Motherboard and Its Components With Full Information

Today in this post, we are going to discuss about ‘Motherboard and Its Components With Full Information’. Motherboard is a main printed circuit board (PCB) of our PCs or laptops, which is also known as main board, logic board, circuit board, system board, base board, planar board, backplane board, mobo etc. It’s called a ‘motherboard’ because it is the main circuit board in the computer, and it can be extended by plugging other circuit boards into it. It allocates the power and serves as a single platform to connect all of the electronic parts of a computer together. Basically, the motherboard allows communication between the hardware components of our computers so that we can run the PC and work on it.

The first motherboard was invented by IBM and sold on its first personal computer (PC) in 1981.

There are many popular motherboard brands exist, but some of the most famous motherboard brands in the world are Intel, Asus, Gigabyte Technology, MSI, ASRock, Acer Inc etc.

Today we are going to discuss with detailed information about the motherboard and its various types of components, such as: –

1. BIOS CHIP     2. RAM SLOT      3. CPU SOCKET     4. CMOS BATTERY     5. PCI SLOT     6. ISA SLOT     7. AGP SLOT     8.IDE CONTROLLER      9. NORTHBRIDGE     10. SOUTHBRIDGE     11. HEAT SINK      12. JUMPER

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1. BIOS CHIP (BASIC INPUT/ OUTPUT SYSTEM)

BIOS stands for Basic Input / Output System (Pronounced as Bye-Oss). Basically, BIOS is a ‘Read Only’ Memory, which contains some low-level software instructions that controls the system hardware and applications during the booting process.

The BIOS is stored on a ROM chip because A ROM stores such instructions and programs that are required to start a computer, which is also known as Firmware,which can’t be erased by a normal user and also can be stored even after the  PC is turned off. This loading operation is referred to as bootstrap. The name itself originates from the Basic Input / Output System used in the CP/M operating system in 1975.

2. RAM SLOT

A memory slot or memory socket or RAM slot is what allows the RAM stick to be inserted into the computer that means the area where we insert the RAM stick as a memory chip is known as the RAM slot.

Depending on the motherboard, most motherboards have 2 to 4 memory slots (sometimes more on high-end motherboards), which also determine the type of RAM used with the computer.

In 1967, Robert Heath Dennard invented Random Access Memory in short RAM. RAM is also referred to as main memory, primary memory or as a system memory and it is used to temporarily store instructions and data that are needed during a current program execution as the computer is not able to communicate directly with its secondary memory.

It is the working memory of the CPU and also a Volatile Memory which means that the temporarily stored data is erased when the power is turned off.

3. CPU SOCKET

CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, the unit which is used during any kind of processing work. The CPU Socket or CPU Slot allows us to insert the ‘processor’ into the motherboard.

The processor or microprocessor is also referred to as the ‘brain of the computer’. It is involved in doing all the calculations that take place whenever any data is processed. CPU mainly made up with two basic components. These are Control Unit (CU) and Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU). The CPU also contains a set of memory registers to temporarily store instructions and data, during processing.

4. CMOS BATTERY

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) is sometimes also referred to as a RTC (real time clock), NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) OR CMOS RAM. It is generally a CR2032 lithium coin cell, which has an estimated life of 3 years when power supply unit (PSU) is unplugged or when the PSU power switch is turned off.

The CMOS battery powers the BIOS firmware, which is responsible for booting up your computer and configuring data flow. It also helps to maintain the correct time and date when PC is off.

5. PCI SLOT

PCI (peripheral component interconnect) was introduced by INTEL on June 22, 1992. This is the most common expansion bus in a PC and hardware platforms. A PCI slot is a built-in slot on a device.

This hardware bus is used for adding internal components to a desktop computer. For example, it allows for the attachment of various hardware components such as sounds cards, modems, disk controller, network cards and other peripheral devices.

6. ISA SLOT

In 1981, IBM introduced the ISA (industry standard architecture). ISA is a type of bus that is used to attach expansion cards to PCs. For example, an ISA slot can be used to connect a network card, video card or an additional serial port.

 ISA was originally an 8-bit computer bus that was later expanded to a 16-bit bus in 1984. Nowadays, however, most modern computers use the PCI slots instead of ISA slots.

7. AGP SLOT

In August 1997, INTEL developed and introduced the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot, which is an expansion bus standard advanced port specifically designed for attaching a video card or a graphic card to the computer system to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. It was originally designed as a successor to PCI-type connections for video cards.

Most modern computers will support this type of card yet, but PCI-Express slots are now being replaced in the new computers. It provides greater transfer speeds than PCI or AGP.

8. IDE CONTROLLER

The IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller, also known as the ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) controller or PATA (Parallel ATA). It is a standard interface for IBM computers that was first developed by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986. 

IDE is used for connecting motherboard to storage devices like CD-ROM/DVD Drives, HDD, Hard Discs etc. The original IDE had a 16-bit interface that connected two devices to a single-ribbon cable. IDE’s development increased the data transfer rate (DTR) speed and reduced storage device and controller issues.

9. NORTHBRIDGE

A Northbridge is also known as a host bridge. A Northbridge is an integrated circuit (IC), which is located physically near the processor as it is responsible for the communications between CPU interface, AGP and the memory.

Northbridge is usually paired with a Southbridge. These two chips basically manage the communications between the CPU and the other parts of the motherboard, and constitute the core logic chipset of the PC motherboard. It is sometimes called the GMCH, for Graphic and Memory Controller Hub.

10. SOUTHBRIDGE

The Southbridge is also known as input/output controller or expansion controller. It is usually located near lower edge of the motherboard. It is a lower speed component in the chipset and has always been a single individual chip. Unlike Northbridge, this chip is not directly connected to the CPU. Main function of the Southbridge is as a peripheral controller.

A Southbridge chipset is an integrated circuit (IC) on the motherboard, which is responsible for computer’s I/O functions, such as the system BIOS, audio, USB, the ISA bus or the LPC bus, the low speed PCI/PCI-E bus, the PATA/SATA storage, the IOAPIC interrupt controller and the NVMe storage, IDE and Ethernet.

11. HEAT SINK

A heat sink is a metal device usually made of aluminium alloy or copper. The computer CPU and chipset, which are available on the system board, require a heat sink to prevent excess heat.

There are two types of heat sink-

     A. Active heat sink: – An active heat sink has a fan attached to it, to actively pull hot air from            the heat sink and from the chip that lies underneath it. Active heat sinks are often used in   conjunction with passive heat sinks.

     B. Passive heat sink: – A passive heat sink is just a heat sink, a piece of flat metal with fins on top that directs heat away from the chip set it is installed on.

12. JUMPER  

A jumper can also be referred to as a jumper shunt or shunt. Jumpers are small blocks on a circuit board with two or more pins emerging from them. In electronic devices and especially in computer devices, a jumper is a short length of conductor used to close, open or bypass part of an electronic circuit.

It is typically used to set up or configure printed circuit boards, such as computer motherboards. The process of setting a jumper is often called strapping.

There are many more components on the motherboard but these are the most useful components that you must know.

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FunFacts!!

The motherboard was invented in 1981 and was said to be originally referred to as a ‘planar’ or ‘breadboard’.