BTX (mother board form factor continued)

BTX

The BTX, or Balanced Technology Extended form factor. BTX was developed to take advantage of technologies such as Serial ATA, USB 2.0, and PCI Express. Changes to the layout with the BTX form factor include better component placement for back panel I/O controllers and it is smaller than micro ATX systems. The BTX form factor provides the industry push to tower size systems with an increased number of system slots.
One of the most talked about features of the BTX form factor is that it uses in-line airflow. In the BTX form factor the memory slots and expansion slots have switched places, allowing the main components (processor, chipset, and graphics controller) to use the same airflow which reduces the number of fans needed in the system; thereby reducing noise. To assist in noise reduction BTX system level acoustics have been improved by a reduced air turbulence within the in-line airflow system.

Micro-ATX

Micro-ATX

Micro ATX followed the ATX form factor and offered the same benefits but improved the overall system design costs through a reduction in the physical size of the motherboard. This was done by reducing the number of I/O slots supported on the board. The micro ATX form factor also provided more I/O space at the rear and reduced emissions from using integrated I/O connectors.

ATX (Mother board form factor continued)

ATX

Stand for Advanced Technology Extended. With the need for a more integrated form factor which defined standard locations for the keyboard, mouse, I/O, and video connectors, in the mid 1990's the ATX form factor was introduced. The ATX form factor brought about many chances in the computer. Since the expansion slots were put onto separate riser cards that plugged into the motherboard, the overall size of the computer and its case was reduced. The ATX form factor specified changes to the motherboard, along with the case and power supply. Some of the design specification improvements of the ATX form factor included a single 20-pin connector for the power supply, a power supply to blow air into the case instead of out for better air flow, less overlap between the motherboard and drive bays, and integrated I/O Port connectors soldered directly onto the motherboard. The ATX form factor was an overall better design for upgrading.

AT & Baby AT (Mother board form facror continued)

AT & Baby AT

Prior to 1997, IBM computers used large motherboards. After that, however, the size of the motherboard was reduced and boards using the AT (Advanced Technology) form factor was released. The AT form factor is found in older computers (386 class or earlier). Some of the problems with this form factor mainly arose from the physical size of the board, which is 12" wide, often causing the board to overlap with space required for the drive bays.
Following the AT form factor, the Baby AT form factor was introduced. With the Baby AT form factor the width of the motherboard was decreased from 12" to 8.5", limiting problems associated with overlapping on the drive bays' turf. Baby AT became popular and was designed for peripheral devices — such as the keyboard, mouse, and video — to be contained on circuit boards that were connected by way of expansion slots on the motherboard.

Motherboard From factor

 Motherboard From factor

The form factor of a motherboard determines the specifications for its general shape and size. It also specifies what type of case and power supply will be supported, the placement of mounting holes, and the physical layout and organization of the board.  Form factor is especially important if you build your own computer systems and need to ensure that you purchase the correct case and components.

The Motherboard

The Motherboard

The motherboard is usually the largest circuit board found inside the computer case. Without doubt, the most important component in a PC system is the main board or motherboard. Some companies refer to the motherboard as a system board or planar. The terms motherboard, main board, system board, and planar are interchange able. The function of the motherboard is to provide the connectivity for all devices (Input, Output, and Storage), as well as for the CPU, RAM, and support ICs. It also defines the computer’s limits of speed, memory, and expandability.  Figure shows the Structure and connectors of the motherboard.
Motherboards come in a variety of shapes. One size does not fit all, and careful attention to size and location of mounting holes is required before installing a new motherboard in an older computer. A motherboard needs to fit in the space allocated for it, be properly grounded, receive sufficient ventilation (for cooling of the CPU and other heat-sensitive components), and must not conflict with other hardware.

Introduction To MotherBoard

Introduction of Motherboard:-

Motherboard is a circuit board also called main board. All components of a computer are connected together using motherboard. (It is called mother board because it connect all components together, like a mother). Components on a motherboard are connected together using a set of wires called buses. All important components of computer (like processors, RAMs, Cards) are connected directly to motherboard while other components are connected using ports available on a motherboard. Computer motherboard has Sockets, Slots, Bays and Ports to connect different components.

Socket:-

A socket is usually a square shape connector. It connects chips in in it. Today Microprocessors are mostly in form of a chip and are inserted in Sockets.

Slots:-

Slots are usually rectangular connectors. There are many types of slots present on computer motherboard. slots are used to ad extra features to motherboard. Slots are used to insert cards. Following slots are available on motherboards. Slots are also called edge connectors.
RAM Slots
PCI Slots
AGP Slots
ISA Slots
EISA Slots

Bays:-

Bays are used to connect drives (CD-ROM, Floppy, Hard Disk, Tape etc.) to computer motherboard.  Most commonly used bay is ATA (Advance Technology Attachments). It is available in PATA (Parallel Advance Technology Attachments) and SATA (Serial Advance Technology Attachments). Modern motherboards mostly coming with only SATA bays as it is faster then PATA.

Ports:-

Ports are mostly available on the back panel of Motherboard. These Ports are used to connect devices to computers. A variety of ports are available now a days. PS2 ports are used to connect Keyboard and Mouse, Serial Ports are used to connect many devices including mouse, joysticks etc. LPT port is used to connect printers. Sound ports are used to connect audio jacks. VGA Port is used to connect monitor or LCD. DVI port is also available for Monitor and LCDs. HDMI port is avail able for Video interfaces.

The most widely used ports today are USB Ports (Universal Serial Bus). almost each and every devices are available in USB connection. Thats why Modern motherboards come with very fewer slots. USB ports are HOT PLUG&Play Ports.

The Motherboard Introduction (Images)

Computer Case Front

Computer Case Back

Motherboard Components

Motherboard Back Panel