Motherboard ID

MOTHERBOARD CONNECTIONS

Objective: Be able to find connectors and objects on the motherboard that are important in the build process

The motherboard in your computer system is VERY well-connected - it has communication lines running every which way. This is a brief description of the common connectors that you will see on a motherboard.

On-board Cluster

• Keyboard connector
• AT - large 5-pin
• PS/2 - small
• Mouse connector
• Printer plug
• Sound ports
• Ethernet (RJ45)
• USBs
• And others, and not necessarily all of the above

Capacitors and BLOWN CAPS

The capacitors or caps on the motherboard are able to store small amounts of electrical charge within for use at times when there is a sudden power fluctuation on the board from one of the devices. If they become overloaded, they puff up on top and so can be identified as blown. The motherboard may continue to function for awhile with a blown cap but it will soon break down, so Free Geek will not build a system if there is a blown cap present, whether the system will post or not.

See big orange arrows on the Example Board.

Processor connector

Socket-type Processor

The Central Processing Unit socket lies flat on the motherboard and the gold pins on the CPU fit down into its holes, with its heat sink and fan on top. ZIF stands for Zero Insertion Force, the amount of force that is acceptable when sliding the pins back into their holes. Newer sockets are

See examples on the Board. Look in the Lesson Box for the motherboard that is multiple-processor capable.

Slot-type processor

The slot processor stands up sideways on the motherboard in a slot that looks similar to a card slot. The Pentium II and early Pentium III processors are this type, but no one is manufacturing them any more. It too has a heat sink and fan attached to the side to keep the CPU from overheating.

See the mobo in the upper right hand corner of the Example Board. Note that this motherboard is capable of holding multiple processors.

Drive connectors

IDE Hard Drive Connector - Look at several example motherboards to recognize this connector. Note the blank pin spot in the middle. Is the connector for the master drive color coded?

SATA (Serial ATA) Hard Drive Connector - small L-shaped connector usually protected by a little wall around it. This is the newest hard drive type and you will learn more about it in Lesson E.

SCSI Hard Drive Connector - these are usually found in servers and you will see examples of the various types in Lesson Box E Hard Drives

Optical drives such as CD and DVD - they use the same connector type that the hard drive does, IDE or SATA.

Floppy - a double row of pins like the IDE but shorter and has a blank pin spot near the end.

Bridges and communication facilitators

Northbridge - the integrated circuit that connects the CPU to the system memory, RAM and video card buses. Frequently has heat sink and fan to cool.

Southbridge - the IC that controls IDE bus, USB, PCI buses, keyboard/mouse, etc. On a newer mobo, will often have heat sink and fan.

AMR (Audio/Modem Riser, CNR (Communications and Networking Riser), ACR (Advanced Communications Riser)

HDMR (High Definition Multimedia Riser) and related expansion card and slot types

Exercises

These are additional exercises to be done extra practice if needed.

Select any motherboard:

What type of keyboard connector does it have?

Does it have both IDE and SATA hard drive connectors?

Motherboard Sorting

Sort the motherboards in the Lesson Box using the Motherboard Sorting flow chart.