Motherboards - Form Factors, Chipsets, Install, Cases, Mounting

Question 1

What is a motherboard?

Answer 1

The foundation that holds the parts of the computer together.

Question 2

What does a motherboard do?

Answer 2

• lets us expand the functionality of the machine by adding expansion cards
• routes power from the power supply
• allows different parts of the computer to communicate

Question 3

What does a chipset on a motherboard do?

Answer 3

decides how the components talk to each other on our machine; allows us to manage data between RAM, CPU and peripherals.

Question 4

What are form factors?

Answer 4

The size/shape that are standardized and fixed for motherboards and their cases.

Question 5

What is the I/O area on the motherboard? (input/output area)

Answer 5

It’s used for connections on the motherboard.

Question 6

What is the I/O shield (input/output)?

Answer 6

It’s the covering for the I/O area. It covers the back of the computer, and shielding the inputs/outputs from being damaged while you’re plugging/unplugging things. Every motherboard comes with one.

Question 7

What are the different types of form factors?

Answer 7

ATX, MicroATX, MiniATX, ITX Form Factor

Question 8

What is the ATX (Advanced Tech Extended) form factor?

Answer 8

The biggest and most common type of form factor. Common in desktops and PCs, these bigger sizes have lots of space and house lots of expansion slots.
It has sizes like standard, micro, mini, nano, and pico.

Question 9

Mini-ITX form factors are usually used for what kinds of systems?

Answer 9

• POS systems
• self-contained or embedded systems
• networks
• military or medical systems
• small computers
• home theater systems

Question 10

ITX (Information Tech Extended) Form Factors

Answer 10

• much smaller in size than ATX form factor
• Have sizes like mini, nano, pico, and mobile
• designed for low-cost small setups like cars, network devices, small computers, or embedded/self-contained systems
• can’t handle a lot of workload (uses less than 25 watts in a mini)

Question 11

What are the two chipsets on motherboards?

Answer 11

1. Northbridge
2. Southbridge

Question 12

What do chipsets do for the motherboard?

Answer 12

Chipsets decide how the components talk to each other on our machine and allow us to manage data between RAM, CPU, and peripherals. Chipsets define RAM capacity, USB capabilities, etc.

Question 13

What are the jobs of the Northbridge and Southbridge chipsets?

Answer 13

Northbridge: The CPU mostly takes this role today. It interconnects things like RAM and video cards. The CPU, taking this role, is interacting with fast hardware.

The Southbridge maintains I/O controllers like hard drives and USB devices. It acts as the interface between the CPU and slower hardware. Southbridge are on modern motherboard chip sets.

Question 14

What is most important before installing a motherboard?

Answer 14

1. Getting a anti-static bag and anti-static mat.
2. Consulting the motherboard book throughout the process.
3. Making sure you have all cables and parts.

Question 15

What are SATA cables used for on the motherboard?

Answer 15

They are used to connect things like hard drives or SSD’s to the motherboard.

Question 16

What happens when voltage regulators and capacitators break on a motherboard?

Answer 16

You might see a bubbling up dome. You need to throw the motherboard away and buy a new one, especially if the motherboard was already bought used.

Question 17

PCIe (Expansion Slots)

Answer 17

PCIe is the dominant type of expansion slot.
- Offers multiple lanes.
- Used to put video cards on.
- Types include 16 Lane, Single Lane, and 4 Lane.

Question 18

16 Lane PCIe

Answer 18

Type of expansion bus that uses serial connections. It sends and receives data via one cable.

Question 19

What’s the difference between the PCIe and the PCI expansion slots/buses?

Answer 19

There is one wire sending and receiving data in the PCIe expansion bus, whereas the PCI has 32 different wires sending and receiving data.

Question 20

What are dongles?

Answer 20

They are cable-connected ports that plug into the motherboard.

Question 21

What are the purposes of motherboard cases?

Answer 21

Cases offer standardized standouts for mounting various motherboard form factors. Better cases have better cable organization/management features. A well-chosen one has support for the number and type of drives needed.

Question 22

What will you see on a motherboard case?

Answer 22

• Standout: a place to put the motherboard
• Pass through: the holes in the chassis that help cable management
• Connectors: USB, audio, on/off, etc.
• Power supply mounted into the case
• Optical Drive

Question 23

What are the steps to mounting a motherboard into a case?

Answer 23

1. Mount the I/O shield. Triple check for standoff positions.
2. Pull out all cables and push them to the side. Organize cables inside the case.
3. Perform a dry fit of the motherboard to the case. Just look at the I/O devices.
4. Start mounting by screwing in the motherboard to the case with several screws and making sure it’s tight.
5. Start making connections and plugging in cables, like the USB front panel connections, by referring to the motherboard manual.

Question 24

What is the purpose of a heat sink on a motherboard?

Answer 24

to put the heat out of a hot device to dissapate the heat

Heat sinks are designed to sit on top of a very hot component, such as a CPU, and draw the heat away toward its fins. Cool air is then blown past these fins, allowing heat to be absorbed into the air flow.

Question 25

Zeke wants to replace his hard drive in his laptop but first needs to decide what form factor will be compatible with his motherboard. HDDs and SSDs for laptops come in what three form factors?

Answer 25

2.5”, 1.8”, and M.2

2.5”, 1.8”, or M.2 are all form factors for HDD and SSD. SSDs are used by most laptops to save space.

Question 26

What are the different connectors that plug into the motherboard?

Answer 26

1. PCIe
2. PCI
3. SATA
4. eSATA
5. power connectors
6. Headers
7. M.2

Question 27

PCI and PCIe (peripheral component interconnect / express)

Answer 27

PCI—Peripheral Component Interconnect was introduced by Intel™ in the 1990s. This replaced older 8- and 16-bit expansion slots with a 32-bit slot.

PCIe—PCI express sends data in a serial stream at higher speeds than conventional PCI. It has superseded PCI.

Question 28

What is the power connector to a motherboard?

Answer 28

special 24-pin connection point through which a motherboard receives electrical power.

Question 29

eSATA and SATA (serial ATA conductor)

Answer 29

SATA—The serial ATA connector is used to connect a hard drive or optical drive.

eSATA—An external SATA is a connection type that allows for external devices to connect directly to the motherboard using a SATA connection.

Question 30

header (connection to motherboard)

Answer 30

allows for external components, such as lights and buttons, to connect directly to the motherboard. Examples of components connected to headers are the power button and light, the reset button, drive activity lights, audio jacks, and USB ports.

Question 31

M.2

Answer 31

form factor.

M.2 supports SATA, USB, and PCIe buses.

Question 32

Special server motherboards

Answer 32

Housing multiple processors with expanded memory and networking capabilites.

Most server motherboards are ATX and specifically designed to fit inside a server chassis.

Question 33

What’s a multi socket motherboard/

Answer 33

A motherboard with more than one CP U socket.

Question 34

What does a desktop motherboard usually have?

Answer 34

can be either ITX or ATX and contains one CPU socket.