MOTHERBOARD

List of Questions and Answers:

1. What is a motherboard?
- The function of the motherboard is the place put computer components, connecting
components to be run as its function and as a regulator of current flowing into each component.
- The motherboard is the large printed circuit board found inside the system unit case. It is
often referred to as the system board or main board because it contains the microprocessor, chipsets,
the main memory (RAM), and the ROM BIOS. The motherboard also contains several connectors that
attach the different devices to complete the computer system.

2. What is BIOS?
- The BIOS is the motherboard serves to connect between the existing software in computers
with hardware that is installed on the motherboard. The BIOS itself is an acronym for Basic Input /
Output System. In the BIOS there are programs that can be used to regulate how a component mounted
on the motherboard can work.

3. What is CPU Socket/Slot Processor?

- Socket consists of holes adapted to the foot of processors that can be placed on the
motherboard.
- For example, the socket 478, socket 775 and LGA socket for Intel processors, and also socket
AM2 or AM3 socket for AMD processor output.

4. What is RAM slots?

- RAM or the memory is placed on the motherboard RAM slots. RAM slots depending on the
type of RAM used. For long output motherboards typically use SDRAM slot while the slot type using the
latest DDR3.

5. What is CMOS Battery?

- Existing CMOS battery on the motherboard to function as an alternative power source when
the computer is not connected to the mains. The battery is very useful for the motherboard as a source
of energy in identifying the components installed on the motherboard.

6. What is CPU?
- The CPU is the central processing chip of the computer and processes instructions from the
operating system and the software running on the computer. As the heart/brain of the computer, most
of the instructions and data flows through it.

7. What is PCI slot?

- PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slot: Supports peripherals like sound cards, DVD
decoders, and graphic accelerators with 32 bits at 33Mhz capabilities. There are usually anywhere from
1 to 6 PCI slots available on the motherboard.

9. What is IDE connector?

- IDE Connector: Responsible for connecting the IDE cord used for hard disks, CD drives, and
DVD drives.
10. What is PS/2 connector?
- PS/2 Connectors: Each motherboard usually has 2 PS/2 connectors for the keyboard and the
mouse.
- A socket found at the back of the system unit case where the keyboard is connected. There
are two types of keyboard connectors, one is the AT keyboard connector and the other is the PS2 type.
The PS/2 type connector is found on the ATX motherboard.

11. What is USB port?

- USB (Universal Serial Bus) Port: There are usually a couple of these ports located on each
motherboard used for connecting pen drives and external hard drives, like Ipods or Mp3 players.

12 What is Parallel port?

- Parallel or (LPT) Port: The place used to connect scanners and printers.

13. What is AGP port?

- Due to the emergence of the graphics intensive programs and the limited PCI bus bandwidth,
Intel developed a new expansion slot called the AGP or Accelerated Graphics Port. The accelerated
graphics port is principally designed for video interface cards to provide faster video systems.
- AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port): This provides fast bus speed connectivity along with fast
access to the main memory. It is designed for video cards that demand higher bandwidth.

14. What is PCIe slot?

- The PCI express is a new buzz word in video technology. This new expansion replaces the AGP
slot on motherboards. PCI-e boasts of being an AGP 16x equivalent, that means it has a data transfer
rate of 4GBps.

15. What is AMR?

- The AMR was introduced to provide an expansion slot designed for modem card. It is the
shortest among the expansion slots on the motherboard.

16. What is Crystal?

- A device used as a clock and is also called oscillator. It provides the timing signal to all parts of
the computer system. It must be noted that communications between devices and the computer are
timed or synchronized. Synchronization of all processing inside the computer depends mainly on the
crystal. Crystals are found in the motherboard and some other devices. It looks like a tiny canister with
labels on it showing its frequency. The crystal provides the system clock, which determines the
processing speed of the motherboard. The crystal provides clock pulses (in digital form) to the
microprocessor. The crystal’s speed or system clock is expressed in megahertz (MHZ). One megahertz is
equivalent to 1 million cycles per second, or one million clock pulses per second. Typical values of
crystals that can be found on the motherboard are 14:31818 MHZ and 66 MHZ.

17. What is Power Supply connector?

- These are connectors on the motherboard where the power supply is connected. Some
motherboards are of ATX type. This means that there may be one or two types of power supply
connection because other motherboards have provision for both power supply connections for more
versatility.
18. What is Jumpers?
- Motherboards cannot do away with jumpers. The jumpers are used as selectors on the
motherboard. It may be a voltage selector, speed selector, memory type selector, CPU type selector,
and in enabling or disabling a feature. These jumper settings make the motherboard more adaptive to
any microprocessor and memory types.

19. What is Connectors?

- The motherboards have several pin connector for front panel controls such as RESET switch,
Turbo switch, digital display, speaker connector, and Hard disk drive LED indicator, power on and
sometimes a key lock feature.

20. What is Hard Disk drive connectors?

- With the advent of the PCI local bus, motherboard manufacturers include the two hard disk
drive connectors and communication ports built-in on the motherboard. (Remember that 386 based
PCS use interface cards for disk drive and communication ports controllers.) It is called EIDE for
Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics and it can support up to 4 hard disk drives in a primary and
secondary configuration. The hard disk connector is a 40-pin header as shown. It is standard for all
motherboards to have two IDE connectors while on some high end motherboards have added features
that allow more than two (with RAID controller) and the SATA or Serial ATA.

21. What is SATA?

- The S-ATA is the new hard disk interface introduced in modern motherboards. Unlike the IDE
which uses parallel conductors, the SATA uses data cable for serial communication between the
motherboard and the hard disk.

22. What is Floppy Disk Drive connector?

- The floppy disk drive can be connected to this 34-pin connector header found on the
motherboard. Always connect the floppy disk drive in its correct orientation for pin#1

23. What is parallel port?

- This is a 25-pin female DB connector found at the rear of the motherboard used primarily as
printer connector and later used by image scanners. However, most of today’s printers and scanners are
connected through the USB ports.

Parallel Port

PS2
Mouse

PS2
Keyboard

Serial Port Video

Connecto Audio USB LAN
r Ports Port Port
24. What is Chipset?
- The chipsets are the support chips for the microprocessor. They play an important part on the
motherboard including support for DMA, PCI and ISA bus controllers, clock generators, disk controllers,
and many others. For Pentium based PC, Intel, VIA, and SiS chipsets are the most popular; others such
as ALI, and AMD are also available.
- There are two main chipsets that can be found on the motherboard; they are referred to as the
North Bridge and South Bridge chipsets. The North Bridge chipset connects the microprocessor,
memory, AGP, and the cache, while the South Bridge chipset connects the expansion slots and I/O
devices to the memory and microprocessor.