PRASHANTI INSTITUTE

OF TECHNOLOGY &
SCIENCE
Project Report on
MOTHERBOARD…
Contents

 Introduction
 What MOTHERBOARD is exactly…
 What is the difference between
motherboards?
 How Motherboards Work?
 Memory and Other Features
 Conclusion
Introduction

We all know that a motherboard is a vital part of

every PC.
But why? What exactly is it, and what does it do?
The more you know about computer components,
the better your position as a user, which is where
this article strives to help you.
 A motherboard houses the
BIOS (Basic Input/Output
System), which is the simple
software run by a computer
when initially turned on. Other
components attach directly to
it, such as the memory, CPU
(Central Processing Unit),
graphics card, sound card,
hard-drive, disk drives, along
with various external ports and
peripherals.
What MOTHERBOARD is
exactly…
A motherboard is also known as a main board, system
board and logic board. A common abbreviation is ‘mobo'.
They can be found in a variety of electrical devices,
ranging from a TV to a computer. Generally, they will be
referred to as a motherboard or a main board when
associated with a complex device such as a computer,
which is what we shall look at. Put simply, it is the central
circuit board of your computer. All other components and
peripherals plug into it, and the job of the motherboard is
to relay information between them all. Despite the fact
that a better motherboard will not add to the speed of
your PC, it is none-the-less important to have one that is
both stable and reliable, as its role is vital.
What is the difference between
motherboards?
The first factor to think about concerning
motherboards is the size, or form factor. A form
factor is a standardised motherboard size. If you
think about fitting a motherboard in a case, there are
a number of mounting holes, slot locations and PSU
connectors. The most popular motherboard form
factor today is ATX, which evolved from it's
predecessor, the Baby AT, a smaller version of the
AT (Advanced Technology) form factor. Generally
speaking, nowadays a standard computer will have
an ATX form factor motherboard: only special cases
require different form factors.
Two of the biggest makes of CPUs at the moment
are Intel and AMD, yet you cannot buy
motherboards that support the use of either: it will
support one or the other, due to physical differences
in the connectors. This is often referred to as a type
of platform; for example, an ‘Intel platform
motherboard' means a motherboard with an Intel
CPU. Furthermore, you must choose a specific type
of processor; for example, an AMD Athlon 64 or
Pentium 4. Therefore, you must choose which CPU
you want before you can choose your motherboard.
Both Intel and AMD processors are capable of
running the same applications, but there are
differences in price and performance depending on
which one you choose.
 The next thing to think about it how much RAM you
want. RAM, or Random Access Memory, is the main
memory in a computer, and is used mainly to store
information that is being actively used or that
changes often. It is always wise to choose a
motherboard that can support more RAM than you
currently need
 I mentioned previously that there are many
components that plug in to the motherboard. You
are likely to want various expansion cards (such as
graphics cards, sound cards and so on). These
components tend to have physically different
connectors, and so this is the next factor you need
to take into consideration. The PCI-E slot is the most
common graphics card interface nowadays
How Motherboards Work?
If you've ever taken the case off of a computer, you've seen
the one piece of equipment that ties everything together -- the
motherboard. A motherboard allows all the parts of your
computer to receive power and communicate with one
another.
Motherboards have come a long way in the­last twenty years.
The first motherboards held very few actual components. The
first IBM PC motherboard had only a processor and card
slots. Users plugged components like floppy drive controllers
and memory into the slots. Today, motherboards typically
boast a wide variety of built-in features, and they directly
affect a computer's capabilities and potential for upgrades.
 Form Factor
A motherboard by itself is
useless, but a computer has
to have one to operate. The
motherboard's main job is to
hold the computer's
microprocessor chip and let
everything else connect to it.
Everything that runs the
computer or enhances its
performance is either part of
the motherboard or plugs into
it via a slot or port.
The shape and layout of a
motherboard is called the
form factor. The form factor
affects where individual
components go and the
shape of the computer's
case. There are several
specific form factors that
most PC motherboards use
so that they can all fit in
standard cases.
 The form factor is just one of the many standards
that apply to motherboards. Some of the other
standards include:
 The socket for the microprocessor determines what kind of
Central Processing Unit (CPU) the motherboard uses.
 The chipset is part of the motherboard's logic system and is
usually made of two parts -- the northbridge and the
southbridge. These two "bridges" connect the CPU to other
parts of the computer.
 The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) chip controls the most
basic functions of the computer and performs a self-test every
time you turn it on. Some systems feature dual BIOS, which
provides a backup in case one fails or in case of error during
updating.
 The slots and ports found on a motherboard
include:
 Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)-
connections for video, sound and video capture
cards, as well as network cards
 Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) - dedicated port
for video cards.
 Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) - interfaces for the
hard drives
 Universal Serial Bus or FireWire - external
peripherals
 Memory slots
 Sockets and CPUs:
The CPU is the first thing
that comes to mind when
many people think about a
computer's speed and
performance. The faster the
processor, the faster the
computer can think. In the
early days of PC computers,
all processors had the same
set of pins that would
connect the CPU to the
motherboard, called the Pin
Grid Array (PGA). These
pins fit into a socket layout
called Socket 7. This meant
that any processor would fit
into any motherboard.
Memory and Other Features

We've established that the speed of the processor

itself controls how quickly a computer thinks. The
speed of the chipset and busses controls how
quickly it can communicate with other parts of the
computer. The speed of the RAM connection
directly controls how fast the computer can access
instructions and data, and therefore has a big effect
on system performance. A fast processor with slow
RAM is going nowhere.
 Much of the memory
available today is dual data
rate (DDR) memory. This
means that the memory can
transmit data twice per
cycle instead of once, which
makes the memory faster.
Also, most motherboards
have space for multiple
memory chips, and on
newer motherboards, they
often connect to the
northbridge via a dual bus
instead of a single bus. This
further reduces the amount
of time it takes for the
processor to get information
from the memory.
Conclusion
Unless you have limitless resources, price is always
a consideration when buying computer component.
A motherboard usually takes up a fairly large part of
any PC budget, so it requires careful consideration.
It is worth bearing in mind that cheaper boards
sometimes support only more expensive
components: If this is the case, work out the total
cost of buying the board and components, as
sometimes it may be worth spending a little more on
a more expensive board. A cheap motherboard may
be more unreliable and more trouble than it is worth.
A motherboard is one of those components where it
pays to spend a little extra.
THE END….!!!!