Motherboard Alternatively referred to as the mb, mainboard, mobo, mobd, backplane board, base board, main circuit board, planarboard, system board, or logic board on Apple computers. The motherboard is a printed circuit board that is the foundation of a computer and allows the CPU, RAM, and all other computer hardware components to function and communicate with each other. Below is a raphic illustration of the A!U! P"A#$%& motherboard and some basic e'planations of each of the ma(or portions of the motherboard. Clic)in on the below ima e will ive you a lar er more detailed version of the below picture. Motherboard components Below is a listin of lin)s that describe each of the above mentioned motherboard components in additional detail. *in)s are listed in cloc)wise order oin from the top%left corner of the ima e. Components not listed above or found on other motherboards are listed in the ne't section. • &'pansion slots +PC, &'press, PC,, and A-P. • /%pin case fan connectors • Bac) pane connectors • 0eatsin) • 1%Pin +P1. power connector • ,nductor • Capacitor • CPU !oc)et • 2orthbrid e • !crew hole • Memory slot • !uper ,34 • 5loppy connection • ATA +,#&. dis) drive primary connection • $1%pin AT6 power !upply connector • !erial ATA connections • Coin cell battery +CM4! bac)up battery. • RA,# • !ystem panel connectors • 570 • !outhbrid e • !erial port connector • U!B headers • 8umpers • ,nte rated circuit • 9/:1 headers • !P#,5 • C#%,2 Other motherboard components Below is a listin of other motherboard components that are not shown in the above picture or have been part of older computer motherboards. • B,4! • Bus • Cache memory • Chipset • #iode • #ip switches • &lectrolytic • 5use • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -ame port and M,#, header ,nternal spea)er ;eyboard controller *CC 2etwor) header 4bsolete e'pansion slots +AMR, C2R, &,!A, ,!A, <&!A. 4bsolete memory slots +!,MM. 4nboard *&# Parallel port header P!3$ header Resistor RTC !erial port header !crew hole a)a mountin hole !C!, !olenoid <olta e re ulator <olta e re ulator module +<RM. Motherboard form factors As computers advanced, so have motherboards. Below is a listin of the various motherboard form factors and additional information about each of these form factors includin AT6 the most commonly used motherboard form factor today. • AT • AT6 • Baby AT • BT6 • #T6 • *P6 • 5ull AT • 5ull AT6 • microAT6 • 2*6 Expansion Slot Alternatively referred to as a bus slot or expansion port, an expansion slot is a slot located inside a computer on the motherboard or riser board that allows additional boards to be connected to it. 5or e'ample, if you wanted to install a new video card in the computer you=d purchase a video e'pansion card and install that card into the compatible e'pansion slot. Below is a listin of some of the e'pansion slots commonly found in ,BM compatible computers as well as other brands of computers and the devices commonly associated with those slots. Clic)in on any of the below lin)s will ive you additional details about each e'pansion slot. Computer expansion slots • AGP % <ideo card • AMR % Modem, !ound card • C R % Modem, 2etwor) card, !ound card • E!SA % !C!,, 2etwor) card, <ideo card • • • • !SA % 2etwor) card, !ound card, <ideo card PC! % 2etwor) card, !C!,, !ound card, <ideo card PC!e % <ideo card "ESA % <ideo card Many of the above e'pansion card slots are obsolete. >ou=re most li)ely only oin to encounter A-P, PC,, and PC,e when wor)in with computers today. ,n the below picture, is an e'ample of what e'pansion slots may loo) li)e on a motherboard. ,n this picture, there are three different types of e'pansion slots? PC, &'press, PC,, and A-P. Case fan A fan located inside a computer case attached to the front or bac) of the computer that helps brin air into the case and also ta)e hot air out of the case. Computer case fans are available in a wide variety of si@es, however, ABmm, :$mm, and 9$Bmm +9$cm. with a width of $"mm are the most commonly used case fans in a computer. Below is a raphic e'ample of what a computer case fan may loo) li)e. Connection A connection is a term that describes the lin) between a plu or connector into a port or (ac). 5or e'ample, your monitor, mouse, and )eyboard all ma)e a connection to the computer before they will be able to wor). Connecting % #escribin the process of connectin a plu , wire, or other device to the computer. 5or e'ample, ,=m connectin my computer to the ,nternet. Connections % An overall description of all available ports and (ac)s +more than one. on a computer. Connector % The #escription of the end of the cable that connects to the computer. Centronics,#B, and #,2 are ood e'amples of types of connectors. Connect# connected# and connecting % This term can also be used in software, for e'ample, when a user ets onto the ,nternet they are connectin to another computer to establish a connection. Below is a picture of the bac) of a des)top computer and each of connections or ports. Althou h your des)top computer=s layout may be different, this dia ram will ive you a better understandin of where everythin connects. Below are related pa es for each of the connections shown above and some related terms. Clic)in on each of the below lin)s will allow you to et more information about these connections as well as related information. $ypes of external ports %connections& • AT • Composite • #<, • e!ATA • 5irewire +,&&&%9/:1. • 0#M, • M,#, • Modem +R8%99 a)a telephone. • 2etwor) +R8%1". • P!3$ port • RCA • !%<ideo • !3P#,5 • !C!, • !erial port +R!%$/$. • !ound Card +sound out or line out, sound in or line in, Microphone, and M,#,+8oystic).. • Parallel port • U!B • <-A3!<-A !nternal ports %connections& • ATA • &'pansion slots • ,#&3&,#& • !ATA • !C!, 'eat sink A heat sink is an electronic device that incorporates either a fan or a peltier device to )eep a hot component such as a processor cool. There are two heat sin) typesC acti(e and passi(e. Acti(e heat sinks utili@e power and are usually a fan type or some other peltier coolin device. ,f you are loo)in to purchase an active heat sin), it is recommended that you purchase fans with ball%bearin motors that often last much lon er than sleeve bearin s. !ometimes these types of heat sin)s are referred to as a 'S), which is short for heat sink and fan. Passi(e heat sinks are 9BBD reliable, as they have no mechanical components. Passive heat sin)s are made of an aluminum%finned radiator that dissipates heat throu h convection. 5or Passive heat sin)s to wor) to their full capacity, it is recommended that there is a steady air flow movin across the fins. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of a heat sin) that is both active and passive. 'eatspreaders are another name for heat sin)s and commonly used to describe the covers on computer memory that helps dissipate the heat produced by the memory. P* 9. A 9$< power supply cable li)e that shown in the picture to the ri ht that is used with motherboards that have an ,ntel Pentium 1 processor. The P* cable has two blac) wires that serve as a round and two yellow wires that are E9$<#C. • Computer power supply help and support. • Computer motherboard help and support. $. Abbreviation used to describe an ,ntel Pentium 1 computer processor. • Computer CPU help and support. Coil 9. !hort for electromagnetic coil, a coil is conductor wire such as copper in a cylindrical form around an iron core that creates an inductor or electroma net to store ma netic ener y. Coils are often used to remove power spi)es and dips from power. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of an inductor on a computer motherboard. $ip+ The core of a coil is usually iron? however, it may also be plastic and even air. $. A coil can also refer to a sprin . Capacitor A capacitor is a component made of two or sets of two conductive plates with a thin insulator between them and wrapped in a ceramic and plastic container. 7hen the capacitor receives a direct current +#C., a positive char e builds up on one of the plates +or set of plates. while a ne ative char e builds up on the other. This char e, which is measured in microfarads on a computer capacitor, remains in the capacitor until it is dischar ed. ,n the ima e to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what a capacitor may loo) li)e on a computer motherboard. Another common type of capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor, which is a hi her capacitance capacitor in a smaller pac)a e. Below, is a picture and an e'ample of these types of capacitors. Socket 9. 7hen referrin to a processor, a CP, socket or processor socket is a connection that allows a computer processors to be connected to amotherboard. 5or e'ample, the !oc)et /FB is an e'ample of such a soc)et. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what a soc)et may loo) li)e on a motherboard. Althou h there have been computers that used the slot processor, most computers today and in the past have used soc)et processors. • !oc)et 9 • !oc)et $ • !oc)et / • !oc)et 1 • !oc)et " • !oc)et G • !oc)et F • !oc)et A • !oc)et /FB • !oc)et AM$ Above, is a short list of soc)ets and their description we currently have listed on our pa e. Related pages • Computer CPU help and support. • Computer motherboard help and support. • 7hat is the difference between a connector, (ac), plu , port, and soc)etH $. 7hen referrin to a pro rammin lan ua e, a socket is a communication used betweenprocesses or communication between a client and server. 4ne of the most widely used soc)etAP, or library is the Ber)ley Uni' C library. orthbridge Alternatively referred to as the PAC +PC,3A-P Controller. and sometimes abbreviated as nb, thenorthbridge is an inte rated circuit that is responsible for communications between the CPUinterface, A-P, and the memory. Unli)e the !outhbrid e the 2orthbrid e is directly connected to these components and acts li)e a Ibrid eI for the !outhbrid e chip to communicate with the CPU, RAM, and raphics controller. Today, the northbrid e is a sin le% chip that is 2orth of the PC, bus, however, early computers may have had up to three separate chips that made up the northbrid e. Below is a raphic illustration of the A!U! P"A#$%& motherboard and some basic e'planations of each of the ma(or portions of the motherboard, includin the northbrid e. As shown in the picture below, it=s common for the northbrid e and southbrid e to have a heat sin)? in addition, the northbrid e is usually sli htly lar er than the southbrid e and is the closest to the CPU and memory. 7hen the CPU needs data from RAM, a reJuest is sent to the northbrid e memory controller. After the reJuest has been received, it responds with how lon the processor will need to wait in order to read the memory over the front side bus +5!B.. !ome newer motherboards have replaced the northbrid e and the southbrid e with ,0A. My motherboard doesn-t ha(e a northbridge As manufacturers loo) for new ways to improve performance and lower the overall cost they are movin the functions of the northbrid e chip to other parts of the CPU and southbrid e. Be innin with the AM#G1 AM# and the ,ntel 2ehalem processors the memory controller was moved from the northbrid e to the processor die. *ater, the ,ntel I!andy Brid eI and the AM# Accelerated Processin Unit processors placed all northbrid e functions onto the CPU. Standouts !ometimes referred to as a standoff and spacer, a standout is a small metal or plastic screw that attaches to a computer case and holds the motherboard to the case. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of a standout. ,n this picture, the left standout has a screw inserted in the hole to help demonstrate how it wor)s. The motherboard would be placed between the standout and the screw. !nserting a standout 5irst, screw the standout into your computer chassis, once all standouts are inserted lay the motherboard on the standouts, and then insert the screw throu h the motherboard screw hole into the standout to to hold it in place. Caution+ Most computer cases will have several holes for the standout for different motherboard form factors. Ma)e sure you=re only insertin standouts that coincide with the holes on your motherboard. $ip+ 7hen puttin standoffs in the case screw them in ti htly, but not too ti ht to cause the threadin to be stripped. By securin them ti htly, it can help prevent the standoff from unscrewin when tryin to remove a motherboard screw from the standoff. ,n the second picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what a scre. hole a)amounting hole would loo) li)e on the corner of a motherboard. &ach motherboard has several holes to help hold the motherboard securely in place. 4ften the screw holes can be easily identified because they=ll have metal surroundin each hole. !ome earlier motherboards may also have holes without metal surroundin the hole. 5or these types of holes, the motherboard should have included a cardboard or paper washer to place between the screws and motherboard. Memory slot A memory slot, memory socket, or RAM slot is what allows computer memory +RAM. to be inserted into the computer. #ependin on the motherboard, there will usually be $ to 1 memory slots+sometimes more on hi h%end motherboards. and are what determine the type of RAM used with the computer. The most common types of RAM are !#RAM and ##R for des)top computers and !4#,MMfor laptop computers, each havin various types and speeds. ,n the below picture, is an e'ample of what memory slots may loo) li)e inside a des)top computer. ,n this picture, there are three open available slots for three memory stic)s. 7hen buyin a new computer or motherboard, pay close attention to the types of RAM the memory slots will allow to be used, so you are familiar with what type of RAM to buy for your computer. ,t is also important to note how many available memory slots are available in your computer. ,t is not uncommon for some computers to have all memory slots occupied, which means if you wanted to up rade your computer memory some or all of the memory currently installed would need to be removed first. S!O !hort for super input/output or Super !/O, S!O is an inte rated circuit on a computer motherboard that handles the slower and less prominent input3output devices shown below. 7hen the !uper input3output was first introduced in the late 9:AB=s it was found on an e'pansion card, later this chip was embedded into the motherboard and communicated over the ,!Abus. As ,!A be an to no lon er be used with computers !,4 communicated over the PC, bus. Today, super ,34 communicates throu h the !outhbrid e and is still used with computers in order to support older le acy devices. Computer de(ices handled by the Super !/O • 5loppy dis) controller • -ame port • ,nfrared • ,ntrusion detection • ;eyboard and mouse +non%U!B. • Parallel port • Real%time cloc) +RTC. • !erial port +UART. • Temperature sensor and fan speed ote+ !ome newer chipsets are combinin the !outhbrid e and !uper ,34 chips into a sin le chip and referrin to this chip as the Super Southbridge chip. !ome manufacturers such as 2<,#,A and !i! have even combined the 2orthbrid e, !outhbrid e and !uper ,34 into a sin le chip. 'o. do ! kno. .hat !C is the Super !/O on my motherboard0 ,dentifyin the !uper ,34 on your motherboard is often easy if you loo) for an inte rated circuit that is labeled with a company=s name that manufacturers !uper ,34 chips. !ome common !uper ,34 manufacturers are 5inte), ,T&, 2ational !emiconductor, 2uvoton, !M!C, <,A, and 7inbond. )loppy cable A ribbon cable found in PC computers that allow one or more floppy dis) drives to be connected to a computer. ,n the illustration to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what a floppy cable may loo) li)e. As can be seen, this cable allows a des)top computer to have two floppy drives connected to one controller li)e the ,#&3&,#& controller. Because floppy drives do not have a master or slave (umper, the drives are defined by cable select, which can be identified by loo)in for the cable twist as shown. The floppy channel, )11 header, or floppy connection is where the floppy drive connects to the computer motherboard. ,n the below picture, is an e'ample of a motherboard with two ,#& connections and a floppy channel connector. 5inally, the standard PC floppy drive connector contains /1%pin holes. Below is a listin of each of these pins and their descriptions. Pin number P! P! P! 2 3 4 -round Unused -round 1escription P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! * 5 6 7 8 9 2: 22 23 24 2* 25 26 27 28 29 3: 32 33 34 Unused -round Unused -round ,nde' -round Motor &nable A -round #rive !elect B -round #rive !elect A -round Motor &nable B -round #irection +!tepper Motor. -round !tep Pulse -round 7rite #ata -round P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! P! 3* 35 36 37 38 39 4: 42 43 44 4* 7rite &nable -round Trac) B -round 7rite Protect -round Read #ata -round !elect 0ead 9 -round -round !1E 9. !hort for !ntegrated 1ri(e Electronics or !;M 1isc Electronics, !1E is more commonly )nown asA$A or Parallel A$A +PA$A. and is a standard interface for ,BM compatible hard drives. ,#& is different from the !mall Computer !ystems ,nterface +!C!,. and &nhanced !mall #evice ,nterface +&!#,. because its controllers are on each drive, meanin the drive can connect directly to the motherboard or controller. ,#& and its updated successor, &nhanced ,#& +&,#&., are the most common drive interfaces found in ,BM compatible computers today. Below, is a picture of the ,#& connector on the bac) of a hard drive, a picture of what an ,#& cable loo)s li)e, and the ,#& channels it connects to on the motherboard. Related pages • !ee the ATA definition for further information and a full brea) down of the ATA history. • ATA, ATAP,, ,#&, and other computer interfaces help and support. • Advanta es of !ATA over PATA. • Computer hard drive help and support. • Computer motherboard help and support. $. Alternatively referred to as !1<E, !1E is short for !ntegrated 1e(elopment En(ironment, and are visual tools that allow pro rammers to develop pro rams more efficiently. Commonly, an ,#& may have a compiler, debu er, te't editor, and other inte rated tools. !malltal) was the first pro rammin lan ua e to have a first true ,#&. A$= style connector Replacement for the older PA and P: AT style connector, this connector connects the computer power supply to an AT6 style motherboard. As shown to the picture to the ri ht, this $B%pin multicolor cable often labeled as P2 connects to a $B%pin connector on the motherboard. 2ote, with the introduction of A$=>3, this cable is now a $1% pin cable and no lon er a $B%pin cable. As also seen in the picture to the ri ht and below, the cable has a small clip on the top of the cable that should snap and hold the cable in place when installed properly. This cable is also )eyed, which means it can only be inserted in one direction. SA$A !hort for SerialA$A# SA$A 9.B was first released in Au ust $BB9 and is a replacement for the Parallel ATA interface used in ,BM compatible computers. !erialATA is capable of deliverin 9."-bps +9"BMBps. of performance to each drive within a dis) array, offers bac)wards compatibility for e'istin ATA and ATAP, devices, and offers a thin, small cable solution as seen in the picture to the ri ht. This cable helps ma)e a much easier cable routin and offers better airflow in the computer when compared to the earlier ribbon cables used with ATA drives. ,n addition to bein an internal solution !ATA also supports e'ternal drives throu h External SA$A more commonly )nown as eSA$A. e!ATA offers many more advanta es when compared to other solutions. 5or e'ample, it is hot%swappable, supports faster transfer speeds and no bottlenec) issues when compared with other popular e'ternal solutions such as U!B and5irewire, and supports dis) drive technolo ies such as !.M.A.R.T.. Unfortunately, however, e!ATA does have some disadvanta es such as not distributin power throu h the cable li)e U!B, which means drives will reJuire an e'ternal power source and it only supports a ma'imum cable len ths of up to $m. Because of these disadvanta es don=t plan on e!ATA becomin the only e'ternal solution for computers. CMOS Alternatively referred to as a Real>$ime Clock %R$C&# on>"olatile RAM % "RAM& or CMOS RAM, CMOS is short for Complementary Metal>Oxide Semiconductor. CM4! is an on%board semiconductor chip powered by a CM4! battery inside computers that stores information such as the system time and date and the system hardware settin s for your computer. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of the most common CM4! coin cell battery used in a computer to power the CM4! memory. A Motorola 91GA9A chip was the first RTC and CM4! RAM chip to be used in early ,BM computers. The chip was capable of storin a total of G1 bytes of data. !ince the system cloc) used 91 bytes of RAM, this left an additional "B bytes of space that was available for ,BM to store system settin s. Today, most computers have moved the settin s from a separate chip and incorporated them into the southbrid e or !uper ,34 chips. 'o. long does the CMOS battery last0 The standard lifetime of a CM4! battery is around 9B >ears. 0owever, this can vary dependin on the use and environment that the computer resides. 7hen the battery fails the system settin s and the date and time will not be saved when the computer is turned off until the battery has been replaced. • 0ow to replace the CM4! battery. RA!1 9. !hort for Redundant Array of !nexpensi(e 1isks# RA!1 is an assortment of hard drives connected and setup in ways to help protect or speed up the performance of a computer=s dis) stora e. RA,# is commonly used on servers and hi h performance computers. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is a #robo and an e'ample of a device usin RA,# technolo y. RA,# uses several techniJues used in RA,# as e'plained below. Spanning and Soft.are Striping !plittin information and writin it across multiple physical dis) drives. RA,# B utili@es this techniJue Mirroring #uplication of data from one dis) drive to another. 1uplexing #uplicates the dis) drive as well as the dis) controller. 1eferred #ata is cached in cache memory and writes to the hard drive as the dis) drive becomes available. 'ot S.apping 5ailed dis) drives can be replaced and data can be placed bac) onto the dis) drive while the remainder of the system is in operation 'ot Sparing #is) drive is automatically initiali@ed into the array when another fails. Spindle Synchroni?ation !ynchroni@ation of the rotation of all dis) drives in the array allowin information to be written all at once. "ersions of RA!1 RA!1 : !oftware strippin and Bloc) ,nterleave +minimum $ drives neededK .. #ata is written to each drive in succession, each bloc) oin to the ne't available drive thus the data is distributed across the array drives +stripin . providin faster operation and less chance that one drive will et overloaded with data reJuests. The volume can of course be much lar er than any sin le drive. !ince no redundancy is provided, the failure of a sin le drive will brin the system down. This is the fastest and most efficient array type, but offers no fault%tolerance. RA!1 2 #is) Mirrorin and #uple'in + minimum $ drives neededK .. #rives are used in pairs and all data is written identically to both drives. &ach drive can be duple'ed by bein connected to its own interface controller. The failure of one drive will not brin down the system, instead the other drive will continue to operate. 4f course, two drives are now used for the eJuivalent stora e capacity of one drive. There is no performance ain with this level. The array of choice for performance%critical, fault%tolerant environments. ,n addition, RA,#%9 is the only choice for fault%tolerance if no more than two drives are desired. RA!1 3 #ata stripin and bit interleave. #ata is written across each drive in succession, one bit at a time. Chec)sum data is recorded in a separate drive. This method is very slow for dis) writes. !eldom used today since &CC is embedded in almost all modern dis) drives. RA!1 4 #ata stripin with bit interleave and parity chec)in . This level is similar to lever $, but more reliable. #ata stripin is done across the drives, one byte at a time. Usually 1 or " drives are used providin very hi h data transfer rates. 4ne drive is dedicated to storin parity information. The failure of a sin le drive can be compensated by usin the parity drive to reconstruct the failed drive contents. !ince the parity drive is accessed on every write operation, the writin of data tends to be slower. The failure of two drives or more can be a problem. Can be used in data intensive or sin le%user environments, which access lon seJuential records to speed up data transfer, however, RA,#%/ does not allow multiple ,34 operations to be overlapped and reJuires synchroni@ed%spindle drives in order to avoid performance de radation with short records. RA!1 * Bloc) interleave data stripin with parity chec)in . As in level /, RA,# 1 uses a sin le parity drive and bloc) data stripin li)e in RA,# B. The drives in this RA,# level function individually, with an individual drive readin a bloc) of data. A failure of the controller will of course be catastrophic. 4ffers no advanta es over RA,#%" and does not support multiple simultaneous write operations. RA!1 5 Bloc) interleave, data stripin with distributed chec)%data on all drives. The one to use for 2et7are. Parity information is distributed across all drives. RA,# " efficiency oes up as the number of dis)s increases. >ou can use hot spares to rebuild a failed drive on Ithe flyI. The best choice in multi%user environments, which are not write performance sensitive. 0owever, at least three, and more typically five drives, are reJuired for RA,#%" arrays. RA!1 6 &'tension to RA,# ", which adds a lo structured file system providin a mappin between a dis) drives physical sectors and their lo ical representation. As information is written it will be placed to seJuential physical dis) sectors. RA!1 2: !tripped array whose se ments are RA,# 9 arrays and containin the same fault tolerance as RA,# 9. 0i h ,34 rates are achieved by strippin RA,# 9 se ments. &'cellent solution for those considerin RA,# 9 as RA,# 9B provides an additional write performance, however, it is a very e'pensive solution. RA!1 54 ,mplemented as striped RA,# B array whose se ments are RA,# / arrays. RA,# "/ also contains the same 5ault tolerance and overhead as RA,# /. &'cellent solution for those considerin RA,# / as RA,# "/ provides additional write performance, however, it is a very e'pensive solution and reJuires all drives to have the same synchroni@ation. ote+ RA,# can be setup with multiple partitions instead of multiple drives. This can offer some protection if sectors of the drive become bad. 0owever, if the drive fails you will lose all of your data. 5or any RA,# setup it=s best to use at least two drives to eliminate a sin le point of failure and total data loss. @hat is RA!1 :/20 !ome computer and RA,# manufacturers have created their own scheme of labelin their RA,# devices. 5or e'ample, RA,# B39 would mean that it combines the stripin of RA,# B with the mirrorin of RA,# 9. • Computer RA,# help and support. • Computer hard drive help and support. $. RA!1 is a lar e roup of people, lar er than a sin le roup that team up to ether to ta)e on difficult Juests and bosses in online MM4 ames. System panel connector Alternatively referred to as the fpanel or front panel connector, thesystem panel connector is what controls the computer=s power button,reset button, and *&#=s found on the front be@el of a computer usin thesystem panel cables. The !ystem panel cables, as shown in the picture to the ri ht, are two wire cables that are color coded to help identify where they connect to the motherboard system panel connector. The blac) or white wire is the round +-2#. wire and the colored wire is the powered wire. The cables, colors, and connections vary dependin on the computer case and motherboard you have, however, will often include the cables mentioned below. $ypes of system panel cables • '11 <E1 %!1E <E1& % The *&# activity li ht for the hard drive. This is the *&# that flashes as information is bein written and read from the hard drive. • Po.er <E1 %P<E1& % The *&# power li ht, which indicates when the computer is on, off, or in !tandby. • Po.er S@ %P@RS@& % Controls the power button that allows you to turn on and off the computer. • Reset S@ % 0andles the reset button to restart the computer. • Speaker % The internal spea)er used to sound the beep noises you hear from your computer when it is bootin . 7ith most computer motherboards, the system panel cables are connected directly to the motherboard. 0owever, some motherboard manufacturers such as A!U!, include a A> Connector with the motherboard. 7ith a L%Connector, the user can connect the system panel cables away from the motherboard and then connect the L%Connector to the motherboard. @hich direction do the system panel cables connect0 The system panel cables are not )eyed so can be plu ed in any direction. 7ith the e'ception of the *&# cables, the system panel connector cables can be plu ed in any direction. ,f the *&# cables were plu ed in bac)wards, the *&# li ht would not wor). Usually with most modern motherboards you can identify what cable oes where by loo)in at the motherboard for a E and a % symbol. The colored wire +powered wire. would connect to the E symbol and the white or blac) cable + round. would connect to the % symbol. ,n the above dia ram e'ample, copied from a motherboard manual, you can clearly see how each of these cables connect to the motherboard. 5or e'ample, in the top left portion for the Power *&# +P*&#. the first pin is P*&#E, which indicates the colored wire side of the connector connects to this pin. ;eep in mind that how these cables connect vary dependin on your motherboard. )@' !hort for )irm@are 'ub, )@' is part of the ,ntel Accelerated 0ub Architecture that contains both the system B,4! and inte rated video B,4! on one component. The 5irm7are 0ub connects directly to the ,34 Controller 0ub +,C0. without reJuirin an ,!A bus. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of a 570 chip in a P*CC. Southbridge The Southbridge is an inte rated circuit on the motherboard that is responsible for the hard drivecontroller, ,34 controller and inte rated hardware such as sound card, video card if present on the motherboard, U!B, PC,, ,!A, ,#&, B,4!, and &thernet. The southbrid e ets its name for commonly bein !outh of the PC, bus. Below is a raphic illustration of the A!U! P"A#$%& motherboard and some basic e'planations of each of the ma(or portions of the motherboard includin the southbrid e. As shown in the below picture, it=s common for the northbrid e and southbrid e to have a heatsin)? in addition, the northbrid e is usually sli htly lar er than the southbrid e. Althou h the southbrid e handles a lot of the ,34 devices, slower and less prominent input3output devices, such as the serial port, )eyboard, and non%U!B mouse are handled by the super input3output+!,4.. ote+ !ome newer chipsets are combinin the !outhbrid e and !uper ,34 chips into a sin le chip and referrin to this chip as the Super Southbridge chip. !ome manufacturers such as 2<,#,A and !i! have even combined the 2orthbrid e, !outhbrid e and !uper ,34 into a sin le chip. ote+ 2ewer motherboards are also replacin the northbrid e and the southbrid e with ,0A. Serial port An Asynchronous port on the computer used to connect a serial device to the computer and capable of transmittin one bit at a time. Serial ports are typically identified on ,BM compatible computers as C4M +communications. ports. 5or e'ample, a mouse mi ht be connected to C4M9 and a modem to C4M$. 7ith the introduction of U!B, 5ire7ire, and other faster solutions serial ports are rarely used when compared to how often they=ve been used in the past. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is a close up of a 1;9 serial port on the bac) of a computer. !dentifying ,n the above raphic of a serial port you can notice the #B: serial port connection is easy to identify. The connection is in the shape of the letter #, is a male connector, and has : pins. Pin information Below is a listin of each of the pins located on the #B: connector and what each of these pins are for. As can be seen in the above picture pin one is in the top left and pin : is in the bottom ri ht. P! 9 $ / 1 " G F A : P,RPOSE #ata Carrier #etect Received #ata Transmitted #ata #ata Terminal Ready !i nal -round #ata !et Ready ReJuest To !end Clear To !end Rin ,ndicator #C# R'#ata T'#ata #TR -nd #!R RT! CT! R, S!G A< AME @hat is the serial port used for0 Below is a listin of various hardware components that can be purchased and used with your serial port. Mouse % 4ne of the most commonly used devices for serial ports, usually used with computers with no P!3$ or U!B ports and specialty mice. Modem > Another commonly used device for serial ports. Used commonly with older computers, however, is also commonly used for its ease of use. et.ork > 4ne of the ori inal uses of the serial port, which allowed two computers to connect to ether and allow lar e files to be transferred between the two. Printer > Today, this not a commonly used device for serial ports. 0owever, was freJuently used with older printers and plotters. 249* header and ,S; header The 249* header and ,S; header is a pin connection found on a computer motherboard that allow additional 9/:1 and U!B connections to be added to the computer. 5or e'ample, if you wanted to add additional U!B connections to the front of your computer a U!B add%on could be added into one of the drive bays and connected to the U!B header. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what the 9/:1 and U!B headers loo) li)e on a computer motherboard. As can be seen in the picture, both the 9/:1 and U!B headers have nine pins and closely resemble each other. &very motherboard is different, the 9/:1 or U!B header on your motherboard may only have four or five pins. Caution+ Plu in a 9/:1 header cable into the U!B header connection or the U!B header cable into a 9/:1 connection will dama e a motherboard. Always consult your motherboard manufacturer manual before connectin anythin to the 9/:1 or U!B header. Other types of motherboard headers A motherboard can have a header for any component that allows an e'ternal connection. Below is a listin of other types of headers that you may have on your motherboard. &ach of the below headers will closely the pictures of the above headers. • Audio header • -ame port and M,#, header • 2etwor) header • Parallel port header • P!3$ header • !erial port header Bumper Bumpers allow the computer to close an electrical circuit, allowin the electricity to flow certain sections of the circuit board. 8umpers consist of a set of small pins that can be covered with a small plastic bo' + Cumper block. as shown in the illustration to the ri ht. Below the illustration, is a picture of what the (umpers may loo) li)e on your motherboard. ,n this e'ample, the (umper is the white bloc) coverin two of the three old pins. Also, ne't to the pins is a sil)screen description of what the pins do, in this case when pins 9%$ are (umped the computer is operatin normal, when $%/ are (umped it is set into confi uration mode, and when open the computer will be in recovery mode. 8umpers are used to confi ure the settin s for computer peripherals such as the motherboard, hard drives, modems, sound cards, and various other components. 5or e'ample, if your motherboard supported intrusion detection, a (umper can be set to enable or disable this feature. ,n the past, before Plu and Play, (umpers and dip switches were commonly used to ad(ust device resources, such as chan in what ,RL the device is usin . Today, most users will not need to ad(ust any (umpers on their motherboard or e'pansion cards. Usually, most will only encounter (umpers when installin a new drive, such as a hard drive. As can be seen in the below picture, ATA +,#&. hard drives have (umpers with three sets of two pins. Movin a (umper between each two pins will chan e the drive from master drive, slave drive, or cable select. $ip+ !ome documentation may refer to settin the (umpers to on, off, closed, or open. 7hen a (umper is on or coverin at least two pins it is a closed Cumper, when a (umper is off, is coverin only one pin, or the pins have no (umper it is an open Cumper. Caution+ 7hen chan in the (umpers on any device, the device and your computer needs to be turned off. ,n addition, whenever wor)in in a computer or with any electronic device be aware of &!#. !C 9. Alternatively referred to as a bare chip, monolithic integrated circuit, or microchip, !C is short for !ntegrated Circuit or !ntegrated Chip and was first introduced as a concept by -eoffrey #ummer a British radar en ineer on May F, 9:"$ and later successfully developed by 8ac) ;ilbyand Robert 2oyce and first demonstrated !eptember 9$, 9:"A. The ,C is a pac)a e containin many circuits, pathways, transistors, and other electronic components all wor)in to ether to perform a particular function or a series of functions. ,nte rated circuits are the buildin bloc)s of computer hardware. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what an ,nte rated circuit may loo) li)e on a circuit board today. $. ,n role%playin ames, !C is short for !n>Character. ,C is used to describe a player that is playin and actin out the role in the ame and not tal)in about thin s not related to the ame or the era of the ame. /. ,n chat rooms, !C is shorthand for ! see. May also be abbreviated as O!C, which is short for Oh ! See. Below is an e'ample of how this could be used in chat. User9C 7hat does CPU meanH User$C Central Processin Unit User9C 4,C 249* header and ,S; header The 249* header and ,S; header is a pin connection found on a computer motherboard that allow additional 9/:1 and U!B connections to be added to the computer. 5or e'ample, if you wanted to add additional U!B connections to the front of your computer a U!B add%on could be added into one of the drive bays and connected to the U!B header. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what the 9/:1 and U!B headers loo) li)e on a computer motherboard. As can be seen in the picture, both the 9/:1 and U!B headers have nine pins and closely resemble each other. &very motherboard is different, the 9/:1 or U!B header on your motherboard may only have four or five pins. Caution+ Plu in a 9/:1 header cable into the U!B header connection or the U!B header cable into a 9/:1 connection will dama e a motherboard. Always consult your motherboard manufacturer manual before connectin anythin to the 9/:1 or U!B header. Other types of motherboard headers A motherboard can have a header for any component that allows an e'ternal connection. Below is a listin of other types of headers that you may have on your motherboard. &ach of the below headers will closely the pictures of the above headers. • Audio header • -ame port and M,#, header • 2etwor) header • Parallel port header • P!3$ header • !erial port header S/P1!) !hort for Sony and Phillips 1igital !nterconnect )ormat, the S/P1!) orSP1!) interface is used to transmit di ital audio, in a compressed form, between audio eJuipment and home theater systems. The !3P#,5 interface can utili@e a coa'ial cable or a fiber optic cable to transmit the audio. Common eJuipment to use this interface are #<# Players and C# Players, connectin to a home theater system for #olby #i ital or #T! surround sound. 0i h Juality sound cards and laptops will also have this connector. ,n the first picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what the !P#,5 connector may loo) li)e on your computer motherboard. The audio transmitted is throu h the !3P#,5 interface is defined by the ,&C G9:/F standard. The common formats transmitted are the 1A )0@ sample rate +used in #AT. and the 11.9 )0@ sample rate +used in C# audio.. ,n the picture to the second picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of a fiber optic connection on the bac) of audio eJuipment. C1>! Alternatively referred to as the optical dri(e audio connector, the C1>! is a four%pin connector found on a computer motherboard or sound card that connects an optical drives audio to the motherboard or sound card audio. ,n the picture to the ri ht, the top blac) four%pin connector is an e'ample of what this connector loo)s li)e on a computer motherboard. An e'ample of how this connector could be used is connectin the four pin wire from the bac) of a C#%R4M drive to the connection on the motherboard, allowin the user to listen to an audio C#. Other motherboard components ;!OS 9. !hort for ;asic !nput/Output System, the ;!OS, ROM ;!OS, or System ;!OS is a chip located on all motherboards that contain instructions and setup for how your system should boot and how it operates. ,n the below picture, is an e'ample of what a B,4! chip may loo) li)e on your computer motherboard. ,n this e'ample, this is a picture of an early AM,B,4!, a type of B,4! manufactured by the AM,. Another ood e'ample of a B,4! manufacturer is Phoeni'. The B,4! includes instructions on how to load basic computer hardware and includes a test referred to as a P4!T +Power 4n !elf Test. that helps verify the computer meets reJuirements to boot up properly. ,f the computer does not pass the P4!T, you will receive a combination of beeps indicatin what is malfunctionin within the computer. $he four main functions of a PC ;!OS • POS$ > Test the computer hardware and ma)e sure no errors e'ist before loadin the operatin system. Additional information on the P4!T can be found on our P4!T and Beep Codes pa e. • ;ootstrap <oader > *ocate the operatin system. ,f a capable operatin system is located, the B,4! will pass control to it. • ;!OS dri(ers > *ow level drivers that ive the computer basic operational control over your computer=s hardware. • ;!OS or CMOS Setup > Confi uration pro ram that allows you to confi ure hardware settin s includin system settin s such as computer passwords, time, and date. Related pages • 0ow to enter the B,4! or CM4! setup. • Additional information and help with B,4! updates. • 0ow to clear an un)nown B,4! or CM4! password. • 7hat is the difference between B,4! and CM4!H • *istin of computer B,4! manufacturers. • Computer B,4! help and support. $. 7hen referrin to a person ;!O-s is short for biography and is a term used to describe a brief description of a person. A short bio raphy or description of people who have affected the computer industry can be found on our Computer People !ection. ;us 7hen referrin to a computer, the bus also )nown as the address bus# data bus# or local bus is a data connection between two or more devices connected to the computer. 5or e'ample, a bus enables a computer processor to communicate with the memory or a video card to communicate with the memory. The bus contains multiple wires +si nal lines. that contain addressin information that describes the memory location of where the data is bein sent or where it is bein retrieved. &ach wire in the bus carries a sin le bit of information, which means the more wires a bus has the more information it can address. 5or e'ample, a computer with a /$%bit address bus can address 1-B of memory, and a computer with a /G%bit bus can address G1-B of memory. A bus is capable of bein a parallel or serial bus and today all computers utili@e two bus types, aninternal bus or local bus and an external bus, also called the expansion bus. An internal bus enables a communication between internal components such as a computer video card and memoryand an e'ternal bus is capable of communicatin with e'ternal components such as a U!B or !C!, device. A computer or device=s bus speed is listed as a M0@, e. . 9BBM0@ 5!B. The throu hput of a bus is measured in bits per second or me abytes per second. Examples of computer buses A>) G> O>P P>D AGP 'yper$ransport PA$A SA$A A$A !1E PC Card S;us E!SA !SA PC! SCS! eSA$A MCA PC!e ,S; ExpressCard u;us PCMC!A "<; )ire.ire "ME ;us )S; Cache 9. Pronounced as Cash +li)e the money.. Cache is a hi h%speed access area that can be either a reserved section of main memory or a stora e device. The two main cache types are memory cache and disk cache. Memory cache is a portion on memory of hi h% speed static RAM +!RAM. and is effective because most pro rams access the same data or instructions over%and%over. By )eepin as much of this information as possible in !RAM, the computer avoids accessin the slower #RAM. Most computers today come with */ cache or *$ cache, while older computers included only *9 cache. • 7here is cache located on the motherboardH • Computer memory help and support. $. *i)e memory caching, disk caching is used to access commonly accessed data. 0owever, instead of usin hi h%speed !RAM, a dis) cache uses conventional main memory. The most recently accessed data from a dis) is stored in a memory buffer. 7hen a pro ram needs to access data from the dis), it first chec)s the dis) cache to see if the data is there. #is) cachin can dramatically improve the performance of applications because accessin a byte of data in RAM can be thousands of times faster than accessin a byte on a hard drive. /. Another cache is )nown as I!nternet bro.ser cacheI also )nown as ITemporary ,nternet 5ilesI in ,nternet &'plorer. ,nternet cache is used to help improve how fast data is opened while browsin the ,nternet. ,n most cases, each time a web pa e is opened, it is sent to your browser=s temporary cache on your hard drive. ,f that pa e is accessed a ain and has not been modified, the browser will open the pa e from your cache instead of downloadin the pa e a ain. This saves users a lot of time, especially if that the user is usin a modem, and can also help save the web pa e owner on bandwidth. • 0ow do , clear my ,nternet browser historyH 1. A cache ser(er is a computer or networ) device that has been setup to store web pa es that have been accessed by users on a networ). Any user tryin to access a web pa e that has already been stored on the cache server will be sent the stored version instead of downloadin the web pa e a ain. This helps reduce networ) and ,nternet traffic con estion as well as saves the company on bandwidth costs. Chipset 9. A chipset is a desi nated roup of microchips that are desi ned to wor) with one or more related functions that were first introduced in 9:AG when Chips and Technolo ies introduced the A$C$BG. The ori inal A$C$BG chipset included the A$$A1 Cloc) -enerator functions, A$$AA Bus Controller, A$"1 !ystem Timer, dual A$": ,nterrupt Controllers, dual A$/F #MA controllers, and the MC91GA9A Cloc). 5our of the A$C$BG chips were later replaced by C!A$$9 or EA$ + e. Enhanced A$. chipset that contained only three chips. This was then replaced by the A$CA/G SCA$ +!in le Chip AT. chipset that combined all the chips in the set into a sin le chip. Today, when referrin to the motherboard chipset such as an A*i, AM#, ,ntel, 2<idia, !i!, or<,A chipset, these chipsets may include instructions that help control the CPU, PC,, ,!A, U!B, etc. and are bro)en into a multitiered architecture referred to as 2orth brid e and !outh brid e, as well as a !uper ,34 chip. An e'ample of a recent ,ntel chipset is the iA$B or the ,ntel A$B chipset. Chipset dri(ers After re%installin Microsoft 7indows or another operatin system, it may be necessary to install your motherboard chipset drivers for all components to wor) properly. These drivers are included on your motherboard driver C# or can also be downloaded from the motherboard or computer manufacturer. 1iode !emiconductor device that allows electrical current to flow in only one direction first invented by 8ohn 5lemin and coined by 7illiam &ccles. A ?ener diode is used in circuits where the volta e is hi h enou h to brea) down the physical construct of a normal diode. 1ip S.itch A dip s.itch is a set of small switches found on computer hardware that can be turned to the 42 or 455 position as shown in the below picture. *i)e computer (umpers, dip switches are used to confi ure computer peripherals such as hard drives, modems, sound cards, and motherboards. Today, with most computers usin P2P, most hardware no lon er reJuires manual confi urations, so dip switches are not as common. Caution+ 7hen chan in a dip switch on any device, the device and your computer should be turned off first. Also, whenever inside the computer you should always be aware of &!#. Capacitor A capacitor is a component made of two or sets of two conductive plates with a thin insulator between them and wrapped in a ceramic and plastic container. 7hen the capacitor receives a direct current +#C., a positive char e builds up on one of the plates +or set of plates. while a ne ative char e builds up on the other. This char e, which is measured in microfarads on a computer capacitor, remains in the capacitor until it is dischar ed. ,n the ima e to the ri ht, is an e'ample of what a capacitor may loo) li)e on a computer motherboard. Another common type of capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor, which is a hi her capacitance capacitor in a smaller pac)a e. Below, is a picture and an e'ample of these types of capacitors. )use A fuse is a semiconductor device desi ned to fail if e'cessive current flows throu h the semiconductor. !nternal speaker Alternatively referred to as an onboard speaker and system speaker, the internal speaker is a very basic spea)er found on the computer motherboard that is responsible for beeps, beepin noises, and other mono tones. This spea)er is very basic and is not a spea)er for playin son s, music, or other comple' sounds enerated in a ame. $ip+ The internal spea)er will wor) even if your sound card is not wor)in . Eeyboard controller 7ith ,BM compatible computers, the keyboard controller or ,ntel AB1$ )eyboard controller is found on the motherboard and is responsible for handlin input received from the computer )eyboard, A$B *ines, R&!&T, decipherin scan codes, as well as the P!3$ mouse. 7ith later models of )eyboards the AB1$ was replaced with the AF1$ micro%controller, which had a microprocessor, RAM, and ,34 ports. <CC !hort for <eadless Chip Carrier, <CC is a method for soc)et desi ned to allow an individual to place a chip on a circuit board. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of a *CC found on a computer motherboard. Resistors 4ne of the most commonly found components in an electronic circuit.Resistors help restrict and impede a current flow. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is e'amples of resistors on a motherboard. ,n this picture the resistors are R:$ and R:/ or the resistors mar)ed as $$$. R$C !hort for real>time clock# R$C is an ,C cloc) that is battery powered +from the CM4! battery. and located on the computer motherboard. The RTC allows the computer to re ulates the timin and speed of all computer functions. 5or e'ample, the RTC )eeps trac) of the second, minute, hour, day, month, and year and also is responsible for ma)in sure all the si nals sent between the devices are sent at the ri ht intervals. SCS! !hort for Small Computer System !nterface# SCS! is pronounced as IScu??yI and is one of the most commonly used interface for dis) drives that was first completed in 9:A$. Unli)e competin standards, !C!, is capable of supportin ei ht devices, or si'teen devices with 7ide !C!,. 0owever, with the !C!, host adapter located on ,# number BF and boots from the ,# BB. This leaves the availability of si' device connections. ,n the below picture, is an e'ample of what a !C!, adapter e'pansion card with an internal and e'ternal loo)s li)e. 4nce installed in the computer this adapter would allow multiple !C!, devices to be installed in the computer. More advanced motherboard may also have available !C!, connections on the motherboard. SCS!>2 is the ori inal !C!, standard developed bac) in 9:AG as A2!, 6/.9/9%9:AG. !C!,%9 is capable of transferrin up to ei ht bits a second. SCS!>3 was approved in 9::B, added new features such as 5ast and 7ide !C!,, and support for additional devices. SCS!>4 was approved in 9::G as A2!, 6/.$FB%9::G. !C!, is a standard for parallel interfaces that transfers information at a rate of ei ht bits per second and faster, which is faster than the avera e parallel interface. !C!,%$ and above supports up to seven peripheral devices, such as a hard drive, C#%R4M, and scanner, that can attach to a sin le !C!, port on a system=s bus. !C!, ports were desi ned for Apple Macintosh and Uni' computers, but also can be used with PCs. Althou h !C!, has been popular in the past, today many users are switchin over to!ATA drives. SCS! connectors The below illustrations are e'amples of some of the most commonly found and used !C!, connectors on computers and devices and illustrations of each of these connections. "oltage regulator An inte rated circuit that ta)es an unre ulated power source and re ulates it to the volta e of the (oltage regulator. 5or e'ample, you could have 9$< of unre ulated power and usin a "< volta e re ulator to decrease that volta e to "<. ,n the picture to the ri ht, is an e'ample of a volta e re ulator on a computer motherboard. "RM Alternatively referred to as a processor po.er module, <RM is short for (oltage regulator module and is a module that is either embedded into the motherboard or a separate small circuit board that re ulates and supplies the correct volta e to the processor. By usin a <RM, AM# and ,ntel can ad(ust the power to the processor instead of reJuirin the power supply to supply the correct current. 4ne of the first motherboards to have a <RM was motherboards usin the !oc)et F soc)et. Motherboard form factors )ull A$ Commonly referred to as the A$ and full>si?e A$, the )ull A$ is a motherboard form factor introduced by ,BM in Au ust of 9:A1 and was widely used in the 9:ABs. The 5ull AT is 9$I wide ' 9/.AI deep and only fits into a full si@e AT tower case that support this form factor. Today, this form factor is rarely found or used and has been replaced by AT6 and Baby AT. Below is an e'ample of what an early ,BM AT motherboard loo)ed li)e. A$= !ometimes referred to as the )ull>A$=, the A$= motherboard is one of most commonly found and used motherboards even today. AT6 is an ,ntel trademar) and not an acronym that was first desi ned and released in 8uly of 9::" by ,ntel and has been revised several times since then. The first revision was version $.B9 in 5ebruary 9::F, $.B/ in May $BBB, $.9 in 8une $BB$, and $.$ in 5ebruary $BB1. The AT6 motherboard is 9$I wide ' :.GI deep and has the C4M port, *PT port, P!3$, and U!Bmounted directly on the motherboard. Below is a picture and e'ample of what this form factor of motherboard may loo) li)e. AT6 boards didn=t hit the mar)et in force until mid%9::G, when they rapidly be an replacin Baby%AT boards in new systems. The AT6 specification was updated to version $.B9 in 5ebruary 9::F, $.B/ in May $BBB, $.9 in 8une $BB$, and $.$ in 5ebruary $BB1. Below are some distinct advanta es and methods of identifyin a computer with an AT6 motherboard. 1. The AT6 motherboard includes advanced control facilities, where the B,4! pro ram continually chec)s the CPU temperature and volta es, the coolin fans RPM, etc. ,f over heatin occurs, the PC will shut down automatically. 2. The AT6 motherboard has a stac)ed ,34 connector panel mounted on the motherboard. 3. 4n a soc)et F AT6 motherboard, the soc)et has been placed a further distance from the e'pansion slots, allowin for lon boards to be placed in easier. 4. !in le )eyed internal power supply connector. This is the Mole' power connector, AT6 $.B9. !tandby volta e needs to be reater than F$B mA. The connector now cannot be placed in improperly. 7hile the Mole' power connector allows for "v and /./v to be connected, it is recommended that only a /./v be connected to the motherboard. 5. Relocation of the memory and the CPU creatin better ventilation and easier up rade. 6. Power mana ement possible with proper B,4! support. 7. The PC can also be turned on by a modem or networ) si nal, since the power supply is controlled by the main board. 8. The computer cannot be turned off as the computer boots. 0owever, if the computer free@es as it is turnin on you can turn off the computer by holdin the power button for " seconds. ;aby A$ A replacement for the 5ull AT motherboard and sometimes referred to as ;A$? the ;aby A$ is a motherboard form factor introduced by ,BM in 9:A" and used with the $AG, /AG, 1AG, and Pentiumcomputers up until the early 9::B=s. The Baby AT is A."FI wide ' 9/.B1I deep, which is almost the same as the ori inal ,BM 6T motherboard with modifications in the screw hole position to fit into AT%style case. This board is now considered obsolete and has been replaced by AT6. ;$= !hort for ;alanced $echnology Extended, ;$= is a motherboard form factor first announced by ,ntelon !eptember 9F, $BB/ as a replacement for AT6. BT6 was later revised to 9.Ba, which was released in 5ebruary $BB1. The BT6 includes features such as a low profile, more efficient layout to help with coolin , scalable board to allow for different system si@es, and support mechanisms to help support hi h%mass motherboard components. ,n !eptember $BBG, ,ntel announced that it was stoppin all future development of BT6. 1$= 1$= is a form factor for motherboards, a variation of the AT6 form factor. ,t was ori inally developed by AM# in 8anuary $BBF and was desi ned for smaller computers li)e home theater PCs +media center computers.. The physical dimensions of a #T6 motherboard is A.B inches by :.G inches and the board allowed for $ e'pansion slots. A somewhat smaller version was also developed, called the Mini%#T6, havin dimensions of A.B inches by G.F inches. The #T6 form factor provided a lower cost of manufacturin , due to the fewer layers of printed circuit board wirin reJuired to ma)e the board. ,t was intended to be an industry standard for small form factor computers, li)e the !huttle I!55I desi n. #T6 motherboards are bac)ward compatible with the AT6 form factor, fittin in computer cases desi ned for AT6 motherboards. ,t also wor)s with a standard power supply, reJuirin the same $1%pin power connector that the AT6 motherboard reJuires. <P= <P= is a motherboard form factor ori inally developed by 7estern #i ital when it was ma)in motherboards that was used in the late 9:ABs and throu hout the 9::Bs. The *P6 motherboard is :I wide ' 9/I deep, uses a riser card, and has different placement of the video, parallel, serial, and P!3$ ports on the bac) when compared to other motherboards. Below is a picture of a Pac)ard Bell *P6 motherboard, as can be seen this motherboard has one lar e brown slot for the riser card. Usin a riser card allowed the e'pansion cards to be installed parallel to the motherboard, which is why the *P in *P6 stands for I*ow Profile.I The low profile allowed computers usin this motherboard to be much slimmer than computers usin a Baby%AT motherboard. The *P6 motherboard was not the only motherboard to have a risercard. The 2*6 motherboard also has a risercard, however, the 2*6 motherboard actually plu ed into the riser card instead of havin the risercard on the motherboard. )ull A$ Commonly referred to as the A$ and full>si?e A$, the )ull A$ is a motherboard form factor introduced by ,BM in Au ust of 9:A1 and was widely used in the 9:ABs. The 5ull AT is 9$I wide ' 9/.AI deep and only fits into a full si@e AT tower case that support this form factor. Today, this form factor is rarely found or used and has been replaced by AT6 and Baby AT. Below is an e'ample of what an early ,BM AT motherboard loo)ed li)e. A$= !ometimes referred to as the )ull>A$=, the A$= motherboard is one of most commonly found and used motherboards even today. AT6 is an ,ntel trademar) and not an acronym that was first desi ned and released in 8uly of 9::" by ,ntel and has been revised several times since then. The first revision was version $.B9 in 5ebruary 9::F, $.B/ in May $BBB, $.9 in 8une $BB$, and $.$ in 5ebruary $BB1. The AT6 motherboard is 9$I wide ' :.GI deep and has the C4M port, *PT port, P!3$, and U!Bmounted directly on the motherboard. Below is a picture and e'ample of what this form factor of motherboard may loo) li)e. AT6 boards didn=t hit the mar)et in force until mid%9::G, when they rapidly be an replacin Baby%AT boards in new systems. The AT6 specification was updated to version $.B9 in 5ebruary 9::F, $.B/ in May $BBB, $.9 in 8une $BB$, and $.$ in 5ebruary $BB1. Below are some distinct advanta es and methods of identifyin a computer with an AT6 motherboard. 1. The AT6 motherboard includes advanced control facilities, where the B,4! pro ram continually chec)s the CPU temperature and volta es, the coolin fans RPM, etc. ,f over heatin occurs, the PC will shut down automatically. 2. The AT6 motherboard has a stac)ed ,34 connector panel mounted on the motherboard. 3. 4n a soc)et F AT6 motherboard, the soc)et has been placed a further distance from the e'pansion slots, allowin for lon boards to be placed in easier. 4. !in le )eyed internal power supply connector. This is the Mole' power connector, AT6 $.B9. !tandby volta e needs to be reater than F$B mA. The connector now cannot be placed in improperly. 7hile the Mole' power connector allows for "v and /./v to be connected, it is recommended that only a /./v be connected to the motherboard. 5. Relocation of the memory and the CPU creatin better ventilation and easier up rade. 6. Power mana ement possible with proper B,4! support. 7. The PC can also be turned on by a modem or networ) si nal, since the power supply is controlled by the main board. 8. The computer cannot be turned off as the computer boots. 0owever, if the computer free@es as it is turnin on you can turn off the computer by holdin the power button for " seconds. microA$= !ometimes referred to as the mA$=, the microA$= is a motherboard that is :.GI wide ' :.GI deep and capable of bein as small as G.F"I wide ' G.F"I deep. This motherboard was first introduced by,ntel in #ecember 9::F and is a smaller motherboard that can be used in either an AT6 case or smaller computer case. <= !hort for e. <o. Profile Extended, <= is a motherboard form factor ori inally developed by ,nteland first finali@ed March 9::F. The 2*6 motherboard was desi ned to replace the nonstandard *P6desi n and is :I wide ' 9/.GI deep ma'imum to AI ' 9BI deep minimum and included the below features. • The 2*6 form factor uses a riser board +bac)plane., which the motherboard plu s into instead of bein on the motherboard. This allowed the motherboard to be removed from the computer without havin to remove all e'pansion cards and supported motherboards that can be removed without usin tools. • !upport for the Pentium ,, • !upport for A-P • !upport for U!B. • !upport for #,MM. • &asier Access to internal components As can be seen in the picture below, this motherboard is easy to identify because of the old bac)plane connection found at the side of the motherboard. ,n the below e'ample picture this connector is found on the left%side of the motherboard.