Motherboard

Question 1

PCB

Answer 1

Printed Circuit Board

A conductive series of pathways laminated to a nonconductive substrate, that connects all other components of a computer (Spine).

Question 2

Form Factor

Answer 2

The specific design and classification of a motherboard.

Question 3

Types of Form Factors

Answer 3

ATX, micro ATX, ITX

Question 4

ATX

Answer 4

• Advanced Technology Extended
• 12” x 9.6”
• Processor and Memory (are perpendicular) and inline with fan output of power supply.

Question 5

Micro ATX

Answer 5

• Designed to work in standard ATX cases.
• Same design principles as ATX but in smaller foot print
• 9.6” x 9.6”
• Trade-offs: fewer memory slots, motherboard headers, expansion slots, and integrated components
• micro ATX Systems tend to be designed for low wattage power suppllies (less power consumption and heat production)

Question 6

ITX

Answer 6

A family of small form factor boards for specialty use in home-theater systems and embedded components.

Question 7

ITX Form Factors

Answer 7

mini ITX (6.7" x 6.7")
nano ITX (4.7" x 4.7")
pico ITX (3.9" x 2.8")
mobile ITX (2.4" x 2.4")

Question 8

System (Mother) Board Components

Answer 8

Chipsets, Expansion Slots, buses, Memory Slots, External Cache, CPU sockets, Power Connectors, Disk Drive Connectors, Keyboard Connectors, Integrated Peripheral Ports and Headers, BIOS/firmware, CMOS Battery, Front-panel Connectors

Question 9

Bus Architecture Types

Answer 9

Serial and Parallel

Question 10

Parallel Bus Architecture Limitations

Answer 10

Shorter circuit lengths and less throughput due to synchronization limitations of the separate lines (signal skewing).

Question 11

Serial Architecture Limitations

Answer 11

The capability of the transceivers, which tends to grow over time due to technical advancements.

Question 12

Examples of Serial Communication Specifications

Answer 12

SATA, USB, IEEE 1394/FireWire, PCIe

Question 13

Bus

Answer 13

A common collection of signal pathways over which related devices communicate within a computer system.

Question 14

Throughput

Answer 14

The amount of data that can be moved per unit of time.

Question 15

Chipset

Answer 15

Is a collection of chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor.

Question 16

Northbridge

Answer 16

The set of circuitry or chips that manage high-speed peripheral communication.

Question 17

Frontside Bus

Answer 17

A set of signal pathways connecting the CPU and the main memory.

Question 18

Southbridge

Answer 18

• Is connected to and managed by the Northbridge.

- Provides support to slower onboard peripherals like PS/2, parallel ports, serial ports and SATA/PATA.

Question 19

PCI

Answer 19

• Peripheral Component Interconnect
• 32-bit channel
• 33 MHz or 66MHz
• 133 MBps or 266 MBps
• 3.3V and 5V

Question 20

PCI-X

Answer 20

PCI-Extended

• Targeted to servers
• 64-bit channel
• V 1.0 => 66 MHz or 133 MHz
• V 2.0 => 133 MHz or 266 MHz or 533 MHz

Question 21

PCIe

Answer 21

PCI Express

- Serial