1. 1
Motherboard
University of Zakho
College of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Dept.-1th
Stage
Academic Year 2021-2022
Prepared BY:
✓ Tatar Real Abdullah
Supervised BY:
✓ Hassan Khaled Rashid
3. 3
Abstract
The motherboard is the heart of the computer and also the most neglected part of the hardware.
The main purpose of the motherboard is to connect all parts of a computer such as: memory,
processor, disks and other devices in a better and faster way. Unlike other hardware devices
development of motherboard is very unique and has a great impact on the market. While other
devices developed independently of each other, it depends on the development of the motherboard
whether these devices will work together. The objectives of this study were to describe the most
important sections of the motherboard and its development starting from chipsets, through
memory, processor, which is one of the parts that are selected first when designing a computer, to
the bus and the other slots. In addition, there will be a description of the motherboard models and
their development. An online survey was conducted and that gave the answers to the questions
like: how much computer users are familiar with their motherboards, have they ever had
motherboard failures and what were they.
4. 4
Introduction
The motherboard is a printed board on which are located the main parts of a computer: CPU,
memory, bus and other internal circuits can be soldered to the motherboard and can be added into
the corresponding sockets and connectors. The motherboard is often sold separately without the
processor, memory, and additional circuits so that customers could assemble a computer to suit
their needs. The motherboard is located inside the case and attached with small screws through
pre-drilled holes. The front of the motherboard contains ports that connect all the internal
components of a computer. There is one slot for the processor, more memory module slots and
several ports to connect the floppy drive, hard drive and optical drive via cable-like ribbons. Power
from the power supply is provided to the motherboard with the help of a specially designed
connector. The front side of the motherboard also includes slots for various cards (video, audio,
etc.) that serve to expand the capabilities of the computer. On the left side of the motherboard are
numerous slots which are used to connect most of the external input/output devices such as a
monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, speakers and more. Motherboard and case are made so that if
you use some of the cards the connections for input/output units are located at the back of the
computer to make them more accessible to use [1].
5. 5
Component
The computer motherboard connects all the parts(components) of a computer together. Mainboard,
baseboard, mobo (abbreviation), system board, MB (abbreviation), logic board are the synonyms
of computer’s motherboard. The motherboard is the most important component in the PC. All the
component such as RAM stick, hard disk drive, optical drives, processor, processor fan and
external card are plugin into motherboard. Computer motherboard is single platform to connect all
of the parts (components) of a computer together, hence it considered as the backbone of a
computer [4]. The important components of a Motherboard are given below:
✓ Mouse & keyboard
✓ USB (Universal serial bus)
✓ Parallel port
✓ CPU Chip
✓ RAM slots
✓ Floppy controller
✓ IDE controller
✓ PCI slot
✓ ISA slot
✓ CMOS Battery
✓ AGP slot
✓ CPU slot
✓ Power supply plug in
6. 6
History
Prior to the invention of the microprocessor, a digital computer consisted of multiple printed circuit
boards in a card-cage case with components connected by a backplane, a set of interconnected
sockets. In very old designs the wires were discrete connections between card connector pins, but
printed circuit boards soon became the standard practice. The Central Processing Unit (CPU),
memory, and peripherals were housed on individual printed circuit boards, which were plugged
into the backplate. During the late 1980s and 1990s, it became economical to move an increasing
number of peripheral functions onto the motherboard. In the late 1980s, personal computer
motherboards began to include single ICs (also called Super I/O chips) capable of supporting a set
of low-speed peripherals: keyboard, mouse, floppy disk drive, serial ports, and parallel ports. By
the late-1990s, many personal computer motherboards supported a full range of audio, video,
storage, and networking functions without the need for any expansion cards at all; higher-end
systems for 3D gaming and computer graphics typically retained only the graphics card as a
separate component. The most popular computers such as the Apple II and IBM PC had published
schematic diagrams and other documentation which permitted rapid reverse-engineering and third-
party replacement motherboards. Usually intended for building new computers compatible with
the exemplars, many motherboards offered additional performance or other features and were used
to upgrade the manufacturer’s original equipment [2].
Design
A good motherboard should have a well thought out design as poorly placed components could
have a negative impact on the health of your system. You wouldn’t think this is something you’d
have to be wary of since they are made by professional designers, but clearance can be an issue.
RAM clearance is something we all must consider when buying an aftermarket cooler. Sometimes
your RAM and a bulky CPU cooler can block one another, giving you a headache. Design these
days isn’t just about placement anymore. Now, motherboards are lit up with bold RGB
illuminations, armor plating, LCD screens, and manual controls [3].
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Bootstrapping using the Basic input output system
Motherboards contain some non-volatile memory to initialize the system and load some startup
software, usually an operating system, from some external peripheral device. Microcomputers
such as the Apple II and IBM PC used ROM chips mounted in sockets on the motherboard. At
power-up, the central processor would load its program counter with the address of the boot ROM
and start executing instructions from the ROM. These instructions initialized and tested the system
hardware, displayed system information on the screen, performed RAM checks, and then loaded
an initial program from an external or peripheral device. If none was available, then the computer
would perform tasks from other memory stores or display an error message, depending on the
model and design of the computer and the ROM version. For example, both the Apple II and the
original IBM PC had Microsoft Cassette BASIC in ROM and would start that if no program could
be loaded from disk. Most modern motherboard designs use a BIOS, stored in an EEPROM chip
soldered to or socketed on the motherboard, to booting an operating system. Non-operating system
boot programs are still supported on modern IBM PC-descended machines, but nowadays it is
assumed that the boot program will be a complex operating system such as MS Windows NT or
Linux. When power is first supplied to the motherboard, the BIOS firmware tests and configures
memory, circuitry, and peripherals. This Power-On Self-Test (POST) may include testing some of
the following things:
✓ Video adapter
✓ Cards inserted into slots, such as conventional PCI
✓ Floppy drive
✓ Temperatures, voltages, and fan speeds for hardware monitoring
✓ CMOS used to store BIOS setup configuration
✓ Keyboard and Mouse
✓ Network controller
✓ Optical drives: CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
✓ SCSI hard drive
✓ IDE, EIDE, or SATA Hard disk
✓ Security devices, such as a fingerprint reader or the state of a latching switch to detect
intrusion
✓ USB devices, such as a memory storage device
On recent motherboards, the BIOS may also patch the central processor microcode if the BIOS
detects that the installed CPU is one for which errata have been published [5].
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Factor of Motherboard
The main form factor for the motherboard is size and shape. The other factors are physical layout,
mounting holes, and board organization [6]. In the below section, some of the form factors are
mentioned below:
✓ ATX:
In this type, the standard locations were defined for mouse, keyboard, input/output devices,
video connectors, and other devices. In the year 1990, the ATX form factor was developed.
The expansion slot given new location as in this form factor expansion slot were given
separate space so that they can be connected with the motherboard.
✓ Micro-ATX:
The benefit obtained from the Micro-ATX is the same as from the ATX form factor. The
main difference is an improvement in system design so that the overall cost of the
component can be reduced as the size of the motherboard is reduced in this form factor.
The size is reduced by reducing the I/O slots number on the motherboard.
Uses of Motherboard
The motherboard is the main component in the computer system that is used for connecting all the
components of the computer system so that they can perform several tasks and functions in the
system. The motherboard is considered as the spine of the system as all components are connected
to a single circuit board for performing their functions. The motherboard is a costly device and
once it gets damaged the user needs to spend a lot of money to buy a new motherboard for a
computer system. The motherboard is a central device where all devices are get connected and
maintain the flow in the computer system [6].
Types of Motherboards
Motherboards are present in Desktop, Laptop, Tablet, and Smartphone and the components and
functionalities are the same. But the size of the components and the way they are accommodated
on the board varies due to space availability. In desktops, most of the components are fitted inside
the sockets provided on the board and it is easy to replace each of them separately, whereas in
Laptops/Smartphones some components are soldered on the board, hence it is difficult to
replace/upgrade. Though different motherboards have varying capabilities, limitations, features,
Physical size/shapes (form factor), they are identified/grouped/categorized mostly by their form
factors. Each manufacturer has come out with its form factor to suit the design of computers.
Motherboard manufactured to suit IBM and its compatible computers fit into other case sizes as
well. Motherboards built using ATX form factors were used in most of the computers
manufactured in 2005 including IBM and Apple [7]. Below are the six different types of
Motherboards:
✓ AT Motherboard
✓ ATX Motherboard
✓ LPX Motherboard
✓ BTX Motherboard
✓ Pico BTX motherboard
✓ Mini ITX motherboard
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Conclusion
The motherboard is a type of circuit board installed in a computer system where all components
of the computer system are getting connected. The motherboard is considered as the backbone of
the computer system. There are different formations of the motherboard that can be distinguished
based on budget, needs, requirements, and speed. The motherboard is considered as a central hub
where all different computer devices are getting connected with it.
10. 10
References
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[Accessed: 09- Dec- 2021].
[5]"Reading: Motherboard | Introduction to Computer Applications and
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motherboard/. [Accessed: 09- Dec- 2021].
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