IT22211-HARDWARE ASSEMBLING AND SOFTWARE TOOLS LABORATORY

EX NO: 1 TO MAKE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MOTHERBOARDS

DATE:
AIM:

DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD:
COMPONENTS:

• A motherboard is the main printed circuit board in general-purpose computers and other
expandable systems.
• It is also known as the "backbone" or "spine" of a computer.
• The motherboard connects and controls all the components of a computer.
• It is the largest board inside a computer's casing.
• The motherboard is what holds together all the components needed for an electronic system to
function

FUNCTIONS OF ALL COMPONENTS:

BIOS:

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 • BIOS, also called system BIOS, PC BIOS or ROM BIOS, is firmware that is used to perform
hardware initialization during the booting process; and to provide runtime services for operating
system and programs.
• The BIOS firmware is the first software to run when powered on; it is re-installed on a PC’s
system board.
• The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is a ROM chip found on motherboards that allows you to
access and set up your computer system at the most basic level.
• The BIOS is responsible for the POST (Power-On Self-Test) and is the first software to run when a
computer is started.
• The BIOS recognizes all the computer peripheral devices like RAM, Processor, keyboard, mouse,
harddisk, DVD-RW and their configurations, and loads important operating system files to the
memory.

AGP(Accerlated Graphics Port) Slot:

• AGP was designed as a high-speed point-to-point channel for connecting a video card (graphics
card) to a computer system.
• Primarily, it was used to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics.
• AGP is originally designed to be a descendant of the PCI series of connections for video cards.
• Yet, it was replaced by the PCIe slots.

HEAT SINK:

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 • A heat sink is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by parts of motherboard
into a fluid medium like liquid or air.
• The fluid medium will dissipate away from the device.
• Thus, the temperature of the device is kept within a tolerable range.
• On the motherboard, the heatsink is usually used to cool CPU, GPU (graphics processing unit),
chipsets and RAM modules.

AUDIO PORT:

• The motherboard of a machine has an audio port.

• This port is used to connect audio devices like speakers,microphones and home theater systems.
• The audio port is only functional when a device is connected through an electrical connection or
cable.
• Audio port are required when using Bluetooth technology.
• The audio port of a desktop computer are located on the front and back sides of the CPU.

COOLING FAN:

• The heat generated when electric current flows between components can make a computer run
slowly.
• If too much heat is left to build up unchecked, it could damage computer components.
• Thus, a computer performs better when kept cool.
• Cooling fans increase the airflow, which helps to remove heat from the computer.
• Some elements, such as video adapter cards, have dedicated cooling fans.

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 JUMPER:

• Jumpers are used to manually configure computer peripherals, such as the motherboard, hard drives,
modems, sound cards, and other components.
• They can be used to enable or disable features like intrusion detection on a motherboard.
• Jumpers are conductors that are used to connect two or more points in an electrical circuit.
• A jumper is a short length of conductor that is used to close, open or bypass part of an electronic circuit.
• Typically, jumpers are used to set up or configure printed circuit boards like the motherboard.

USB(Universal Serial Bus)Port:

• The USB is a computer interface that connects computers to other devices, such as phones.
• The USB port is a significant part of a motherboard that allows users to connect external peripheral
devices such as printers, scanners, and pen drives to the computer.
• Moreover, it enables users to transfer data between the device and the computer.
• A USB port allows users to connect peripheral devices without restarting the system.
• Types of USB include USB-A, USB-B, USB-mini, micro-USB, USB-C, and USB-3.
CMOS:

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 • The CMOS battery is a small round battery found on the motherboard of every computer.
• It provides power to the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip.
• The CMOS chip stores BIOS information and computer settings, even when powered down.
• The CMOS battery allows users to skip resetting BIOS configurations, such as boot order, date,
and time settings, each time they power on their computer.

PARALLEL PORT:

• A parallel port is a kind of interface for attaching peripherals on desktops.

• The name of this kind of port is derived from the way the data is sent.
• That is, the parallel ports send multiple bits of data at the same time.
• Serial interfaces, on the contrary, send bits one data at once.
• To achieve parallel data transfer, there are multiple data lines in the parallel port cables.
• The parallel port cable is larger than the cable of a contemporary serial port, which only has one
data line within.

RAM/RAM SLOTS:

• RAM slots connect the random access memory (RAM) to the motherboard. RAM allows the
computer to temporarily store files and programs that are being accessed by the CPU.
• Computers with more RAM capacity can hold and process larger files and programs, thus
enhancing performance.
• However, RAM contents are erased when the computer is shut down.
• A computer usually has two RAM slots.
• However, some computers have up to four RAM slots in the motherboard to increase the available
memory.

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 CHIPSETS:

• The chipset on a motherboard manages the transfer of data between the CPU, memory, storage, and
other peripherals, ensuring smooth communication and performance.
• It provides various interfaces for connecting external devices, such as USB ports, SATA drives,
and network cards.
• The chipset determines which features are supported by the motherboard, such as integrated
graphics, overclocking capabilities, and RAID configurations.
• It helps manage power distribution and efficiency across the system, optimizing energy usage and
thermal performance.
• Lastly, the chipset plays a crucial role in maintaining system stability by coordinating the
interactions between different components and managing hardware resources effectively.

NORTH AND SOUTH BRIDGE:

• They are the two chips in the core logic chipset on the motherboard.
• Typically, the southbridge implements the slower capabilities of the motherboard in a
northbridge/southbridge chipset computer architecture.
• The northbridge, also known as host bridge or Memory Controller Hub, is connected directly to the
CPU via the front-side bus (FSB).
• It is responsible for tasks requiring the highest performance.
• Together with the southbridge, they manage communications between the CPU and other
motherboard components.

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PCI(Peripheral component Interconncet) Slot:

• Peripheral Component Interconnect is a local computer bus for connecting hardware to a computer.
• It supports all the functions of a processor bus.
• PCI is usually been called Conventional PCI to distinguish it from its successor PCI Express (PCIe,
PCI-e or PCI E).
• PCI Express is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard designed to replace the older
PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standard.
• It is a general-use motherboard interface for the graphics card, SSDs, hard drives, Wi-Fi as well as
Ethernet hardware connections.

DIP SWITCH:

• A DIP switch is a small switch in a DIP (dual in-line package) whose position changes the
operating mode of a device.
• DIP switches help configure computer peripherals, such as hard drives, modems, sound cards, and
motherboards.
• They are used as an alternative to jumpers because they are easier to operate and less likely to get
lost.
• Today, DIP switches are less common because most computers utilize plug and play, so hardware
no longer requires manual configuration.

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 PS-2 PORT

• The PS-2 port is a connects used for connecting keyboards and mic to a PC.
• The primary use of the PS-2 port is to connect a keyboard and a mouse to the computer.
• PS-2 ports provide dedicated channels for the keyboard and mouse,which can be beneficial in
certain situations such as gaming.

IDE-CONNECTOR:

• The devices used for connecting IDE, Ethernet, FireWire, USB and other systems can be called host
adapter.
• So, the IDE controller refers to the host adapter.
• A host adapter, also called a host controller or a host bus adapter (HBA), connects a computer
(acting as the host system) to other network and storage devices.

SATA PORT:

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 • SATA connectors allow you to connect devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives
(SSDs), or optical drives.
• These connectors are usually labeled as SATA1, SATA2, SATA3, etc., indicating the specific port
number.SATA encompasses two ports: the data connector (short, L-shaped, seven-pin) and the
power connector (taller, 15-pin).
• SATA ports are found on a computer's motherboard and are used to connect internal devices like
hard drives, solid-state drives, and optical drives.
• SATA drives need two separate cables to function - one is the SATA data cable and the other is the
SATA power connector.

POWER CONNECTOR:

• The power connector provides an electric supply to the computer to function as intended.
• The power supply connector has 20 pins and converts 110-V AC power into +/-12-Volt, +/-5-Volt,
and 3.3-Volt direct current (DC) power.
• Distributing power from the power supply to all hardware components.
 Transferring of data and instructions between various hardware components.
 Providing various sockets and pads for mounting electronic components.
 Offering expansion slots to add other components, such as graphics card, network cards, etc.

FDC(Floppy disk controller):

• Floppy disks store computer files in a portable package.

• A typical high-density 3.5-inch floppy stores 1.44 megabytes of data, according to Jonny Pham at
the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
• Today, newer file storage devices have replaced floppy disks as a major mode of transfer between
computers, but sometimes users will find older files stored on floppy disks.
• FDC is a special-purpose chip and associated disk controller circuitry.
• It controls and directs reading from and writing to a computer’s floppy disk drive (FDD)

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 VGA/HDMI PORT:

• HDMI Port on the motherboard is there to provide a video output option in case your system
doesn’t have a dedicated graphics card with an HDMI port.
• This is particularly usefull for: Many CPUs came with integrated graphics processors(GPUs).

RESULT:
Thus, the study of motherboard and functions of various components has been studied.

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