Motherboard Technical Knowhow

The motherboard is the main part of your computer that everything else plugs
into. Sometimes it is called the system board. A typical motherboard is a
sheet of olive green or brown fiberglass with a myriad of thin gold lines on it
and chips sticking off of it.
By itself, the motherboard is just an empty plate. Its the hardware that sits on it that
does the work. On it sits the CPU, memory sockets, BIOS, etc. The little gold lines
act like electronic roadways of information between each of these features. These
roads enable the different parts of the computer to communicate and perform the
functions of your computer, all with the motherboard being the hub of the activity

Motherboard Form Factors

The form factor of the motherboard describes its general shape, what sorts of cases
and power supplies it can use, and its physical organization. For example, a company
can make two motherboards that have basically the same functionality but that use a
different form factor, and the only real differences will be the physical layout of the
board, the position of the components, etc. In fact, many companies do exactly this,
they have for example a baby AT version and an ATX version.
Types of Form factors:
AT
Baby AT
ATX
Mini ATX
LPX
Mini LPX
NLX
Form Factor specifications:

Style
AT
Baby AT
ATX
Mini-ATX
microATX
FlexATX
LPX
Mini LPX
NLX

Width
12"
8.5"
12"
11.2"
9.6"
9.0"
9"
8-9"
8-9"

Depth
11-13"
10-13"
9.6"
8.2"
9.6"
7.5"
11-13"
10-11"
10-13.6"

Where Found
Very Old PCs
Older PCs
Newer PCs
Newer PCs
Specialty PCs
Specialty PCs
Older Retail PCs
Older Retail PCs
Newer Retail PCs

Match to Case & Power Supply

Full AT, Full Tower
All but Slimline, ATX
ATX
ATX
Slimline
Custom Design
Slimline
Slimline
Slimline

The AT form factor

the oldest and the biggest form factor.
It is fairly common in older machines, 386 class or earlier.
the older full AT board is 12" wide.
It was popular until the Baby AT was released
(which was around the time of the 386 processor (1992-93))
won't typically fit into the commonly used "mini" desktop or minitower cases.
The reason that prompted the Baby AT was the width of the AT (12") and the fact
that the board was difficult to install, service, and upgrade.
The Baby AT form factor
the standard in the PC industry from roughly 1993-1997.
It is still being used today, usually in Pentium class products.
The Baby AT motherboard was, through 1997, the most common form factor on the
market. After three years and a heavy marketing push from Intel, the ATX form
factor is now finally overtaking the AT form factor and from here out will be the most
popular form factor for new systems. AT and Baby AT are not going anywhere,
however, because there are currently just so many baby AT cases, power supplies
and motherboards on the market.
Issues with the AT and Baby AT design :
The AT and Baby AT form factors put the processor socket(s)/slot(s) and memory
sockets at the front of the motherboard, and long expansion cards were designed to
extend over them.
When this form factor was designed, over ten years ago, this worked fine:
processors and memory chips were small and put directly onto the motherboard, and
clearance wasn't an issue. However, now we have memory in SIMM/DIMM sockets,
not directly inserted onto the motherboard, and we have larger processors that need
big heat sinks and fans mounted on them.
Since the processor is still often in the same place, the result can be that the
processor+heat sink+fan combination often blocks as many as three of the
expansion slots on the motherboard! Most newer Baby AT style motherboards have
moved the SIMM or DIMM sockets out of the way, but the processor remains a
problem. ATX was designed in part to solve this issue.
ATX Form Factor :
ATX was developed as an evolution of the Baby AT form factor and was defined to
address four areas of improvement:
enhanced ease of use
better support for current and future I/O
better support for current and future processor technology
reduced total system cost.
The ATX is basically a Baby AT rotated 90 degrees and providing a new mounting
configuration for the power supply. The processor is relocated away from the
expansion slots, allowing them to hold full length add-in cards. The longer side of the
board is used to host more on-board I/O. The ATX power supply, rather than blowing
air out of the chassis, as in most Baby AT platforms, provides air-flow through the
chassis and across the processor.

Mini-ATX :
This form factor is basically the same as ATX with a smaller allowable board size.
ATX = 12" x 9.6"
Mini-ATX = 11.2" x 8.2"
microATX :
This form factor was developed as a natural evolution of the ATX form factor to
address new market trends and PC technologies. microATX supports:
Current processor technologies
The transition to newer processor technologies
AGP high performance graphics solutions
Smaller motherboard size
Smaller power supply form factor
Flex ATX :
A subset of the the microATX design. FlexATX offers the opportunity for system
developers to create many new personal computer designs. FlexATX allows enhanced
flexibility where conforming motherboards may be enclosed; that is, all-in-one
computing devices, LCD-personal computers, or standard desktop systems.
This form factor is designed to allow very custom case and board designs to be
manufactured. For example; The NBA could commission computers that looked like
basketballs. There is not too much limit on the shape of the board and case. We
should see some very interesting system designs emerging from this form factor.
Supports current socketed processor technologies
Smaller motherboard size
ATX 2.03 I/O panel
Same mounting holes as microATX
Socket only processors to keep the size small
LPX and Flex LPX :
This is based on a design by Western Digital. The expansion slots are on a single
riser card which is mounted onto the planar board. Mainly OEM manufacturers (i.e.
Packard Bell/NEC, Dell, etc) use these boards.
The distinguishing characteristic of LPX is that expansion boards are inserted into a
riser that contains several slots. So the expansion boards are parallel to the
motherboard rather than perpendicular to it as in other common form factors, such
as AT and ATX. The LPX design allows for smaller cases, but the number of expansion
boards is usually limited to two or three.
NLX :
NLX is a new low profile motherboard form factor designed to improve upon todays
low profile form factors and to adapt to new market trends and PC technologies. NLX
does the following:
Supports current and future processor technologies
Supports new Accelerated Graphics Port (A.G.P.) high performance graphics
solutions
Supports tall memory technology
Provides more system level design and integration flexibility; for example, the new
design flexibility allows system designers to implement a motherboard that can be

removed quickly, in most cases without removing screws, thus lowering the PCs total
cost of ownership.
The picture shows an example of an NLX board and riser.
The add-in card riser is located at the right edge of the motherboard (as viewed
from the front).
The processor is located at the front, left section of the motherboard, improving
thermal and clearance issues.
Taller components such as the processor and tall memory are preferred to be
located on the left side of the motherboard, allowing the I/O slots to hold full length
add-in cards in many system configurations.
At the back of the motherboard (as viewed from the front), the I/O connectors are
stacked single and double high to support more connectors.

Lets look at a few motherboard :

AT Socket 7 Motherboard

ATX Slot 1 Motherboard

Components on a motherboard:
The CPU (The Brain)
The CPU is usually the most prominent chip on your motherboard. It will be
imprinted with the type of CPU that it is, such as "AMD K6-2" or "Intel
Pentium II" and it will have the chip manufacturer's logo on it. If you cannot
see this, you'll probably see a CPU fan. On Socket type motherboards, the
processor itself is barely visible. Instead you'll see a large fan which sits upon
it. This fan is quite large and is screwed right on top of the CPU. Its job is to
keep the CPU cool while the system is on. Today's CPU's get extremely hot
while they are in operation.
The CPU is the computer's brain. It's job is to process information and sling
information around to all of the various hardwares that need it. CPU's vary in
sizes and speeds.

Now what is a socket and what is a slot??

CPU Interfaces
Here is a quick rundown of all the different sockets and slots for processors:
Socket 1
This is an old slot. Its found on 486 motherboards and supports 486 chips,
plus the DX2, DX4 Overdrive. It contains 169 pins and operates at 5 volts.
The only overdrive it will support is the DX4 Overdrive.
Socket 2
This Intel socket is a minor upgrade from the Socket 1. It has 238 pins and is
still 5 volt. Although it is still a 486 socket and supports all the chips Socket 1
does, it has the minor addition of being able to support a Pentium OverDrive.
Socket 3
Another Intel socket, containing 237 pins. It operates at 5 volts, but has the
added capability of operating at 3.3 volts, switchable with a jumper setting on
the motherboard. It supports all of the Socket 2 processor with the addition of
the 5x86. It is considered the latest of the 486 sockets.
Socket 4
We move into Pentium class machines with the Socket 4, by Intel. This socket
has 273 pins. It operates at a whopping 5 volts. Due to this voltage, this
socket basically had no where to go but the history books. It only supports
the low-end Pentium 60-66 and the Overdrive because these chips are the
only Pentiums operating at 5 volts. Beginning with the Pentium-75, Intel
moved to the 3.3 volt chip.
Socket 5
This socket operates at 3.3 volts with 320 pins. It supports Pentium class
chips from 75MHz to 133MHz. Newer chips will not fit because they need an
extra pin. Socket 5 has been replaced by the more advanced Socket 7.
Socket 6
You might think this is a nice Pentium socket class, but it is meant for 486's.
It is only a slightly more advanced Socket 3 with 235 pins and 3.3 volt
operation. This socket is forgotten. The market never moved to use it because
it came out when 486's were already going of out style and manufacturers
couldn't see pumping money into changing their designs for a 486.
Socket 7
Socket 7 is the most popular and widely used socket. It contains 321 pins and
operates in the 2.5-3.3 volt range. It supports all Pentium class chips, from
75MHz on up, MMX processors, the K5, K6, K6-2, K6-3, 6x86, M2 and M3,
and Pentium MMX Overdrives. This socket is the industry standard and is
being used for sixth-generation chips by IDT, AMD and Cyrix. Intel, however,
decided to abandon the socket for it's sixth-generation lineup. Socket 7

boards incorporate the voltage regulator which makes voltages lower than the
native 3.3 volt possible.
Socket 8
This is a high-end socket used primarily for the Pentium Pro. It has 387 pins
and operates at 3.1/3.3 volts. This socket only handles the Pentium Pro. It is
designed especially to handle the dual-cavity structure of the chip. Since Intel
decided to move on to Slot 1, the Socket 8 is a sort of dead end, although
there are plans to release a Pentium II overdrive for it.
Slot 1
Intel completely changed the scene with this slot. It, instead of accepting the
usual square chip with pins on the bottom, takes the processor on a
daughtercard. The daughtercard allows fast communication between the
processor and the L2 cache, which lies on the card itself. The slot itself has
242 pins and operates at 2.8-3.3 volts. For more info on this, check out the
Pentium II information here. The Slot 1 is used mainly for the P2,P3 and
Celeron, but Pentium Pro users can use the slot by mounting their processors
in a socket 8 on a daughtercard which is then inserted into the Slot 1. This
gives Pentium Pro users the ability to upgrade later.
Slot 2
A chip packaging design used in Intel's newer Pentium II chipsets, starting
with the Xeon CPU. While the Slot 1 interface features a 242-contact
connector, Slot 2 uses a somewhat wider 330-contact connector. The biggest
difference between Slot 1 and Slot 2, though, is that the Slot 2 design allows
the CPU to communicate with the L2 cache at the CPU's full clock speed. In
contrast, Slot 1 only supports communication between the L2 cache and CPU
at half the CPU's clock speed.
Slot A
This is the new proprietary slot design AMD decided to use with the Athlon
processor. Design wise, it is similar to the Slot 1. But, Slot A uses a different
protocol, called EV6. Using this bus protocol, which was created by Digital,
AMD can increase the RAM to CPU data transfer to 200MHz, giving us a
200MHz frontside bus. AMD had to use their own Slot design since Intel had
effectively patented the Slot 1 design so that AMD could not use it. Now, with
the Athlon becoming more popular, more and more Slot A boards are coming
out so that systems based on the Athlon are becoming more common.
The BIOS (The Nervous System)
The BIOS is another very important part of your computer that makes its
home on your motherboard. "BIOS" stands for Basic Input/Output System. It
usually resides on a series of chips. These chips are typically the biggest chips
on your motherboard other than the CPU and the chipset. Also, there is
usually a big sticker on it that says BIOS. The sticker also says what kind of
BIOS it is, such as Award or AMIBIOS, and what year it is.
If the CPU is the brain, the BIOS is the nervous system. It takes care of the
behind-the-scenes stuff, much like our nervous system makes sure we
breathe while we aren't thinking about it. BIOS handles the dirty work: how

the floppy disks grab data or what happens when you press a key on your
keyboard. You know...the grunt work. It also kicks in when you turn on your
computer, letting the computer know how many drives it has and where they
are.
When you turn on your computer, the BIOS determines what hardware is
installed. It finds out if the hardware is working and if any of the parts have
their own BIOS. If it finds any BIOS type programming on any of the parts, it
lets those parts take inventory before returning to its task. For example, most
video cards have their own BIOS chip. So, the main BIOS turns control over
to the video card until it is done, then resumes to check the rest of the
computer.
All this happens behind the scenes every time you boot. You may notice the
POST, or Power On Self Test, plus you'll also see your various lights flash.
When your BIOS tests the hard drive, floppy drive, and keyboard, you'll see
lights flash on them. Once all this is done, your BIOS loads up the operating
system. It does this by looking for and reading your various boot up files such
as Config.sys and Autoexec.bat. From there, your operating system takes
over.
As you can see, BIOS is important. Every computer needs it. And like CPU's, it
comes in versions. The versions are based on years though. The newer the
BIOS, the newer and fancier parts it can handle. You can usually see what
date yours is by looking at the sticker on the chip itself, but if you don't have
a little sticker, you can go to the BIOS screen on your monitor. This is done
sometimes by hitting F1 shortly after you power up your computer. Here it
should tell you who made the BIOS and when.
Most of the time, you buy new BIOS by buying a new motherboard. It comes
with it. It is usually hard to find BIOs chips otherwise and install them
yourself. Some newer computers have upgradable BIOS where you pop in
new BIOS software and it copies this data over to the chips. This is pretty
cool, but not too common.
BIOS is often confused with CMOS. The two are often, and mistakenly,
thought of to be one and the same. Actually, CMOS, which stands for
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, is the little 64 byte piece of RAM
which stores the settings for the BIOS to work off of. It is because of the
CMOS that the BIOS remembers your PC's configuration and is able to load it
properly upon each boot-up. The CMOS resides in a small integrated circuit,
or IC, found on your motherboard. The memory is maintained by a small
current generated by a battery which also resides on your motherboard.
Newer board use a NiCad battery which recharges whenever the PC is on, but
the older ones use a standard battery, which when it runs out of juice, must
be replaced. In a similar fashion, if you wish, for some reason, to clear your
CMOS and start fresh, simply disconnect the battery. Of course, on newer
boards, there is a CMOS-clear jumper, usually located near the battery, which
performs the same function.
Math Coprocessors

There is not too much to say about math coprocessors. It is basically a

number cruncher or a real fast calculator. It cranks out fast answers to math
problems, helping the CPU do its job faster because it doesn't have to think as
hard. It can take care of the floating point calculations.
Coprocessors are optional in older computers. They just speed up math. Do
you need one? Well, if you are running math intensive software such as CAD
drawing or other software that plays with arrays, irrational numbers, or
trigonometric functions, yeah, a coprocessor might be something worth
having. Some might think spreadsheets could use a coprocessor, but really,
these do not require much math since it is mostly addition and subtracting.
For almost all typical business applications, like the word processor, there
really isn't a point.
If you have a 486DX or a Pentium, you already have a coprocessor. They're
built right in. All modern processors, or any processor you would most likely
see in a decent computer, has the coprocessor built in. If you have an SX
machine, you dont have one. With these CPU's you will have to get an
external one that fits into a separate slot on the motherboard. If you have
such a setup, you'll find that the coprocessor is almost as large as the CPU. It
is probably the most noticeable chip on the board other than the CPU.
In short, the math coprocessor is now a non-issue, since it is built-in to ALL
computers made in the last few years.
DIP Switches and Jumpers
Dip switches and jumpers are your way of telling the computer what is
installed on it.
DIP switches are very small and are usually flipped with a pointed object such
as a bent paper clip or a ballpoint pen. Below is a picture of two types of Dip
Switches.

Jumpers are small pins on the board with plastic or metal devices that go over
the pins. This device is called a bridge. When the bridge is connected to any
two pins, it completes the circuit between those pins, telling the computer
what it need to know. Jumpers are much more common than switches, but
they are harder to use. If asked to remove a bridge, always save it for later. A
little trick is to leave the bridge hanging on one pin. The computer will think
the bridge is gone, but its still there so that you don't lose it. Also, knowing
the jumper settings for your device can be a chore. You must have the
device's manual to do it.
Integrated Circuitry

Many times you'll have your I/O and video circuitry built right on to your
motherboard.
Usually, I/O adapters on the motherboard are of the IDE/EIDE interface and
they are marked HDD for hard drive and FDD for the floppy. You simply plug
your data ribbons into these and you can bypass the need for a separate I/O
card. The downside is that if you want to use a system other than that on the
motherboard, you have to disable the circuitry on the board. For example, if
you feel like using SCSI, then you'll have to disable the IDE on the board. For
most users, using the IDE interface on the board works just fine. Some more
expensive boards have SCSI adapters hard-wired onto the board.
Other motherboards have built in video circuitry. This is less common than the
drive interface, but it happens. This allows you to bypass buying a separate
video card and saves a slot. But, again, if you want to upgrade your video
later on, you'll have to disable the video on the board and buy that fancy new
card anyway.
The Rest
Other than the above , you have the battery, the keyboard connector, the
expansion slots, and the Memory(SDRAM) slots.
The battery is pretty noticeable. It is a little cylinder just like your run of the
mill Energizer, but shorter. Most batteries are small, round, and flat. These
types fit into a small socket and are held in my a small metal tab. Its job is
mainly to keep the system time and a few other settings when the computer's
power is off. If you are asked what time it is or what kind of hard drive you
have when you turn on your computer, you probably need a new battery.
Instructions for changing your battery are included with Installing A Battery.
The keyboard connector is self-explanatory, so let me explain.=) You plug
your keyboard into it. The prongs on your keyboard wire's end will match up
(hopefully) with the little holes on the connector on the motherboard. They
come in large 5-pin setups or smaller PS/2's. This complicated setup is usually
located next to the battery

Chipsets(The heart)

The motherboard is generally thought to be the most important part of a

computer. And yes, it is. However, the chipset on the motherboard is the most
important part of the board itself as it defines almost everything about the
system. We have said that the CPU is the brain, the BIOS is the nervous
system. Well, the chipset is like the heart.
The chipset controls the system and its capabilities. It is the hub of all data
transfer. It is a series of chips on the motherboard, easily identified as the
largest chips on the board with the exception of the CPU. Chip sets are

integrated, meaning they are soldered onto the board and are not upgradable
without buying a whole new motherboard.
All data must go through the chipset. All components talk to the CPU through
the chipset. To make order out of all this data, the chipset makes use of the
DMA controller and the bus controller.
Since chipsets are so important and have to know how to communicate with
all components, they must be designed for your configuration and CPU. The
chipset maker needs to keep up with BIOS and memory makers, since all of
these parts work together and the chipset is the hub of it all.

Processor Support
I/O Support
Memory Support
Power Management Support
Chipsets - A List of Common Ones

Processor Support
A chipset is designed by the manufacturer to work with a specific set of
processors. Most chipsets only support one generation of processors: most
chipsets are geared specifically for 486 type systems, Pentium class systems,
or Pentium Pro / Pentium II systems. Why make it complicated like that? Well,
the reason is simple. The design of the control circuitry must be different for
each processor generation due to the different ways they employ cache,
access memory, etc. For example, the Pentium Pro and Pentium II have level
2 cache within the CPU itself, so obviously they would need a different
circuitry design than the Pentium, which has level 2 cache on the
motherboard.
Most motherboards that support Intel Pentium processors also support their
equivalents from AMD and Cyrix. In fact, usually, these chips install just as an
Intel chip, other than the fact that you may need to set different jumper
settings for bus speed or voltages. I must note here, though, that the
different voltages of the CPU's and whether the board will support it is not a
function of the chipset, but of the voltage regulator. But, since Intel is the
largest manufacturer of Pentium-class and higher chipsets, AMD and Cyrix are
at a disadvantage. AMD has evened out the field a tad with their AMD-640
chipset, aimed at optimizing the performance of AMD's K6. But also,
companies such as Via and ALI are producing Super 7 chipsets aimed at nonIntel processors.

Processor Speed Support

Faster processors require chipsets capable of handling them. The specification

of the processor speed is done using two parameters: the memory bus speed
and the processor multiplier. The memory bus speed is the processor's
"external" speed, the speed it talks to the rest of the computer at. The
memory bus speed also (normally) dictates the speed of the PCI local bus,
which in most motherboards runs at half the memory bus speed. Typical
modern bus speeds are 50, 60, 66 and 75 MHz. Faster systems use 83MHz or
even 100MHz bus speeds. The multiplier represents the number by which the
memory bus speed must be multiplied to obtain the processor speed.
Multipliers on modern PCs are normally 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x, 3.5x, or 4x,
though faster processors will eventually increase this.
The chipset runs at the speed of the motherboard bus, usually 66MHz in most
systems. With chipsets such as Intel's 440BX, Via's MVP3, and ALI's Aladdin
V, many newer PC's are pushing 100MHz bus speeds. This particularly helps
the performance of Super 7 systems because the L2 cache runs at the speed
of the motherboard. This doubles L2 cache speeds. With Pentium II's, the L2
cache is already running at 1/2 the speed of the processor, so increasing the
bus to 100MHz won't help out as much.
The range of the processor speeds supported by the chipset is indicated,
generally, by looking at the range of supported memory bus speeds and
multipliers. A typical Pentium chipset will support bus speeds of 50 to 66 MHz
with a multiplier range of 1.5x to 3.0x. This yields speeds of 75, 90, 100, 120,
133, 150, 166 and 200 MHz.
Multiple Processor Support
Some chipsets support the ability to make motherboards that support two or
four processors. The chipset circuitry coordinates the activities of the
processors so that they don't interfere with each other, and works with the
operating system software to share the load between them. The standard for
multiprocessing in Pentium and Pentium Pro PCs is Intel's SMP (symmetric
multiprocessing). It only works with Intel processors. Of course, I should
make note that, in order to successfully have a multi-processor system, that
much more than a supporting chipset is needed. You must have compatible
CPU's and a supporting OS.
I/O Support
Most modern computers use three bus types: the ISA bus for slower, older
peripherals, the PCI bus, and the AGP Bus. Click on the names for a more
detailed description.
The chipset controls these buses. It transfers information to and from them
and the processor and memory. The chipset's capabilities in this area
determine what kinds of buses the system supports and how fast they can
get. For this reason, Intel calls its chipsets "PCIsets". Most modern PCs
support the ISA and PCI buses, but older chipsets support the VESA Local Bus
instead of PCI.
Bus Bridges

A "bridge" is a networking term that refers to a piece of hardware that

connects two dissimilar networks and passes information from the computers
on one network to those on the other, and vice-versa. In this way, the chipset
must use bus bridges to connect together the different bus types it controls.
The most common of these is the PCI-ISA bridge, which is used to connect
together devices on these two different buses.
IDE/ATA Hard Disk Controller
Almost all motherboards now have support for four IDE (ATA) hard disks
integrated into them, two on each of two channels. Integrating this support
makes sense for a number of reasons, among them the fact that these drives
are on the PCI bus, so this saves an expansion slot and reduces cost. The
data transfer rate of IDE drives is based on their using programmed I/O (PIO)
modes, and use of the fastest of these modes depends on support from the
PCI bus and chipset. The ability to set a different PIO mode for each of the
two devices on a single IDE channel, called independent device timing, is also
a function of the chipset. Without this feature, both devices must run at the
speed of the slowest drive.
More recently, ATA-33 drives have become the thing to have. These enhanced
IDE drives are appealing mainly because of their attractive price. Earlier
chipsets only supported PIO modes, which required CPU involvement in every
hard drive access. This isn't good when trying to multi-task. ATA-33 drives
use DMA to work without CPU intervention. This allows speeds of up to
33MBps. The concept of DMA is descibed below.
DMA Mode Support and Bus Mastering
Direct memory access (DMA) provides a way for devices to transfer
information directly to and from memory, without the processor's
intervention. It is still used by many devices, although newer transfer modes
are now used for high-performance devices like hard disks. DMA is controlled
by the chipset's DMA controller, and the newer the controller, the more DMA
modes its supports.
Bus mastering is an enhancement of DMA whereby the remote device not
only can send data to the memory directly, it actually takes control of the bus,
and performs the transfer itself instead of using the DMA controller. This cuts
down on the overhead of having the slow DMA controller talk to the device
doing the transfer, further improving performance. Bus mastering support is
provided by the chipset.
USB & AGP Support
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a new technology intended to replace the
current ports used for keyboards and mice. It is still unclear as to whether
this standard will catch on and become popular. USB has been around for a
while now, although it is still rather rare to see in action. Despite this, most
modern chipsets support USB.

AGP is another high-speed bus used for graphics cards. This bus must be
supported by the chipset. The Intel 440LX used to be the only chipset the
supported it, but since then, many more have emerged, including many not
made by Intel.
Plug and Play
Plug and Play (PnP) is a specification that uses technology enhancements in
hardware, BIOSes and operating systems, to enable supported devices to
have their system resource usage set automatically. Intended to help make
installation easier by eliminating some of the problems with getting peripheral
devices to work together, PnP requires support from the chipset as well.
Memory Support
One of the biggest issues with chipsets is what types of memory they will
support as well as how much.
When purchasing a chipset, make sure you get one with support for SDRAM.
With this, 66MHz is fine for most applications, but with the prices for 100MHz
chipsets coming down so much, opt for a chipset supporting the 100MHz
frontside bus. You'll see the difference in many aspects of the computer's use,
especially the more involved AGP-enabled applications.
One needs to pay attention to how the memory is supported. A chipset can
support a certain amount of memory as well as is able to cache a certain
portion of it. This means that a certain amount of the main system memory
will be cached by the L2 cache, increasing performance. One of the more
famous horror stories is the 430TX chipset by Intel. Although it could support
up to 256MB of SDRAM, it could only cache the first 64MB of it. This meant
that with memory amounts over 64MB, you were probably degrading the
system's performance by quite a bit. Because Windows 95 loads itself into the
higher memory areas, leaving the lower areas free for DOS compatibility, this
meant that the OS and all system-critical applications were being hampered
by the crappy cache support.
When purchasing a chipset, make sure it can address 1MB or 2MB of L2
cache. Some come with 512K, which is adequate, but don't consider 256K or
lower. The higher the L2 cache, the more memory the chipset is likely to be
able to cache.
The chipset market will have to evolve along with memory enhancements.
Minor tweaks to SDRAM, such as Double Date Rate(DDR) SDRAM will extend
the life of SDRAM, but will include some tweaks to the chipset support. Intel's
eventual move to Rambus DRAM, or RDRAM, will change everything. While
SDRAM delivers data steadily at 66MHz of 100MHz, RDRAM will use an 8-bit
interface and fire data off at 800MHz. Because of the close integration of the
chipset to the memory subsystem, the move to RDRAM will require drastic
changes to chipset design.
Power Management Support

Chipsets offer support for power management on the computer. Most recent
chipsets support a group of features that reduce the amount of power used by
the PC during idle periods. These types of features are deemed important for
a few reasons. First, many get concerned over the amount of power
consumed by PC's when they are left on for long periods of time. Secondly,
with the use of laptops, many are concerned about the life of their battery.
Power management works through a number of BIOS settings that tell the
computer when to shut down various pieces of hardware when it becomes
idle. While, in theory, this is a good idea, it does sometimes get in the way.
One example is that all-too-common wait time when returning to the
computer to wait for the hard drive to power up. Sometimes, the hard drive
will power down too soon, and when you come back, you have to wait a few
seconds for the drive to power up again.
There are a number of terms commonly heard in relation to these power
management features. Energy Star is a program started by the EPA to brand
PCs that are considered energy efficient and incorporate power management.
Most modern PCs are Energy Star compliant, and display its logo on the top of
the screen when the BIOS boots up. Advanced Power Management or APM is
the name given to the component in some operating systems (such as
Windows 95) that works with the BIOS to control the power management
features of the PC. APM allows you to set parameters in the operating system
to control when various power management features will be activated.
System Management Mode or SMM is a power-reduction standard for
processors. This allows them to automatically and greatly reduce power
consumption.
Common Chipsets
There are tons of chipsets out there. Here are some common ones:
Pentium Socket 5/7:
Intel 430LX Mercury (82434NX, 82433NX, 82371FB)
P5, Socket 4
Intel 430NX Neptune (82371FB, 82434LX, 82433LX)
P54C Socket 5
Intel 430FX Triton I (82437FX,82438FX,82371FB)
Intel 430HX Triton II (82439HX,82371SB)
Intel 430VX Triton III (82437VX,82438VX,82371SB)
Intel 430TX PCIset (82439TX,82371AB)
OPTi Viper Xpress+
OPTi Vendetta
ALi Alladin III (1521,1523)
ALi Alladin IV (1531,1533)
ALi Alladin IV+ (1531,1543)
SiS 5511/5512/5513
SiS Trinity (5571)
SiS 5581,5582
SiS 5591,5595
SiS Genesis (5596,5513)
SiS 5597,5598

AMD-640 (640/645)
PCChips VXPro
ALi HXPro
ALi TXPro
VLSI Lynx (541,543)
VIA Apollo Master (570M)
VIA Apollo VP-1 580VP (585VP,587,586A)
VIA Apollo VPX/97 580VPX (585VPX,587,586B)
VIA Apollo VP-2 590VP (595,586A)
VIA Apollo VP2/97 590VP (595,586B)
VIA Apollo VP3 597 (597,586B)
Pentium Pro
OPTi Discovery (650,651 or 650,651,652 with AGP)
Intel Orion (450GX)
Intel Mars (450KX)
Pentium Pro/II
Intel 440FX Natoma (82441FX,82442FX,82371SB)
Intel 440LX (82443LX,82371AB)
VIA Apollo P6 (680)
Alladin Pro II
Pentium II
Intel 440LX AGPset
Intel 440BX AGPset
SiS 5602
Intel Celeron
Intel 440EX AGPset

Installing Motherboards

So you're ready to install your motherboard, right? Don't be afraid. Its really
not that daunting of a chore. It'll take you anywhere from 15 minutes to an
hour, depending on how proficient you are at it. One very important note
before we start...
NOTE: COMPUTER PARTS ARE SENSITIVE TO STATIC ELECTRICITY.
ALWAYS GROUND YOURSELF BEFORE HANDLING THE PARTS!!
You can ground yourself by simply touching the case of your computer or
some other metal thing, like a file cabinet, with both hands before you start
playing around with your computer. This is important. Your body can store
thousands of volts in static electricity. This can send your parts to computer
part heaven (lame joke)!
OK...Start!
Lets take this in steps:
1. Turn on your computer. Right after it counts up its memory, hit
the delete button. This should take it to the CMOS screen.
Usually selecting the first option will take you to the "Standard
CMOS Setup". Here you should see all your drive information
and stuff like that. Write this down. Make sure you get the
density of your floppy drives and the type of hard drive you
have. Once you have this, turn off the computer, unplug it, and
remove the case cover.
2. Now you should see all the wires and circuit boards that is
computer. Don't freak out...its not that complicated, really.
After getting rid of any static electricity in your body, go about
unplugging the wires that are connected to your old
motherboard. There are many such wires, most of which are
discussed below. As you remove them, you might want to plan
ahead a little and see what the corresponding sockets are
labeled on your new board. This way you won't run into any
surprises while your computer is spread out all over the desk
The following connectors need to be disconnected.
Power supply: these connections are the largest, usually
labeled P8 and P9 on AT machines. On ATX machines, it'll be
one large 20-pin connector. They are usually plugged into the
board right behind the keyboard connector, but this spot varies.
Lights: these wires connect your board to the lights on the
front of your computer, such as the hard drive light and the
power light. They are small connectors and are usually
connected along the edge of your board. After making some
notation to help you put them back in the right place, unplug
them.
Switches: these wires connect the reset button, the power
switch (on ATX machines), and the turbo button to your board.
They are usually plugged into the board in the same clump of
connectors as the LCD wires above. Unplug these.
Drives: Most boards have the I/O controllers for the drives on
the board itself. Before removing the old motherboard, you will

3.

4.

5.
6.

7.

8.

9.

have to disconnect your IDE ribbon cables from these

controllers.
If you are using an AT motherboard, you may need to unplug
the serial port, PS/2 port, and parallel port connectors from the
motherboard.
Now you must remove all of the expansion cards. Here I mean
any video cards, sound cards, modems, etc. that are in your
computer. Remove any cables connected to the cards in the
back, remove the little screw that connects the card to the
computer's case, then pull each card straight out of the slot.
Remember to ground yourself first.
Be sure to be gentle on
the cards. You don't want to
damage them. Don't
take a tool to them and try
to pry them out. This
will certainly damage the
card. If a card seems
stuck, try lifting one end of it
first. This sometimes
helps. Also, keep track of
which card lived in which
slot. Although it will
probably work if the cards are in a different order, you might as
well be sure about it. You can keep the wires that connect your
cards to other drives connected. Just gently pile the cards over
to the side somehow.
Unplug the keyboard. This will help.
Remove the memory, or RAM, from your old board. If it is the
right size and is good enough for your new board, install it on
the new board. If not, you will need to buy memory for your
new board. For more info about memory, go to the Memory
section.
Prepare your brand new board for installation. Unpack it from
its wrapper. Inspect it and make sure nothing incredibly
noticeable is wrong with it. Put the memory on it, as described
in the Memory section. If the CPU is not yet installed on it, do
this now. If you have an external L2 cache module, install this
into the correct slot now. Most computers won't have one of
these. Adjust the jumper settings on the motherboard to those
settings of your new CPU.
Remove the old motherboard. You will see small screws on
various parts of the board that are holding it in. Unscrew these
screws and put them in a safe place so you can use them on
the new board. Now, grasp the board's edge and gently pull it
out of the computer. You may need to slide it around a little bit
until the white, plastic standoffs, shown below, slide out of their
little holes. Many systems do not use these standoffs, instead
using spacers. A spacer is a screw itself which screws into the
case. The difference is that the head of the screw can accept a
screw as well. These are used to place the board on. The board
is screwed into them and they keep the board away from the
metal of the case. If your system uses spacers, then simply
unscrewing the screws will loosen the board. There won't be
much sliding around involved. The board should come right out.
There you are staring at an empty case.
Your new motherboard may come with little plastic standoffs,
such as that pictured to the right, but if not, you can steal the
ones off your old board. Newer boards may not use these,

instead only using spacers. In this case, go to the next step. To

use the old standoffs, pinch their tops with a set of pliers and
pushing it through the hole on the motherboard. Now, you need
to push these standoffs into the holes in your new board.
Before you just start plugging them in, you need to do some
planning. Find the eyelet holes on the case. They are long holes
with a skinny end. Now, insert spacers into each hole and slide
it into the skinny end of the eyelet hole. Now that the spacers
are in position, you can lower the new board down in and see
which holes on the board line up with the spacers. Then, you
can remove the board and insert spacers through each of these
holes. Do some planning of where to put the spacers and
remember that the whole point is to keep the motherboard
from touching the case.
10. Now make sure the spacers line up with the screw holes on the
board. A spacer is pictured to the right. It screws onto the case
and gives the screws that hold the board in something to attach
to. If you just removed a board, then these risers will be in
place. Just make sure they are aligned with the holes of the
new board, and if not, move them. When that is done, slide the
motherboard into the case. Make sure the spacers slide into
their respective eyelet holes and that all the screw holes line up
with the risers. It can be a little tricky, but you'll get it. When it
is in place, screw the board in. The screw holes on the board
should have small metal rings around them. If not, use the
small plastic washers that should have come with your board.
I've seen many boards not boot because they were accidentally
grounded by touching a screw with one of the metal
components of the PCB.
11. Replace the wires and cards. Make sure all the
wires are plugged into the right socket. The cards
can be plugged in in the same order to alleviate
any suspicions. This step should be easy if you
paid attention to how you took it all off. If you lose
a screw in the computer, make sure you find it and
remove it. This can ruin your day if it is left in
there. Also, connecting the AT power cables, P8 and P9, is
sometimes tough. You sometimes need to lean the connector to
either side in order to slip them in. This will help get those big
tabs that are on the connectors out of the way. These tabs
often get in the way. They are there to help lock the things in
place, but some say don't hesitate to just clip them off. Make
sure when plugging these in that the black wires on the
connectors meet in the center of the connection block as
pictured. They should be paired together. This ensures that they
are in the right place. Connect the drive ribbon cables to the
IDE controllers, taking care that the Pin 1's are aligned. The
case features are usually labeled on the board. Plug these
features back in. If they don't work later, just turn the
connector around. Also, make sure the CPU fan is attached to
the power. It is usually piggy-backed on the hard drive's power,
but sometimes they have a small three-pin connector that is
plugged into a power lead on the motherboard.

12. Make sure everything is connected. Plug it in, and turn on the
computer and be ready to hit the correct key combination to
enter CMOS. This is the big test. Does it beep? It should only
beep once if all is well. Do you see anything on the screen? If
not, double check your work. Is everything connected? In the
right place? If you can't find any problems, see my
Troubleshooting section and see if it helps.
13. Assuming everything works, pat yourself on the back. You just
completed one of the more difficult upgrades that can be done.
Now put the case cover back on. Go to the CMOS screen. You
may already be there. If not, go there. Set the time, and tell it
what kinds of drives it has. You may want to have it auto-detect
your hard drive. This should be a menu option. If you have
external cache, activate it. The outline for configuring the BIOS
is in the BIOS Guide. After this, you're all set.
You're Done!