Tag Archives: Motherboards

Know More About Your Computer Motherboards

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What is Motherboard?

Main circuit board of our computer is called as a Motherboard; it is also called as main board or logic board. If you open your computer, the major piece of silicon you see is the motherboard. It is mainly use to connect all the parts of the computer together. You’ll find ROM, CPU, memory expansion slots, PCI slots, serial ports, USB ports, and controllers like Hard Drive, DVD drive, keyboard and mouse connected together on the circuit board. Extra components can be added to a motherboard via its expansion slot which is also called as “BUS”.

A motherboard is available in a number of configurations to be suitable in different requirements and budgets. All motherboards have several interfaces for required mechanism like chips and controllers; together they are known as the “Chipset”. Most of computer aficionado’s select the motherboard which is based on BIOS manufacturer.

Equally important features of the motherboard are the processor and RAM type that it will support. Few of them support the Intel processors and others support AMD CPUs. There are different grades of CPUs like AMD 64-bit and AMD 32-bit processors. Each of them needs different CPU sockets. If anyone wants to buy one of these parts he must choose CPU first to make sure the compatibility of the motherboard.

History of Motherboards

Before the microprocessors are invented, computers were built in the mainframe, with components that were joined by a backplane that had many wire connection slots. In the 1980 and 1990s, it became economical to move a growing amount of peripheral functions onto the PCB. Therefore, only integrated circuits (ICs), able of supporting low-speed peripherals such as serial ports, mice, keyboards, etc., are incorporated on motherboards. In late 90s, they started to have full range of audio, video, storage and networking functions on them. High performance systems for 3D games and graphics cards were also including later as a separate component.

Micronics, AMI, DTK, Orchid Technology, and Elite group these are the few companies that were found in the field of manufactures of the motherboard, but companies such as Apple and IBM soon took over. They offered high-end motherboards, which included enhanced features and superior performance on motherboards that prevails.

Timeline of Motherboard

1975: First introduction of Apple I, a device consisting of a motherboard, a keyboard and monitor.

1987: Elite group Computer Systems Co. Ltd was recognized in Taiwan has become the major dealer of motherboards in whole world.
1989: Asus Tek has become one of the top 5 companies in Taiwan; they have started developed computer graphic cards.
1993: First International Computer Inc. becomes the largest motherboard manufacturer.
1997: Intel Corp. plans add its domination in microprocessor by developing modern motherboards.
2000: ATI Technologies Inc. announces graphic cards technology in computer graphics.
2007: AsusTek becomes the world’s largest maker of motherboards.

Radical Motherboards

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PCs are phenomenally flexible, configurable devices. That’s kinda why we love ‘em so much. But there are limits to what you can achieve. And most of those are defined by your choice of motherboard, all of which means clarity of purpose is paramount. Identify what you want from your PC and make sure you have a motherboard to match.

This month we’ve selected a trio of motherboard pairings to suit three popular usage models: small-form factor systems with HTPC capability, overclocking rigs and high-end multi-GPU gaming monsters.

Before we come to the boards in question, what of the seminal AMD or Intel question? Actually, at the moment it’s often not much of a quandary thanks to the feebleness of most of AMD’s processor product range. We’ve said it before, but it’s seriously bad news for the entire PC industry to have AMD struggling to keep Intel honest.

If the much needed 45nm die shrink of the AMD Phenom family of processors doesn’t close the gap significantly, expect to see Intel push up the prices. For now, if performance is a priority, AMD chips are frankly uncompetitive, even at the more affordable end of the spectrum. But throw issues such as power consumption, form factor and HTPC considerations into the mix and it’s a very different story.

For the HTPC-centric category, we’ve therefore turned to a pair of brand new AMD-compatible boards with the latest and most sophisticated integrated chipsets, the GeForce 8200M from NVIDIA and AMD’s 780G. If there’s an Intel-powered alternative that comes close to these two for small-form factor media PC prowess, we’ve yet to see it.

Palit’s N78S and the Gigabyte GA-MA780GM-S2H are both micro-ATX boards with all passive cooling and fancy new DirextX 10 capable integrated CPUs. Indeed, they both represent our first taste of a new take on multi-GPU graphics rendering from NVIDIA and AMD, dubbed ‘Hybrid SLI’ and ‘Hybrid CrossFire’ respectively.

The basic idea behind both is the pairing up of the motherboard’s integrated GPU with a discrete graphics card. But the details diverge enough to make them substantially different propositions.

Pairing Up

Both solutions allow users to boost the performance of an add-in graphics card by running it in multi-GPU mode with the integrated graphics chip. According to claims from both NVIDIA and AMD, the result is a big boost in performance for low-end graphics cards. In practice, it’s an overly complex and inefficient way of achieving barely acceptable 3D performance, but more on that later. Hybrid CrossFire’s abilities more or less end there. The more attractive of the two by far is Hybrid SLI, represented by Palit’s N78S and its NVIDIA GeForce 8200M chipset. That’s because Hybrid SLI cap also act as a power-saving measure for high performance PCs. In this scenario, users can switch between a powerful but noisy and glutinous graphics board and the onboard integrated GPU from within Windows.

There’s no need to reboot or swap monitor cables around. Connect your monitor to the motherboard’s video-out port and allow the NVIDIA driver software to do the rest. That includes completely powering down the add-in GPU and its cooling fan. Clever, eh? Hybrid graphics with DirectX 10 support isn’t the only common feature. These boards also share the honor of sporting the first integrated chipsets to boast full hardware acceleration of all three of the important video codecs, VC-1, AVC and MPEG2. In both cases, this comes courtesy of the latest 2D video engines from NVIDIA and AMD, known as PureVideo HD and UVD. That’s precisely what you need, of course, to guarantee smooth playback of full 1080p Blu-ray discs.

Home HD Motherboards

If these two home cinema-centric boards are remarkably similar, there’s also not much between the P35 pairing we’ve selected for the overclocking showdown. The fact is, Intel’s P35 remains the weapon of choice, if it’s pure CPU speed you’re seeking. Remarkably, that remains the case even with the arrival of NVIDIA’s swanky new 790i, a chipset we suspected might just topple the P35 chipset from its position of king of the overclockers.

It’s not uncommon to see P35 hit bus speeds in excess of 500MHz without the need for hit and miss tweaking of northbridge voltages. Even Intel’s latest X48 chipset typically tends to run out of puff around 475MHz. In that context, attention to detail and execution will separate MSI P35 Platinum from Asus’s trusty P5K3 Deluxe.

But what of high-end motherboard design to form the basis of multi-GPU performance PCs? Until recently, the pickings were a bit thin. Intel’s X38 and X48 chipsets are fine things indeed, in terms of performance. But thanks to NVIDIA’s decision to lock SLI technology down to its own chipsets (unnecessarily in our view), the X38 and X48 only support AMD’s competing CrossFire platform. That meant SLI fans were forced to go with the somewhat substandard NVIDIA 680i or 780i option. But not anymore. NVIDIA is back on form with the 790i. It will be an extremely tight contest for top honors. If that’s the theory behind all these boards, how do they perform in the silicon?

Perhaps the most intriguing motherboards here are the AMD-compatible micro-ATX pair. In concert with a low voltage dual-core Athlon 64 processor they deliver truly spectacular power efficiency. Both of the boards are within spitting distance of 100 watts running at full CPU load and idle around the 50 watt mark.

That’s for a full system with 2GB of RAM, hard disk and optical drive. That represents as little as a quarter of the consumption of a high-end quad-core rig. It also translates into extremely unobtrusive operation that’s a perfect match for a home cinema installation Less impressive is the performance of its much-touted DX10 integrated GPUs, in 3D mode at least. Neither are capable of anything remotely resembling a pleasant gaming experience. And frankly neither pack enough grunt to make the Hybrid dual-GPU option at all attractive.

Where things get more interesting is the contest for home cinema prowess. And that must go to the Gigabyte thanks to its HDMI port and fully driver-supported 2D acceleration core. Add in a low-voltage AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor and you have a motherboard and CPU combo with full HD capabilities for just $l80.

As for the P35 overclocker’s boards, it is mostly one-way traffic. A result of 520MHz is an impressive bus speed to hit for any Intel-compatible motherboard. The fact that the Asus P5K3 Deluxe can achieve it without any voltage tweaks makes for an extremely user-friendly overclocking platform. You can be confident you’ll get the most out of any CPU with this motherboard.

Our only doubt involves the fact that it’s a DDR3 motherboard. In theory the higher clockspeeds of DDR3 memory should be a boon for overclocking. In practice, a pair of quality DD2 memory DIMMs do the job just tine. Factor in the current utterly ludicrous price of DDR3 memory sticks and the benefits just don’t add up.

Performance per Pound

All of which just leaves just the big ticket X48 and 790i pairing from MSI and Asus respectively. There’s no doubting the all new Striker II Extreme from Asus is a sickeningly desirable thing. Everything from its feature-packed BIOS, to the hardware power and reset buttons and the northbridge heatsink pre-plumbed for water cooling, reek of quality, class and most of all expense.

The 790i chipset also brings NVIDIA’s SLI platform bang up to date with DDR3 and proper PCI Express support, as well as decent overclocking headroom. As good as it is, however, it simply cannot be worth nearly $450. Particularly when it offers less overclocking oomph than Asus’s own sub-$l50 Intel P35 board. The performance advantage of the 790i chipset is far too slender to make any real world difference, too.

The spoils must therefore go to MSI’s X48 platinum. It’s a lean, mean enthusiast board at a sensible price. Yes, it does lock you into AMD’s CrossFire platform in terms of multi-GPU support. But until NVIDIA puts the interests of buyers ahead of its own selfish desires to maximize revenues from SLI chipsets, the perfect multi-GPU platform simply isn’t possible.

Motherboards in Laptops

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Here come the motherboards in laptops! As we all know that motherboards play an important and vital role in laptops. Without them not a single task can be done. They are very specific in their particular functions and try their level best to get the task done in the best possible way. One thing should be kept in mind that a user or the individual cannot modify or change these motherboards. In other words, he or she cannot upgrade them until and unless an expert or a technician suggests or recommends them to do this type of stuff. We can also say that these motherboards in laptops possess and have a kind of direct replacement feature and application in them. They handle and manage the tasks efficiently and effectively. Read on further and you will get to know more about the motherboards in laptops. In this way, all of your queries and questions will surely be solved right away.

It has been noticed and observed that all the motherboards of laptops are being manufactured and produced for a particular and specific model. They cannot be replaced by any model. As we all know that a desktop board contains a large number of slots for the expansion cards. But a situation is some what different in the case of laptop. The motherboard in laptop has no expansion slots. All the functionality parts are being attached and joined on the motherboard itself. Only a single external port will be visible like USB to transfer the important files and folders. All the functions like networking, to control the sound, to control the storage amount etc are being performed by these motherboards in laptops.

The motherboards in laptops control and handle all the central functions in the best way. It is the main circuit board of any laptop. Care and attention should be given while making use of these motherboards in laptops. In the market, a user or an individual will see huge and multiple variety of motherboards like ranging from socket A motherboard, socket 478 motherboard or the motherboard combos. These motherboards will surely and definitely fulfil all the family needs.

Do not go for the cheap motherboards as they are not reliable and long lasting. In the other way round, to replace any motherboard is impossible! This step will only make your system worse and will give disastrous type of results and outcomes. Users will be free from any kind of expansion slots and will not be messed up by any kind of task.
Hence, from the above discussion it is quite and rather clear and evident that the part played by the motherboards in the field of laptops is immense and is now getting a lot attention day by day. It has been highly recommended and suggested by the experts and technicians to adopt only those motherboards which will show best performance. This is a piece of advice from my side which will surely and definitely going to work sooner or later.

Putting Together Great Gaming Motherboards

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Gamers know that when it comes down to it – the motherboard is king. Your motherboard is what gives you and your computer system true power in the gaming world. After all, there is no point to playing the game if you do not have the hardware! It is possible that you are just starting to game, or you have years of experience playing computer games. It doesn’t matter how long you have been playing or how much experience you have under your belt, the real source of your power and success at gaming is having the right laptop or desktop at your fingertips.

You can find lots of businesses that will lead you to believe their computers are the best. Unfortunately, many of them come up short and leave you wanting more when it comes to your system. When you are looking for a computer with a good gaming motherboard, there are definitely a few specifics that you should be looking at before you buy. There really are some very high quality motherboards available that will help you to amp up your gaming experience, with a little something for every budget and price range.

You can also find the best results in making a gaming system of your own. Most often, you will buy a “gaming enhanced” computer that is just a regular desktop with a dual core processor crammed in and a little more RAM than normal; otherwise, it is nothing special. That is not completely a bad thing to include. But you must know that there are many other features and items that won’t come standard on a pre-assembled model that you will need to add on later.

The motherboard contains the processor that controls the speed of everything that you do on your computer. Basically, your computer is only as good as its gaming motherboard. In other words, the motherboard is everything to a gamer.

The central processing unit (CPU) is the heart of the computer, so most of your money should go there when assembling your computer. Another vital part of your gaming motherboard is the memory and the drive format. In order to have full range of functionality, you should be looking for DDR SDRAM or RDRAM, with one gig or more onboard so that you can really control the game and enjoy it the way it should be.
Try to get parts that are as compatible with each other as possible as you buy your parts for your computer. There are several different formats for your drive. You need to ensure that your motherboard will support either the SATA or ATA drive format.

You will also need to be sure to purchase a gaming motherboard that has enough USB ports and PCI slots to accommodate your needs. Your system cards depend on the number of PCI slots you have, so you can get Internet connectivity and a new sound card, not to mention the video card. Multiple USB ports also come in handy so you will have the ability to plug in all of your various controllers into the system.

Flexibility is key when it comes to building great gaming motherboards. Make sure your video card is the best it can be, so also allocate a lot of your funds to this particular component. There is a lot of work and know-how involved in building your own gaming system, however the payoff will be much greater as opposed to just copying what your friends have in their machines. You will have a better idea of the components your machine should have, which will enable you to get started gaming just the way you like.