Computer Motherboard

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Introduction

An often overlooked component of a computer, the motherboard is the glue that holds all of the other parts together. There are several important components placed on the motherboard itself, which are covered in the following sections.
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Processor Socket

The socket is the physical interface that your microprocessor will use to communicate with the rest of the computer. This socket determines many aspects of the system's operation, however the most critical part is determining which processors may be used with a system.
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Current Sockets

• AMD
  • Socket 939 - AMD's current DDR-based socket for their Athlon64/Athlon64 X2 line of processors. Note that Socket AM2 processors will not function in this socket.
  • Socket 940 - AMD's current DDR-based socket for Opteron 2xx and 8xx-based multiprocessor systems.
  • Socket 754 - AMD's socket for low-cost Athlon 64 processors using single-channel DDR memory configurations. Not commonly used at this stage.
• Intel
  • Socket T (aka LGA 775) - Intel's new socket designed to function with all modern Pentium D, Pentium 4 and Xeon microprocessors.

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Upcomming Sockets

• AMD
  • Socket AM2 - AMD's new socket that adds DDR2 support to the Althon64/Athlon64 X2 lines. Note that existing socket 939 and 940 processors will not function with this socket.
  • Socket S1 - AMD's upcomming socket for mobile computers using Turion processors. Designed to replace Socket 754 in laptop computer systems.
  • Socket F - AMD's upcomming socket for workstation and server based processors. Designed for use with high-end FB-DIMM memory.

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Chipset

The central electronic component on the motherboard, the chipset handles communication between the major components of the computer, allowing them to exchange data in an efficient manner. As such, it is critical to many aspects of performance and stability so it is not something to be overlooked.

• AMD Desktop Chipsets
  • nForce 4 SLI X16 - nVidia's top-of-the-line desktop chipset offering two full PCI-E X16 slots.
  • nForce 4 SLI - One of nVidia's high-end chipsets for desktop motherboards, supporting up to two graphics cards (at X8 speeds).
  • nForce 4 - nVidia's chipset for mainstream desktop motherboards.
• AMD Workstation Chipsets
  • nForce Professional - nVidia's workstation-oriented chipset designed to work with AMD Opteron processors.
  • AMD 8000-series - AMD's in-house chipsets designed for high-end workstation and server applications.
• Intel Desktop Chipsets
  • Intel 975x - Intel's high-end desktop chipset for their own microprocessors.
  • Intel 955x - The predecessor to the 975x chipset.
  • Intel 945x - Intel's mainstream desktop chipset, offering many of the features of it's more expensive bretheren.
  • nForce 4 SLI X16 - nVidia's top-of-the-line desktop chipset offering two full PCI-E X16 slots.
  • nForce 4 SLI - One of nVidia's high-end chipsets for desktop motherboards, supporting up to two graphics cards (at X8 speeds).
  • nForce 4 - nVidia's chipset for mainstream desktop motherboards.
• Intel Workstation Chipsets
  • Intel E7xxx-series - Intel's in-house line of workstation chipsets.

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Hard Drive Controllers

Often supported through the chipset, these are the links that tie the computer to the hard drives in the system. While all controllers have the same basic functionality, there are a number of additional features that may be useful.
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RAID Support

Many modern motherboards come with built in support for using RAID arrays to configure multiple hard drives to act as a single unit. Depending on the mode selected, this can improve performance, protect data or some combonation of the two.
Most built-in controllers support RAID 0 striping and RAID 1 mirroring, however a number of newer offerings are adding support for more advanced RAID modes such as RAID 5. Many of Intel's newer chipsets also support their propreitary Matrix RAID technology to allow more flexible configurations. Please read the RAID article for more information on these topics.