The motherboard is what? Device and main characteristics

Motherboard ("Motherboard" / Motherboard), or,in another way, the motherboard is an integral part of the personal computer. Its appearance looks like an ordinary textolite plate, where copper conductors, connectors, interfaces and other details are located in a large number. If expressed in a dry official language, the motherboard is the main assembly unit.

In its connectors and interfaces are installed allcomponents of a personal computer: main processor, expansion cards, video card or cards, RAM, as well as a hard drive and other drives / information readers.

In addition, the motherboard is a kind of conductorfor external manipulators and service peripherals. To the various connectors in the back of the motherboard are connected a mouse, keyboard, printers, monitor, scanners, communication equipment and other devices.

For all this diversity to work likeit is necessary, a secondary power source is needed, that is, the board of the system unit must be connected to this source by means of an original connector. Such interfaces are mostly equipped with a special "protection from a fool", where the receiver has plastic keys and insert it can be exclusively one, the right way. Similar connection principles have other connectors, that is, the manufacturer has carefully taken care of ensuring that expensive components do not fail due to improper connection. Such features are distinguished by many eminent motherboards: Asrock, MSI, "Gigabyte", "Asus" and others.

Form factors of the motherboard

The form factor of the motherboard determines the fastening points toto the system unit. In addition, different types of cards have a distinctive arrangement of power connectors, the number of interfaces for connecting peripherals and internal components, and their location. In total, you can read three main types of motherboards. Virtually all brands that are said to be fully supported by these standards, that is, MSI motherboards, Asus, Samsung, Gigabyte Asrock, and so on.

Form factors:

1. Mini ITX. The smallest board size with a minimum number of interfaces and most often with an already integrated processor (budget option).
2. Micro-ATX. The characteristics of the motherboard are defined asaverage in functionality. It differs in acceptable sizes and is considered the best option for a home personal computer, albeit with a small set of interfaces for connecting external peripherals. Most often on board such a motherboard chipset is installed with some limitations, but they are not critical for the full operation of the home PC.
3. Standart-АТХ. The largest size of the group witha full-featured set of chipsets. Has enough interfaces for full-fledged work with all sorts of peripherals. It features convenient and trouble-free installation along with wide connectivity options.

It is necessary to take into account the form factormotherboard, as well as its size, if you independently complete the system unit. The mini-ITX motherboard can be installed in any enclosure, but the other types must match the size of the system unit.

Sockets for processors ("Socket" / Socket)

Let's consider some features of connectors forprocessors. By and large, the motherboard is an individual thing for each processor and vice versa. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of this connector when choosing the components, namely the processor, for your computer.

A typical range of Socket interfaces is quiteIt is great for each set of chipsets and will suit only its type. For example, the motherboard Gigabyte GA with a set of AMD has the markings FX2, AM3 and AM3 +. That is, by purchasing any processor with one of these "Socket" -markets, you can easily connect it to this motherboard. It's the same with the competitors from Intel: the LGA 1150 and 1155 markings will allow you to choose the right set of chipsets, for example, for Samsung motherboards or Asus.

BIOS (BIOS)

Next, we will look at the distinctive features of eachmotherboard. It does not matter which set you have - the first or second motherboard, old or new, etc. It will in any case have a BIOS for basic input and output system (BIOS - Basic Input-Output System).

Any motherboard (Gigabyte, "Asus", ""Samsung", MSI and others) carries several critical subsystems, which must be correctly configured. Some functionality can be turned off if, for example, you do not need a built-in graphics accelerator, because an external graphics card is installed on the board.

All BIOS settings are saved in a specialchip-CMOS (about it just below). This is a kind of memory device "for ages", working on a lithium cell. Even if you turn off the computer for a very long time, the data in CMOS will be saved. If necessary, you can "rudely" reset all settings by removing the battery from under the chip. This moment can not be called critical, because all the necessary components for downloading a computer such as a hard disk or RAM are determined automatically - at least in modern systems (after 2006). Set up the date and time, of course, reset.

CMOS chip

Virtually any motherboard (ASUS,"Gigabyte", MSI and others) contains a CMOS chip that remembers all changes made to the BIOS. By itself, the chip consumes extremely low current - slightly less than the microampere, so the battery charge is more than enough for a year, or even for several years.

Sometimes, if the element is fully seated, the computermay refuse to boot. Many master-beginners in this case immediately sin on the motherboard. In order to immediately exclude this possible reason (after a long idle time of the computer), you need to remove the battery element from under the CMOS chip and restart the system. If the computer started up or began to show some signs of life, then the problem was in the CMOS-battery that was grounded.

It will also be superfluous to note that on the elementyou can see the marking, where the first two digits indicate the diameter of the battery, and the next two - the capacity. The CMOS-battery marking should be equipped with any "self-respecting" motherboard (Gigabyte, MSI, "Asus", "Samsung", etc.). If you have not met her - this is an excuse to be suspicious and doubt the originality and virginity of the purchased product. The higher the battery capacity, the longer the element will work and the thicker it will be. The standard equipment of motherboards most often includes a battery of type 2032, that is, a battery with a diameter of 20 mm and a capacity of 32 mAh. Somewhat less common are the more modest elements like 2025.

IDE interface

The next no less important part, whichEach motherboard (ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, Asrock and others) is equipped with interfaces for working with hard drives and data readers, that is, in most cases with hard drives, DVD drives and other storage media.

Home and office personal computersuse for these cases two main interfaces - IDE and SATA. The IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) connector is a 40-pin receiver and is able to work with a hard drive or DVD drive via a flexible ribbon cable. Today's realities make you quietly abandon the interface of this type, but nevertheless it can still be found on some motherboards (most often MSI and "Asus") for the possibility of connecting old hard drives and drives.

Just like in the case of a connector for a blockpower supply, IDE-interface has "protection from the fool", that is, it can not be connected correctly. The old motherboards were equipped with a pair of such receivers, that is, primary and secondary, respectively. Most often, the hard disk was connected to the primary contact, and the reading drives to the secondary one.

For each IDE interface (channel), you canconnect two external devices - master and slave. The selection of the appropriate media parameter is selected using special jumpers (jumper) on the devices themselves. And if you mistakenly put two "masters" or slaves on one channel, then none of them will not work, so there should always be a main device and a side one.

SATA interface

The "SATA" channel is a sequential setinterfaces, and unlike the IDE, it allows you to work at much higher speeds with the connected devices. At the moment, he almost completely excluded the presence of IDE devices and continues to develop further (SATA2, SATA3, etc.).

Depending on the chosen form factor andmotherboard manufacturer, there may be a different number of SATA connectors on the motherboard. Today's standard configuration implies the presence of at least four interfaces of this type, while older models were equipped with only two interfaces.

PS / 2 Interface

As already mentioned, on the motherboardthere are interfaces for working with external peripherals. For connection of the keyboard and the manipulators of type "mouse" six-contact receivers PS / 2 with corresponding keys and painted in different colors are intended. This moment can also be called "protection from a fool", because each color corresponds to the type of equipment being connected (the mouse is green, the keyboard is lilac), and this works in both directions, that is, for example, on your mouse the contact should be green.

At once it is necessary to warn users that neitherwhich can not be connected, as well as disconnect the peripherals from the PS / 2 connector while the computer is running, because this is fraught with failure of not only the keyboard or mouse, but also the motherboard itself. Well, if the motherboard is equipped with a group of fuses for this case, otherwise the entire system can fly.

Such chips-fuses have very smallnominal and easy to burn under the above described "switching" actions. In order to check the operability of the fuse, it can be called by a conventional tester. If it fails, then it is relatively easy (and cheap) to replace, and hence not to risk, including or disconnecting the external periphery while the computer is running from the PS / 2 port. It is also worth noting that not all motherboards are equipped with such protection chips, so to pay attention at the time of purchase is clearly not an extra step.

USB interface

Among other external connectors, a special placededicated USB-interface (universal serial bus). It consists of four lines: two are for food, and others for data transmission. Unlike the fastidious PS / 2 port, the peripherals connected via USB-connector can be changed, as they say, on the go. The interface appeared a long time ago and managed to acquire some modifications and improvements.

The ability to connect and disconnect devices withUSB-connector during the operation of the computer is achieved through a specific interface design. The main power contacts are noticeably closer to the connector end, unlike the data transfer unit. That is, at the moment of switching the power starts to flow first, but it turns off into the last one.

Through the USB-interface you can connect a lotperipherals: printers, smartphones, tablets, scanners, cameras and much more, as well as the familiar keyboard and mouse (keep this in mind if the fuse chips are burned on PS / 2 ports).

A bit earlier for connecting printers andscanners used parallel LPT-ports, and even less often - serial COM interfaces. Today they are practically not used, and they can only be found on old mother cards. But it's for the better, because when you connect this type of equipment while the computer is running, you could burn both the printer and the port itself.

PCI and PCI Express interfaces

PCI and PCI Express slots are designed for boardsextensions: network adapters, communicators, modems, video cards, etc. All video cards are installed, as a rule, in an interface like PCI Express due to its speed. Earlier an AGP connector was used to work with graphics accelerators, but it is morally obsolete, and it's almost impossible to see it on modern motherboards.

Also worth noting that over time these slotscan weaken, disrupting the normal operation of the device. Fast "treatment" is one thing here: to pull the device out of the grooves, to wipe the contacts with an alcohol-containing solution and insert it back. More cardinal repair is a replacement of the motherboard, but this is necessary in exceptional and extremely rare cases.

Also, you should be aware that the PCI bus has undergone several changes during the improvement process, and depending on the year of the motherboard's manufacture, the connectors may differ in appearance and in bit depth.

Memory modules (RAM)

Currently, there are several typesRAM: DDR2, DDR3 and DDR4. Morally obsolete DDR1 strips are practically not used, they can only be seen on the oldest motherboards.

Different memory from each other working frequencysizes, contacts and supply voltage. Each individual type has a specific cutout (key) at the bottom, according to which the type of RAM is determined. Some motherboards can support two types of slats at once, which is very convenient for a subsequent upgrade.

The connectors themselves are equipped with special latches forreliable fixation on the board. The slats are installed with a certain effort, where after a successful installation a specific click will be heard, which means that the module has correctly sat down (or you broke the latch by pushing it too hard).

RAM modules, except usefulgigabytes contain small SPD chips that are responsible for timing, i.e., I hold data for this type of RAM (random access memory). In BIOS, you can set your own timings yourself or leave it at the discretion of the bar itself. When overclocking the RAM or the entire system as a whole (overclocking), the shortest delay is set.

Just as in the case of PCI slots, RAM modules can start to work incorrectly, and for this you need to perform the same procedure described in the section above and everything should work as it should.