use electrolytic
capacitors to filter the DC power
distributed around the board. These
capacitors age at a temperature-
dependent rate, as their water based
electrolytes slowly evaporate. This can
lead to loss of capacitance and
subsequent motherboard malfunctions
due to voltage instabilities. While most
capacitors are rated for 2000 hours of
operation at 105 °C (221 °F),[9] their
expected design life roughly doubles for
every 10 °C (18 °F) below this. At 65 °C
(149 °F) a lifetime of 3 to 4 years can be
expected. However, many manufacturers
deliver substandard capacitors,[10] which
significantly reduce life expectancy.
Inadequate case cooling and elevated
temperatures around the CPU socket
exacerbate this problem. With top blowers,
the motherboard components can be kept
under 95 °C (203 °F), effectively doubling
the motherboard lifetime.

Mid-range and high-end motherboards, on

the other hand, use solid capacitors
exclusively. For every 10 °C less, their
average lifespan is multiplied
approximately by three, resulting in a 6-
times higher lifetime expectancy at 65 °C
(149 °F).[11] These capacitors may be rated
for 5000, 10000 or 12000 hours of
operation at 105 °C (221 °F), extending the
projected lifetime in comparison with
standard solid capacitors.

Bootstrapping using the Basic

Input/Output System
Motherboards contain some non-volatile
memory to initialize the system and load
some startup software, usually an
operating system, from some external
peripheral device. Microcomputers such
as the Apple II and IBM PC used ROM
chips mounted in sockets on the
motherboard. At power-up, the central
processor would load its program counter
with the address of the boot ROM and
start executing instructions from the ROM.
These instructions initialized and tested
the system hardware displayed system
information on the screen, performed RAM
checks, and then loaded an initial program
from a peripheral device. If none was
available, then the computer would
perform tasks from other memory stores
or display an error message, depending on
the model and design of the computer and
the ROM version. For example, both the
Apple II and the original IBM PC had
Microsoft Cassette BASIC in ROM and
would start that if no program could be
loaded from disk.
Most modern motherboard designs use a
BIOS, stored in an EEPROM chip soldered
to or socketed on the motherboard, to boot
an operating system. Non-operating
system boot programs are still supported
on modern IBM PC-descended machines,
but nowadays it is assumed that the boot
program will be a complex operating
system such as Microsoft Windows or
Linux. When power is first supplied to the
motherboard, the BIOS firmware tests and
configures memory, circuitry, and
peripherals. This Power-On Self Test
(POST) may include testing some of the
following things:
Video adapter
Cards inserted into slots, such as
conventional PCI
Floppy drive
Temperatures, voltages, and fan speeds
for hardware monitoring
CMOS memory used to store BIOS setup
configuration
Keyboard and Mouse
Network controller
Optical drives: CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
SCSI hard drive
IDE, EIDE, or Serial ATA Hard disk drive
 Security devices, such as a fingerprint
reader or the state of a latching switch
to detect intrusion
USB devices, such as a memory storage
device

On recent motherboards, the BIOS may

also patch the central processor
microcode if the BIOS detects that the
installed CPU is one for which errata have
been published.

Many motherboards now use an update to

BIOS called UEFI.

See also
Accelerated Graphics Port
Computer case screws
CMOS battery
Daughterboard
List of computer hardware
manufacturers
Memory Reference Code – the part of
the BIOS which handles memory timings
on Intel motherboards
Overclocking
Single-board computer
Switched-mode power supply
applications
Symmetric multiprocessing
References
1. Miller, Paul (2006-07-08). "Apple
sneaks new logic board into whining
MacBook Pros" . Engadget. Archived
from the original on 2013-10-04.
Retrieved 2013-10-02.
2. "Golden Oldies: 1993 mainboards" .
Archived from the original on 2007-
05-13. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
3. "CPU Socket Types Explained: From
Socket 5 To BGA [MakeUseOf
Explains]" . 2013-01-25. Archived
from the original on 2015-04-07.
Retrieved 2015-04-12.
4. W1zzard (2005-04-06). "Pinout of the
PCI-Express Power Connector" .
techPowerUp. Archived from the
original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved
2013-10-02.
5. Karbo, Michael. "The CPU and the
motherboard" . Karbos Guide.
Archived from the original on 27 April
2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
6. "Temperatures" . Intel® Visual BIOS
Wiki. Google. Archived from the
original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved
21 June 2015.
7. c't Magazine, vol. 21, pp. 216-221.
2003.
 8. Chiu, Yu-Tzu; Moore, Samuel K. (2003-
01-31). "Faults & Failures: Leaking
Capacitors Muck up Motherboards" .
IEEE Spectrum. Archived from the
original on 2003-02-19. Retrieved
2013-10-02.
9. "Capacitor lifetime formula" . Low-
esr.com. Archived from the original
on 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
10. Carey Holzman The healthy PC:
preventive care and home remedies
for your computer McGraw-Hill
Professional, 2003 ISBN 0-07-222923-
3 page 174
11. "-- GIGABYTE --Geeks Column of the
Week - All Solid Capacitor" .
www.gigabyte.com. Archived from
the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved
2017-05-06.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Computer motherboards.

Motherboard Form Factors - Silverstone

Article
Motherboards at Curlie
List of motherboard manufacturers and
links to BIOS updates
 What is a motherboard?
The Making of a Motherboard: ECS
Factory Tour
The Making of a Motherboard: Gigabyte
Factory Tour
Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design
Guide - v1.3 (pdf file)
Motherboard form factor and uses

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