Know The Motherboard Basics Before Purchasing One


Marigold Flores   By Marigold Flores

Know The Motherboard Basics Before Purchasing One




A motherboard, particularly the circuit board found in personal computers and laptops, may also be called as planar board or mainboard and is occasionally shortened to MB or mobo. ”°Mainboard is also addressed to such hardware device and other electronic-related devices.

The typical motherboard comes with attachment points for these computer components: the CPU or the Central Processing Unit, memory, hard disk controller, external peripheral device, graphics card, and the sound card. Connectors for the external peripherals are color coded in accordance to the specifications of PC 99. All the basic components and detailed circuitry needed by a computer to work properly or function appropriately can be found onboard a motherboard, or may be connected through a cable. Among its components, the most essential is the so-called chipset. It oftentimes consists of chips or two components known as Southbridge and Northbridge. Although sometimes, these two components may be integrated into one component only. Such chips determine the capabilities and features carried out by the motherboard.

The usual 2007 motherboards have varied connections depending on the standard model. Take for instance, the standard ATX typically has 1 x PCI-E 16x connections for the graphics card, along with 1 x PCI-E 1x that overrides the PCI and 2x PCI slots for the expansion cards. On the other hand, the Super ATX format motherboard bears 1 x PCI-E 16x connection for its graphics card. Also, it comes with various numbers of PCI-E 1x and PCI slots. Sometimes, it comes with PCI-E 4x slot, varying between models and brands.

Meanwhile, other motherboards allow two-monitor connections with their 2x PCI-E 16x slots, and do not bear any special hardware other than this and at the s
ame time, feature special graphics such as ATI Crossfire and Nvidia SLI. With such, two graphic cards are linked together for better performance especially when it comes to graphical tasks like video editing and gaming.

So far, by 2007, motherboards virtually come with 4x USB ports being the least, with two internal connections for wiring add-on front ports, as built on computer cases. There is also Ethernet now, a networking cable used to connect the computer towards a modem or a network. Furthermore, on the motherboard, a sound chip is present as well, allowing sounds to be heard even without any extra component. This feature provides a multimedia-based asset of computers, which is different from old computer models from way, way back.

Like any machine and gadgets, a motherboard's efficient lifespan is indefinite and wears off in time. Thus, as the time comes for you to replace your motherboard, one thing you have to consider is the type of processor or CPU you are using. Bear in mind that motherboards are differently made and designed. Therefore, not all of them are compatible with just any type type of CPU. So how will you discern the kind of motherboard to get? If for example you are using the Intel Pentium 4 processor, then you must choose a motherboard that supports such model and brand of CPU. Basically, gadget and device store keepers and staffs can assist you in buying for the apt motherboard. And if you are still uncertain, you can always seek help from IT professionals or from someone who is knowledgeable enough on these matters.

Apart from the processor compatibility, you may also want to look further for other features such as audio, graphics stuffs, onboard Ethernet or RAID controllers. All in all, it is highly valuable if you do a little homework prior to buying a motherboard. Sufficient information begets you the best motherboard that you can very much afford.

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