Chapter 4: Motherboards and buses

By the end of the sub-module unit, the trainee should be able to:
a) Explain motherboard concepts.
b) Identify motherboard components.
c) Describe computer form factors.
d) Identify computer system buses.
e) Outline the procedure of installing a computer motherboard.

Description
• A small or large circuit board inside a cabinet containing most of the electronic
components.
• Everything connected to the computer is directly or indirectly plugged into
motherboard. Components like CPU, BIOS, ROM, RAM, chips, and CMOS setup
information.
• Expansion slots for installing different cards like video, sound, graphics, and NIC.
 • Also contains RAM slots, system chipset, controllers and underlying circuit to tie it
together.

Types of motherboards

Non-integrated:

• Assemblies such as I/O port connectors, hard drive connectors, CD drive

connectors etc. installed as expansion boards.
• Takes lot of free space inside the case because of expansion slots.
• If something goes wrong such as bend or broken pin or defective controller can be
repaired with minor cost.
• Are cheap and easy to produce.
• Most of the olden motherboards were non-integrated.
Integrated:
• Assemblies are integrated or built right onto the board.
• Serial and parallel ports, IDE, CD drive are directly connected to the motherboard.
• This tends to free some space inside case and better accessibility to the
components.
• Cheaper to produce but are expensive to repair.
• Fast, powerful, feature rich motherboard at reasonable price.

Motherboard components
This is the main circuit board of the PC. It contains all the basic, core components of the
computer.
It usually contains:
✓ CPU, which plugs into a socket designed for a particular CPU's pin arrangement.
Because a motherboard has sockets that can only accept certain types of CPU, it is
important to make sure when upgrading your CPU that your motherboard can
accept it.
✓ memory chips - these hold data and programs that the CPU is currently using.
✓ Input/output ports ("I/O") such as connectors that hard disk drives, floppy disk
drives and CD-ROM drives plug in to, serial port sockets, parallel port sockets and
USB port sockets.
✓ BIOS chips (Basic Input Output System) - the BIOS chips are PROM
(Programmable Read Only Memory) chips that contain the most basic information
that a computer needs to start up and operate. The BIOS contains bootup
information, details of what sort of CPU is installed, what hard disks are available,
how the motherboard should behave etc. More details below.
✓ Real time Clock (RTC) so the computer knows the time and date. The RTC needs a
battery to keep the clock running when the computer's power is turned off.
✓ Chips to control basic devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, serial/parallel ports
etc. These basic chips are sometimes called the "chip set ".
✓ Some motherboards, especially laptop motherboards, have built-in graphics chips,
sound chips and modem chips so expansion cards are not needed. Unfortunately,
this also means laptops can be very hard to upgrade because these chips are
usually impossible to remove and replace. An example of "integrated peripherals"
is AC '97 Audio. It combines a low-cost audio codec (compressor/decompressor)
integrated circuit (IC) with a small portion of the core chipset's processing power
to form a complete PC audio subsystem. Soft audio processing consumes minimal
CPU overhead and does away with the need for a separate PCI audio controller
(e.g., Sound blaster card). The result is reduced motherboard space and overall
system cost. Building in AC '97 costs a manufacturer about $2, compared to
almost $100 fora PCI sound card.

While motherboards have been getting smaller and smaller, computer cases seem to
be getting bigger because the new computers generate more and more heat and
need lots of empty space to ventilate themselves.
Motherboard form factors:
• Determines general layout, size and feature placement on the motherboard.
• Form factors such as physical size, shape, component placement, power supply
connectors etc.
• Various form factors of motherboards are AT, Baby AT, ATX, Mini-ATX, MicroATX,
Flex ATX, LPX and Mini LPX and NLX.
1) AT AND Baby AT

✓ AT (Advanced Technology):

• Oldest and biggest form factor and popular until Baby AT.
• Capable of using 386 processor.
• 12’-inch size and was difficult to install, service and upgrade.
✓ Baby AT:

• Standard in computer industries and still being used in Pentium class

products.
• CPU socket is placed in such a way that it can interfere with longer
bus cards.
• Limitation over peripheral card installation.
• I/O ports are connected to pin-outs near the floppy drive which results
in jumbling of ribbon cables.
Advantages

• The size of 8.5` by 10` makes it easier to design smaller desktop PCs and
servers.
• Most of the board is easily accessible for upgrades and expansion.
• With the full-size boards, some connectors and components could be hidden
beneath the pc power supply and hard/floppy disk drive bays.

Disadvantages

• CPU location- with the processor and heat sink in place, it is difficult to fit a
long expansion card into an expansion slot. The CPU can get in the way of the
expansion cards
• Motherboards mounting- some system cases are not drilled or punched to
support all the mounting holes on a baby AT motherboard. Therefore, the front
edge of the system board is left unsupported and over time this edge bends,
leading to loose components and expansion cards.
2) ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) and Mini ATX

ATX

✓ Improvement done in easy to use, support for current and future I/O, and also
to current and future technology.
✓ New mounting configuration for power supply.
✓ Processor relocated away from expansion slots to allow full length add-in cards.
✓ Provides air-flow through chassis and across the processor.
✓ I/O port connectors are integrated
✓ Power support 3.3v
✓ 12`-inch size

Mini ATX:

✓ Commonly same as ATX.

✓ Just change in size from ATX= 12" x 9.6" to Mini ATX= 11.2" x 8.2".
3) Micro ATX:

• Supports current and new processor technologies.

• AGP (Accelerated graphics port) to have high performance graphics.
• Smaller in size and less power supply.
4) Flex ATX:

• A subset of micro ATX.

• Gives chance to system developers to create new personal computer design.
• Enhanced flexibility to allow custom case and board design to be manufactured.
• Small motherboard size and supports current processor technology.
5) LPX (Low Profile Extension) and Mini LPX:

• Based on design by western digital.

• Usually found in desktop pc's.
• Case is slim-line, low profile case with riser card arrangement for expansion cards.
• Riser card arrangement means expansion boards are parallel rather than
perpendicular.
• This makes smaller case but limits number of expansion slots to two or three.
• High quality product at low cost but makes difficult to upgrade and repair.
6) NLX (New Low Profile Extended):
 • Supports current and future processor technologies.
• Also supports new AGP and tall memory technology.
• Installing and upgrading the system is easy.
• Support for larger memory modules and modern DIMM memory packaging
• Improved airflow design

• Support for desktop and tower cases

7) BTX Balanced Technology extended form factor

It is the successor to the ATX standard. It offers improved cooling efficiency and
quieter computer.

At glace BTX looks like ATX but I/O ports and expansion slots have switched sides.

Because ATX was designed more than a decade ago, well before the development of
today's faster components, it's been difficult to properly cool the hottest-running
components in a typical system: the processor, memory modules, and the processor's
voltage regulator circuits.
To enable better cooling for these devices, and to promote better system stability, the
BTX family of motherboard designs was introduced in 2004. Compared to ATX
motherboards, BTX motherboards have the following:
✓ Heat-producing components such as the process, memory, chipset, and voltage
regulator are relocated to provide straight-through airflow from front to back for
better cooling.
✓ The processor socket is mounted at a 45-degree angle to the front of the
motherboard to improve cooling.
✓ A thermal module with a horizontal fan fit over the processor for cooling.
✓ The port cluster is moved to the rear left corner of the motherboard.
✓ BTX cases include multiple rear and side air vents for better cooling.
✓ Because of the standardization of processor and memory locations, it's easy to
use the same basic design for various sizes of BTX motherboards; the designer
can just add slots.
✓ BTX tower cases use a right-opening design as viewed from the front.
✓ Although BTX designs are easier to cool than ATX designs, the development of
Cooler running processors has enabled system designers to continue to favor ATX. There
are relatively few BTX-based motherboards and systems currently on the market.
Riser Cards and Daughterboards
Riser cards and daughterboards provide two different methods for providing access to
motherboard–based resources. In current slimline or rack mounted systems based on
ATX or BTX technologies, riser cards are used to make expansion slots usable that would
otherwise not be available because of clearances inside the case. Riser card designs can
include one or more expansion slots, and are available in PCI, PCI-X (used primarily in
workstation and server designs), and PCI-Express designs
The term daughterboard is sometimes used to refer to riser cards, but daughterboard
can also refer to a circuit board that plugs into another board to provide extra
functionality. For example, some small form factor motherboards support
daughterboards that add additional serial or Ethernet ports, and some standard-size
motherboards use daughterboards for their voltage regulators.

Buses

Computers have two major types of buses:

System bus: - This is the bus that connects the CPU to the main memory on the
motherboard. The system bus is also called the front-side bus, memory bus, local bus,
or host bus.
A number of I/O Buses, (I/O is an acronym for input/output), connecting various
peripheral devices to the CPU. These devices connect to the system bus via a ‘bridge’
implemented in the processors' chipset. Other names for the I/O bus include “expansion
bus", "external bus” or “host bus”.
Connection lines used to connect the internal parts of the microprocessor chip is called
bus.

There are three types of system buses in a microprocessor −

Data Bus − Lines that carry data to and from memory are called data bus. It is a
bidirectional bus with width equal to word length of the microprocessor.

Address Bus − It is a unidirectional responsible for carrying address of a memory

location or I/O port from CPU to memory or I/O port.

Control Bus − Lines that carry control signals like clock signals, interrupt signal or
ready signal are called control bus. They are bidirectional. Signal that denotes that a
device is ready for processing is called ready signal. Signal that indicates to a device to
interrupt its process is called an interrupt signal.

Functions of buses in computers

Data sharing - All types of buses found in a computer transfer data between the
computer peripherals connected to it. The buses transfer or send data either in the serial
or parallel method of data transfer. This allows for the exchange of 1, 2, 4 or even 8
bytes of data at a time. (A byte is a group of 8 bits). Buses are classified depending on
how many bits they can move at the same time, which means that we have 8-bit, 16-
bit, 32-bit or even 64-bit buses.
Addressing - A bus has address lines, which match those of the processor. This allows
data to be sent to or from specific memory locations.
Power - A bus supplies power to various peripherals connected to it.
Timing - The bus provides a system clock signal to synchronize the peripherals attached
to it with the rest of the system.
Expansion Bus Types
These are some of the common expansion bus types that have ever been used
in
computers:
•ISA - Industry Standard Architecture
•EISA - Extended Industry Standard Architecture
•MCA - Micro Channel Architecture
•VESA - Video Electronics Standards Association
•PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect
•PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association (Also called
PC bus)
•AGP - Accelerated Graphics Port
•SCSI - Small Computer Systems Interface.
ISA Bus
This is the most common type of early expansion bus, which was designed for use in the
original IBM PC. The IBM PC-XT used an 8-bit bus design. This means that the data
transfers take place in 8 bit chunks (i.e. one byte at a time) across the bus. The ISA bus
ran at a clock speed of 4.77 MHz.
For the 80286-based IBM PC-AT, an improved bus design, which could transfer 16-bits
of data at a time, was announced. The 16-bit version of the ISA bus is sometimes known
as the AT bus. (AT-Advanced Technology)
The improved AT bus also provided a total of 24 address lines, which allowed 16MB of
memory to be addressed. The AT bus was backward compatible with its 8-bit
predecessor and allowed 8-bit cards to be used in 16-bit expansion slots.
When it first appeared the 8-bit ISA bus ran at a speed of 4.77MHZ – the same speed as
the processor. It was improved over the years and eventually the AT bus ran at a clock
speed of 8MHz.
MCA (Micro Channel Architecture)
This bus was developed by IBM as a replacement for ISA when they designed the PS/2
PC which was launched in 1987.
The bus offered a number of technical improvements over the ISA bus. For instance, the
MCA runs at a faster speed of 10MHz and can support either 16-bit or 32-bit data. It
also supports bus mastering - a technology that placed a mini-processor on each
expansion card. These mini-processors controlled much of the data transfer allowing the
CPU to perform other tasks.
One advantage of MCA was that the plug-in cards were software configurable i.e. they
required minimal intervention by the user when configuring.
The MCA expansion bus did not support ISA cards and IBM decided to charge other
manufacturers royalties for use of the technology. This made it unpopular and it is now
an obsolete technology.
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture)
It was developed by a group of manufactures as an alternative to MCA. It was designed
to use a 32-bit data path and provided 32 address lines giving access to 4GB of
memory.
Like the MCA, EISA offered a disk-based setup for the cards, but it still ran at 8MHz in
order for it to be compatible with ISA.
The EISA expansion slots are twice as deep as an ISA slot. If an ISA card is placed in an
EISA slot it will use only the top row of connectors, whereas a full EISA card uses both
rows. It offered bus mastering.
EISA cards were relatively expensive and were normally found on high-end workstations
and network servers.
VESA Bus
Also known as the Local bus or the VESA-Local bus. VESA (Video Electronics Standards
Association) was invented to help standardize PCs video specifications, thus solving the
problem of proprietary technology where different manufacturers were attempting to
develop their own buses.
The VL Bus provides 32-bit data path and can run at 25 or 33MHZ. It ran at the same
clock frequency as the host CPU. But this became a problem as processor speeds
increased because, the faster the peripherals are required to run, the more expensive
they are to manufacture.
It was difficult to implement the VL-Bus on newer chips such as the 486s and the new
Pentiums and so eventually the VL-Bus was superseded by PCI.

VESA slots have extra set of connectors and therefore the cards are larger. The VESA
design was backward compatible with the older ISA cards.

Features of the VESA local bus card:-

•32-bit interface
•62/36-pin connector
•90+20 pin VESA local bus extension

Peripheral Component Interconnect

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) is one of the latest developments in bus
architecture and is the current standard for PC expansion cards. It was developed by
Intel and launched as the expansion bus for the Pentium processor in 1993. It is a local
bus like VESA i.e. it connects the CPU, memory and peripherals to wider, faster data
pathway.
PCI supports both 32-bit and 64-bit data width; therefore, it is compatible with 486s and
Pentiums. The bus data width is equal to the processor, for example, a 32 bit processor
would have a 32 bit PCI bus, and operates at 33MHz.
PCI was used in developing Plug and Play (PnP) and all PCI cards support PnP i.e. the
user can plug a new card into the computer, power it on and it will “self-identify” and
“self specify” and start working without manual configuration using jumpers.
Unlike VESA, PCI supports bus mastering that is, the bus has some processing capability
and therefore, the CPU spends less time processing data. Most PCI cards are designed
for 5v, but there are also 3v and dual-voltage cards, Keying slots are used to
differentiate
3v and 5v cards and slots to ensure that a 3v card is not slotted into a 5v socket and
vice versa.
Accelerated Graphics Port
The need for high quality and very fast performance of video on computers led to the
development of the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). The AGP Port is connected to the
CPU and operates at the speed of the processor bus. This means that video information
can be sent more quickly to the card for processing.
The AGP uses the main PC memory to hold 3D images. In effect, this gives the AGP
video card an unlimited amount of video memory. To speed up the data transfer, Intel
designed the port as a direct path to the PC’s main memory.
Data transfer rate ranges from 264 Mbps to 528mbps, 800 Mbps upto 1.5 Gbps. AGP
connector is identified by its brown colour.

Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association (PC Card)

The Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association was founded to provide a
standard bus for laptop computers. So it is basically used in the small computers.
Small Computer System Interface
Short for Small Computer System Interface, a parallel interface standard used by Apple
Macintosh computers, PC's and Unix systems for attaching peripheral devices to a
computer
The AGP uses the main PC memory to hold 3D images. In effect, this gives the AGP
video
card an unlimited amount of video memory. To speed up the data transfer, Intel
designed the port as a direct path to the PC’s main memory.
Data transfer rate ranges from 264 Mbps to 528mbps, 800 Mbps upto 1.5 Gbps. AGP
connector is identified by its brown colour.
Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association (PC Card)
The Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association was founded to provide a
standard bus for laptop computers. So it is basically used in the small computers.
Small Computer System Interface
Short for Small Computer System Interface, a parallel interface standard used by Apple
Macintosh computers,PC's and Unix systems for attaching peripheral devices to a
computer.

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

This is an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps. A single
USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems,
and keyboards. The USB also supports hot plugging/insertion (ability to connect a
device without turning the PC of) and plug and play (You connect a device and start
using it without configuration). We have two versions of USB:-
USB 1x
First released in 1996, the original USB 1.0 standard offered data rates of 1.5 Mbps. The
USB 1.1 standard followed with two data rates: 12 Mbps for devices such as disk drives
that need high-speed throughput and 1.5 Mbps for devices such as joysticks that need
much less bandwidth. USB 2x
In 2002 a newer specification USB 2.0, also called Hi-Speed USB 2.0, was introduced. It
increased the data transfer rate for PC to USB device to 480 Mbps, which is 40 times
faster than the USB 1.1 specification. With the increased bandwidth, high throughput
peripherals such as digital cameras, CD burners and video equipment could now be
connected with USB. IEEE 1394
The IEEE 1394 is a very fast external serial bus interface standard that supports data
transfer rates of up to 400Mbps (in 1394a) and 800Mbps (in 1394b).This makes it ideal
for devices that need to transfer high levels of data in real-time, such as video devices.
It
was developed by apple with the name firewire.
A single 1394 port can be used to connect up 63 external devices.
•It supports Plug and play
•Supports hot plugging, and
•Provides power to peripheral devices.

Expansion slots:
These are sockets that expansion cards like network cards, sound cards, graphics cards
can be plugged into. There have been various types of slots over the years to cater for
increasingly complex expansion cards. The earliest cards were ISA, then came EISA,
then
PCI and AGP (which have special high-priority access to the CPU - AGP is used by fast
graphic cards). All expansions slots connect to a bus so data can travel between
subsystems and the CPU.

A single 1394 port can be used to connect up 63 external devices.

•It supports Plug and play
•Supports hot plugging, and
•Provides power to peripheral devices.

Cache
Cache is a storage place (buffer or bucket) that exists between two subsystems in order
for data to be accessed more quickly to increase performance. Performance is increased
because the cache subsystem usually has faster access technology and does not have to
cross an additional bus. Cache is typically used for reads, but it is increasingly being
used for writes as well. For example, getting information to the processor from the disk
involves up to five cache locations:
1. L1 cache in the processor (memory cache)
2. L2 cache (memory cache)
3. Software disk cache (in main memory)
4. Hardware disk cache (common on SCSI controllers; EIDE usually uses only a FIFO
buffer)
5. Disk buffer
For reads, one subsystem will usually request more data than what is immediately
needed, and that excess data is stored in the cache(s). During the next read, the
cache(s) are searched for the requested data, and if it is found, a read to the subsystem
beyond the cache is not necessary.
Installing a computer motherboard

Installing a motherboard can be a complex process. This page provides general steps
and guidelines for how to install a motherboard. Please refer to the manual and
configuration guide that is included with the motherboard for specific details on
installation and configuration steps.

Note: If replacing an existing motherboard in a computer with a new motherboard, you

need to first remove the existing motherboard. The steps on this page can be referred to

for removing the motherboard, followed in reverse order.

Before getting started

1. Write down relevant information from the top or bottom of the board, such as the

Model Number, Serial Number, and specifications.

2. Ensure you are familiar with ESD and its potential dangers while working with any

circuit board.

3. When installing a motherboard, turn the computer off and disconnect the power cord

from the power supply.

You must take great care, especially when installing the motherboard. First, remove the
motherboard of its packaging and put it on top of the antistatic bag it came in.
Remember, you always want to safeguard your components from potentially hazardous
static electricity.

1. You need to secure the motherboard onto the PC case/chassis and inspect
carefully for any visible defects.
2. Next, review the motherboard handbook, to make sure you are familiar with the
motherboard layout and understand which socket is which. Manuals are immensely
helpful, usually easy to read, and include illustrations instructions.
3. Check the layout of the sockets on the motherboard. And confirm that the ports on
your motherboard’s back panel match the holes on the case’s Input/output (I/O)
shield installed in your case. If it is necessary, then remove the old I/O shield by
tapping it firmly a few times with the thicker end of a screwdriver. And then
replace it with the shield that came with the new motherboard.
4. You need carefully position the motherboard on top of the brass standoffs. After
that line up all the holes, use the screws that accompanied the case to fasten
down the motherboard.

5. Don’t forget to place the CMOS in the proper position.