3.4 - Motherboard Form Factors

Question 1

Motherboard form factors

Answer 1

• Physical size - Case sizing
• Basic layout - Room for small changes
• Power - Standard connectors
• Airflow - Increasingly important
• Wikipedia: There are 40 different motherboard
  types categorized!

Question 2

Motherboards - What you need to know

Answer 2

• CompTIA exam objectives:
  – “3.4 - Given a scenario, install and configure
  motherboards, central processing units (CPUs),
  and add-on cards.”
• Focus on which motherboard would be
  the best choice for a scenario
  – Memorizing the dimensions of the motherboard
  probably isn’t the most important thing
  – ATX or ITX
• Which motherboard would you choose?
  – Media center, video editing, thin client, etc.

Question 3

ATX form factor

Answer 3

• Advanced Technology Extended
• Standardized by Intel in 1995
  – Seen many updates over the years
• Power
  – 20 pin connector
  – 24 pin connector, additional 4/8 pin connector

Question 4

ITX form factor

Answer 4

• A series of low-power motherboards
  – Developed by VIA Technologies in 2001
  – Small form factor
• Mini-ITX is screw-compatible with ATX
  – Fits almost any enclosure
• Small form factor uses
  – Single-purpose computing, i.e., streaming media