Motherboard Drivers: Keeping Up With Technology

A motherboard is a primary circuit board that is used in PCs, and the PCB, or primary circuit board, is what supplies the different PC components with power and assists them in communicating with other components. The motherboard has the main memory and the micro processor built into the board. PC devices like external storage devices, graphics cards, sound cards, and hard disks are connected to the PCB.

In the last twenty years, motherboards have evolved a lot. Earlier versions of PC motherboards only had a processor built in, along with card slots that were utilized for the connection of memory cards, storage devices, and other connections. In the early nineties, single integrated chips were used as an addition to the motherboards manufactured. These chips allowed support for peripherals which were low speed, like ports for keyboards, floppy drives, parallel and serial ports, and others. Modern motherboards offer support for a large range of advanced devices that are utilized for video, audio, networking, and storage purposes.

The motherboard is the connection between all the connected PC devices and the microprocessor. The motherboard offers support for all of the devices that assist in running the PC, as well performance improvement. All devices and components required to operate and run a PC are either built into the motherboard or else they are connected to it, with the use of a socket or a port.

Motherboard Ports, Slots and Components

A motherboard is made up of both external and internal connectors and ports which are utilized to connect the devices to the PCB. Some of the main connectors and ports can include up to six PCI, or Peripheral Component Interconnect, slots on the motherboard of the PC. These slots utilize a PCI bus, which runs at 32bits and 33Mhz, and the slots can offer support for many peripherals like DVD decoders, sound cards, and graphics accelerators. An Accelerated Graphics Port, or APG, is needed to add support for video cards that may require higher bandwidth. AGP offers a faster bus speed, as well as faster access to the main memory. Motherboards also contain the chipset, and this is a circuit that is integrated and has a specific function or purpose. The CPU socket on the motherboard is where the central processing unit is plugged in. Double Inline Memory Module, or DIMM, slots, Single Inline Memory Module slots, and RIMM slots are all utilized to include different types of RAM, or memory, chips on the PCB. The motherboard battery is included to give the motherboard limited power for essential data storage, like the system time and date, while the power to the PC is off. An IDE connector is also included, and this connector is specifically included so that IDE cable can connect devices like hard disks, CD drives, and DVD drives to the motherboard. A high performance serial bus called a Firewire header is also included on the motherboard, and is utilized for he exchange of audio and digital data.

There are also ports built into the motherboard to enable the connection of devices like a mouse, keyboard, and printers. These normally include 2 of the PS/2 connectors, one for the mouse and one for the keyboard, USB ports, so that external USB devices can be connected to the system, a parallel port for the connection of scanners and printers, a game port for joysticks and other game devices, and sound card connector ports for the speakers and microphones. The motherboard normally also includes display connectors, which connect to the system monitor, and a COM port, for communications, and this is used for the connection of serial devices including mice and modems.

Top motherboard manufacturers include names like Mylex, AMI, DTK, Micronics, Hauppauge, Orchid Technology, Elitegroup, and DFI for older motherboards. The best manufacturers of modern motherboards, which include some of the latest concerning new PC technology, include Super Micro, Intel, Iwill, Diamond, Tyan, ASUS, Elitegroup Computer Systems, American Megatrends, First International Computer, and EFA.

Many users overlook an important factor when considering a motherboard, and this is jumpers. This factor is critical for users who intend to overclock their PC. Jumpers that should be verified are a clear CMOS/BIOS jumper on the motherboard and CPU settings jumpers for the motherboard at the very least if PC overclocking is planned.