The Ars Technica Motherboard Guide: Part I ? motherboard fundamentals

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col-span-3 hidden text-sm font-semibold uppercase text-gray-400 md:block"> <span class="mb-0 italic">* Subscribers only</span><br>   <a href="/store/product/subscriptions/" class="text-green-400">Learn more</a> </div> <button class="font-impact text-settings-position col-span-3 mx-auto my-3 block rounded-sm border-2 border-green-400 px-3 py-1 text-base font-semibold uppercase text-gray-100" value="story"> Pin to story </button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div x-data="{ open: false, toggle() { if (this.open) { return this.close() } // If we're inside main header, add a data attribute to the header if (this.$el.closest('#site-header')) { this.$el.closest('#site-header').dataset.dropdownOpen = 'true'; } this.open = true }, close() { if (!this.open) { return; } // If we're inside main header, add a data attribute to the header if (this.$el.closest('#site-header')) { this.$el.closest('#site-header').dataset.dropdownOpen = 'false'; } this.open = false } }" 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1.6 9.3 1.6 19.1s8.6 19.3 19.3 19.3 12.1-3.1 15.6-7.9c-.9.1-1.8.2-2.7.2-10.7 0-19.3-8.6-19.3-19.3m17.8-6.8v2.1c0 .8-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4s-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4V4.6c0-.8.6-1.4 1.4-1.4s1.4.6 1.4 1.4m0 6.8v2.1c0 .8-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4s-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4v-2.1c0-.8.6-1.4 1.4-1.4s1.4.6 1.4 1.4m-5.8-3.7h2.1c.8 0 1.4.6 1.4 1.4s-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4h-2.1c-.8 0-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4s.6-1.4 1.4-1.4m6.8 0h2.1c.8 0 1.4.6 1.4 1.4s-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4h-2.1c-.8 0-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4s.6-1.4 1.4-1.4"/></g></g></svg> <svg class="theme-selection-active-dusk hidden h-5 w-5 text-yellow-400 group-hover:text-yellow-200" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 38.18 40"><defs><clipPath id="theme-dusk_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h38.18v40H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="theme-dusk_svg__b"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h38.18v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#theme-dusk_svg__a)"><g fill="currentColor" clip-path="url(#theme-dusk_svg__b)"><path d="M19.09 5.86C11.28 5.86 4.95 12.19 4.95 20s6.33 14.14 14.14 14.14S33.23 27.81 33.23 20 26.9 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w-full cursor-pointer flex-row items-center px-5 py-2 text-gray-300 hover:bg-gray-700 hover:text-green-400 focus:bg-gray-700 focus:text-green-400" data-theme="light" data-selected="false"> <svg class="theme-selection-icon mr-2 inline-block h-5 w-5 text-gray-100 group-hover:text-green-400 group-focus:text-inherit" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 40"><defs><clipPath id="theme-light_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="theme-light_svg__b"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#theme-light_svg__a)"><g fill="currentColor" clip-path="url(#theme-light_svg__b)"><path d="M30 20c0 5.5-4.5 10-10 10s-10-4.5-10-10 4.5-10 10-10 10 4.5 10 10m8.6 1.4h-2.2c-.8 0-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4s.6-1.4 1.4-1.4h2.2c.8 0 1.4.6 1.4 1.4s-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4M34.1 7.9l-1.5 1.5c-.6.6-1.5.6-2 0-.6-.6-.6-1.5 0-2l1.5-1.5c.6-.6 1.5-.6 2 0 .6.6.6 1.5 0 2M21.4 1.4v2.2c0 .8-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4s-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4V1.4c0-.8.6-1.4 1.4-1.4s1.4.6 1.4 1.4M7.9 5.9l1.5 1.5c.6.6.6 1.5 0 2-.6.6-1.5.6-2 0L5.9 7.9c-.6-.6-.6-1.5 0-2 .6-.6 1.5-.6 2 0M1.4 18.6h2.2c.8 0 1.4.6 1.4 1.4s-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4H1.4C.6 21.4 0 20.8 0 20s.6-1.4 1.4-1.4m4.5 13.5 1.5-1.5c.6-.6 1.4-.6 2 0s.6 1.5 0 2l-1.5 1.5c-.6.6-1.5.6-2 0-.6-.6-.6-1.5 0-2m12.7 6.5v-2.2c0-.8.6-1.4 1.4-1.4s1.4.6 1.4 1.4v2.2c0 .8-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4s-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4m13.5-4.5-1.5-1.5c-.6-.6-.6-1.4 0-2s1.5-.6 2 0l1.5 1.5c.6.6.6 1.5 0 2-.6.6-1.5.6-2 0"/></g></g></svg> HyperLight </li> <li class="theme-selection-item group flex w-full cursor-pointer flex-row items-center px-5 py-2 text-gray-300 hover:bg-gray-700 hover:text-green-400 focus:bg-gray-700 focus:text-green-400" data-theme="dusk" data-selected="false"> <svg class="theme-selection-icon mr-2 inline-block h-5 w-5 text-gray-100 group-hover:text-green-400 group-focus:text-inherit" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 38.18 40"><defs><clipPath id="theme-dusk_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h38.18v40H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="theme-dusk_svg__b"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h38.18v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#theme-dusk_svg__a)"><g fill="currentColor" clip-path="url(#theme-dusk_svg__b)"><path d="M19.09 5.86C11.28 5.86 4.95 12.19 4.95 20s6.33 14.14 14.14 14.14S33.23 27.81 33.23 20 26.9 5.86 19.09 5.86m0 26.28C12.4 32.14 6.95 26.69 6.95 20c0-6.13 4.57-11.2 10.48-12.01a12.07 12.07 0 0 0-2.63 7.52c0 6.7 5.45 12.14 12.14 12.14.56 0 1.11-.05 1.66-.13-2.23 2.81-5.66 4.62-9.52 4.62m1.43-30.72v2.17c0 .78-.63 1.42-1.42 1.42s-1.42-.63-1.42-1.42V1.42a1.419 1.419 0 1 1 2.84 0M9.31 4.13l1.27 1.75c.46.63.32 1.52-.31 1.98s-1.52.32-1.98-.31L7.02 5.8a1.42 1.42 0 0 1 .31-1.98 1.42 1.42 0 0 1 1.98.31m-7.45 8.78 2.06.67c.74.24 1.15 1.04.91 1.79s-1.04 1.15-1.79.91l-2.06-.67a1.417 1.417 0 0 1-.91-1.78c.24-.74 1.04-1.15 1.79-.91M.98 24.39l2.06-.67c.74-.24 1.54.16 1.79.91.24.74-.17 1.54-.91 1.78l-2.06.67a1.42 1.42 0 0 1-1.79-.91c-.24-.74.17-1.54.91-1.79m6.04 9.82 1.27-1.75a1.42 1.42 0 0 1 1.98-.31c.63.46.77 1.35.31 1.98l-1.27 1.75c-.46.63-1.35.77-1.98.31a1.42 1.42 0 0 1-.31-1.98m10.65 4.38v-2.16c0-.78.63-1.42 1.42-1.42s1.42.63 1.42 1.42v2.16c0 .78-.63 1.42-1.42 1.42s-1.42-.63-1.42-1.42m11.2-2.71-1.27-1.75a1.42 1.42 0 0 1 .31-1.98 1.42 1.42 0 0 1 1.98.31l1.27 1.75c.46.63.32 1.52-.31 1.98s-1.52.32-1.98-.31m7.46-8.78-2.06-.67a1.424 1.424 0 0 1-.91-1.79c.24-.74 1.04-1.15 1.79-.91l2.06.67c.74.24 1.15 1.04.91 1.78s-1.04 1.15-1.79.91m.87-11.47-2.06.67c-.74.24-1.54-.17-1.79-.91-.24-.74.17-1.54.91-1.78l2.06-.67c.74-.24 1.54.16 1.79.91.24.74-.17 1.54-.91 1.79M31.16 5.8l-1.27 1.75c-.46.63-1.34.77-1.98.31a1.42 1.42 0 0 1-.31-1.98l1.27-1.75a1.42 1.42 0 0 1 1.98-.31c.63.46.77 1.35.31 1.98"/></g></g></svg> Day & Night </li> <li class="theme-selection-item group flex w-full cursor-pointer flex-row items-center px-5 py-2 text-gray-300 hover:bg-gray-700 hover:text-green-400 focus:bg-gray-700 focus:text-green-400" data-theme="dark" data-selected="false"> <svg class="theme-selection-icon mr-2 inline-block h-5 w-5 text-gray-100 group-hover:text-green-400 group-focus:text-inherit" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 38.4 38.4"><defs><clipPath id="theme-dark_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h38.4v38.4H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="theme-dark_svg__b"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h38.4v38.4H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#theme-dark_svg__a)"><g fill="currentColor" clip-path="url(#theme-dark_svg__b)"><path d="M14.5 11.4c0-4.3 1.4-8.2 3.7-11.4C8.8 1.3 1.6 9.3 1.6 19.1s8.6 19.3 19.3 19.3 12.1-3.1 15.6-7.9c-.9.1-1.8.2-2.7.2-10.7 0-19.3-8.6-19.3-19.3m17.8-6.8v2.1c0 .8-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4s-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4V4.6c0-.8.6-1.4 1.4-1.4s1.4.6 1.4 1.4m0 6.8v2.1c0 .8-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4s-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4v-2.1c0-.8.6-1.4 1.4-1.4s1.4.6 1.4 1.4m-5.8-3.7h2.1c.8 0 1.4.6 1.4 1.4s-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4h-2.1c-.8 0-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4s.6-1.4 1.4-1.4m6.8 0h2.1c.8 0 1.4.6 1.4 1.4s-.6 1.4-1.4 1.4h-2.1c-.8 0-1.4-.6-1.4-1.4s.6-1.4 1.4-1.4"/></g></g></svg> Dark </li> <li class="theme-selection-item group flex w-full cursor-pointer flex-row items-center px-5 py-2 text-gray-300 hover:bg-gray-700 hover:text-green-400 focus:bg-gray-700 focus:text-green-400" data-theme="system" data-selected="true"> <svg class="theme-selection-icon mr-2 inline-block h-5 w-5 text-gray-100 group-hover:text-green-400 group-focus:text-inherit" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 40"><defs><clipPath id="theme-system_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="theme-system_svg__b"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#theme-system_svg__a)"><g clip-path="url(#theme-system_svg__b)"><path fill="currentColor" d="M20 0C8.95 0 0 8.95 0 20s8.95 20 20 20 20-8.95 20-20S31.05 0 20 0m0 38V2c9.92 0 18 8.08 18 18s-8.08 18-18 18"/></g></g></svg> System </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="hidden sm:flex md:justify-center" data-modal-id="search" x-data="{ open: false, init() { this.modalId = this.$el.dataset.modalId; }, show() { console.log(this.data); this.open = true; this.$dispatch('modal-opened', { panel: this.$refs.panel, modalId: this.modalId, }); }, hide() { this.open = false }, }"> <button type="button" aria-label="Search dialog..." class="search-button flex flex-row items-center text-gray-300 hover:text-gray-100" aria-label="Open search dialog" x-on:click="show()"> <svg class="h-5 w-5" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 40"><defs><clipPath id="magnify_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="magnify_svg__b"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#magnify_svg__a)"><g fill="none" clip-path="url(#magnify_svg__b)"><path fill="currentColor" d="M39.2 35.4 29 25.2c4.4-6.2 3.9-15-1.7-20.6C24.2 1.6 20.1 0 16 0S7.8 1.6 4.7 4.7c-6.2 6.2-6.2 16.4 0 22.6C7.8 30.4 11.9 32 16 32s6.5-1 9.3-3l10.2 10.2c.5.5 1.2.8 1.9.8s1.4-.3 1.9-.8c1-1 1-2.7 0-3.8M8.5 23.5c-2-2-3.1-4.7-3.1-7.5s1.1-5.5 3.1-7.5 4.7-3.1 7.5-3.1 5.5 1.1 7.5 3.1c4.2 4.2 4.2 10.9 0 15.1-2 2-4.7 3.1-7.5 3.1s-5.5-1.1-7.5-3.1"/></g></g></svg> </button> <template x-teleport="body"> <div class="fixed inset-0 z-[99999] overflow-y-auto" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" x-cloak x-show="open" x-on:keydown.escape.window.prevent.stop="open = false" x-id="['modal-title']" x-ref="panel" :aria-labelledby="$id('modal-title')"> <div class="fixed inset-0 bg-slate-900/80 opacity-100 backdrop-blur" x-show="open" x-transition.duration.150ms> </div> <div class="relative flex min-h-screen items-center justify-center" x-on:click="open = false" x-show="open" x-transition.duration.150ms> <div x-on:click.stop x-trap.noscroll.inert="open"> <span class="sr-only" :id="$id('modal-title')"> Search dialog... </span> <div class="search-wrapper relative z-[99999] w-screen p-5"> <div class="gcse-search"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </template> </div> <div class="h-5 w-[1px] bg-gray-400"></div> <div class="flex md:justify-center" data-modal-id="sign-in" x-data="{ open: false, init() { this.modalId = 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:id="$id('modal-title')"> Sign in dialog... </span> <div class="sign-in-panel absolute left-1/2 top-1/2 w-3/4 min-w-[320px] max-w-xl -translate-x-1/2 -translate-y-1/2" > <header class="font-impact flex items-center justify-between bg-gray-600 px-7 py-4 font-semibold uppercase" > <div class="text-gray-350 flex items-center gap-3"> <svg class="h-3 w-3 text-green-400" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 40"><defs><clipPath id="arrow-blocks-right_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g fill="currentColor" clip-path="url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)"><path d="M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z"/></g></svg> Sign in </div> <button class="text-gray-300 hover:text-gray-100 focus:text-gray-100" x-on:click="open = false" > <svg class="h-3 w-3" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 34.7 40"><defs><clipPath id="x_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h34.7v40H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g fill="none" 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class="sign-in-form"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </template> </div> </div> </header> <main class="main relative -mt-4 lg:mt-6" id="main"> <article class="double-column h-entry post-93465 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-features" data-id="93465"> <header> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-700 my-4 bg-gray-100 pt-2 dark:bg-gray-700 md:mt-10 md:pt-5 lg:pb-2 lg:pt-7"> <div class="mx-auto grid-cols-2 gap-8 md:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class=""> <div class="mb-1 px-[15px] sm:px-5 md:px-0"> <div class="upper-deck font-impact text-green-450 dusk:text-green-400 inline-flex flex-row flex-nowrap items-center gap-2 text-left text-sm font-semibold uppercase leading-tight dark:text-green-400"> <span class="upper-deck__icon"> <svg class="h-5 w-5" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 40"><defs><clipPath id="section-misc_svg__a"><path fill="none" d="M0 0h40v40H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="section-misc_svg__b"><path 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acroyms? Ars is here … </p> <div class="mt-2 px-[15px] sm:px-5 md:px-0"> <div class="font-impact text-xs font-semibold uppercase text-gray-300"><a class="text-orange-400 hover:text-orange-500" href="https://arstechnica.com/author/hannibal/"> Jon Stokes </a> – <span class="whitespace-nowrap"> <time class="mr-[2px] inline-block cursor-default" title="2005-12-19T19:00:00-05:00" datetime="2005-12-19T19:00:00-05:00" x-data="{ compact: false, open: false, date: new Date('2005-12-19T19:00:00-05:00'), updatedTimestamp: false, format: function() { let dateFormat = { year: 'numeric', month: 'short', day: 'numeric' }; let timeFormat = { hour: 'numeric', minute: 'numeric' }; let formatted = this.date.toLocaleDateString(undefined, dateFormat) + ' ' + this.date.toLocaleTimeString(undefined, timeFormat); if (this.compact) { if (this.date.toDateString() === new Date().toDateString()) { formatted = this.date.toLocaleTimeString(undefined, timeFormat); if (this.updatedTimestamp) { formatted = 'at ' + formatted; } 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lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <div class="page-anchor-wrapper"><a class="" name="page-1" data-page="1" data-url="https://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/mobo-guide-1/"></a></div> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>The motherboard is perhaps the least glamorous part of the personal computer. Video cards and CPUs all have their die-hard partisans and their benchmark bakeoffs, but a motherboard purchase is less often a matter of fanatical loyalty than it is one of rational cost/benefits/features calculations. Still, the motherboard is the part of the computer that all of the other components plug into, and as the foundation of an upgradable DIY system, it's a choice that demands a certain amount of patient research from the system builder. It's also a choice that has gotten much harder to make in the past two years. The motherboard is actually undergoing something of a Renaissance, as a number of technologies are bringing more bandwidth, more features, and more form factors in more combinations to that central component of any PC system.</p> <p> The present motherboard guide aims to help the novice system builder make sense of the morass of motherboard options on the market, so that he or she can ask better questions and make more informed choices when shopping for the right motherboard. By the time you're through with this guide, you'll have a solid grasp of the many parts of the motherboardnorthbridge, southbridge, processor socket, BIOS, buses, memory, etc.and of how those parts fit together to make a complete computer. Once you know what all of the most important parts of a motherboard are supposed to do and how they actually do it, then you'll be in a position to understand and to evaluate competing configurations from different motherboard makers. </p> <h2>Some computer basics</h2> <p> All computers consist of just three basic parts, and once you understand how these parts fit together then everything else is just details. Of course, there are a lot of details to cover, so over the course of this guide I'll zoom in on each of these parts and show you how the motherboard supports and implements them in various ways. </p> <div class="ars-interlude-container in-content-interlude mx-auto max-w-xl"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <ul> <li><b>Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU)</b>: The ALU is the part of the computer where all of the actual computing happens. The primary job of this unit is to crunch numbers, and it does so by ingesting instructions and data and producing results. </li> <li><b>Storage</b>: The instructions, data, and results that the ALU takes in and puts out have to be stored somewhere. Thus all computers have some form of storage connected to the ALU.</li> <li><b>Bus</b>: The communication links between the different parts of the computer, like the ALU and storage, are called buses. Buses exist to move instructions, data, and results around to different parts of the machine.</li> </ul> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/basic-computer.png"><br> <br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 1: A basic computer<br> </span></div> <p> Each of the three main parts listed above are actually implemented in real systems by multiple types of components. In a real-life computer system, there are multiple devices that crunch numbers (CPU, GPU, soundcard, etc.), multiple types of storage (main memory, hard disk, CD-ROM, etc.), and multiple types of buses (frontside bus, PCI, PCI Express, etc.). More on this in a moment, though. For now, let's keep things at an abstract level and break down two of the three basic parts into subcategories of components: </p> <ul> <li>ALU</li> <li>Storage</li> <ul> <li>Fast (and small) storage </li> <li>Slow (and large) storage </li> </ul> <li>Bus</li> <ul> <li>Internal communications </li> <li>External communications (i.e. input/output, or I/O) </li> </ul> </ul> <p> As the list above indicates, storage devices can generally be ranked by speed and size. All modern computers consist of at least one type of storage that's fast, small, and located very near the ALU. The purpose of placing this fast storage close to the ALU is so that the ALU can be readily and quickly supplied with code and data. This fast/small storage is always "backed" by a much larger, slower pool of storage that's located further away from the ALU. This larger/slower storage pool keeps the fast/small storage full, so that the fast/small storage can in turn keep the ALU busy. </p> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <p> As noted above, code and data travel between storage and the ALU, or from one type of storage to another, on internal buses. These buses connect the different parts of the computer with each other, and a motherboard has a variety of internal buses for this purpose. However, these internal buses aren't the only types of buses that the computer needs. </p> <p> For computers to be usable, they need a way to talk to the outside world. User input and other information comes into the computer's storage area via a set of I/O buses. Likewise, the computer uses I/O buses to send information to a display device like a monitor or printer, or to another computer on the network. Check out Figure 2 below, which illustrates how I/O buses fit into the picture established by Figure 1. </p> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/basic-computer-io.png"><br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 2: A basic computer with an I/O unit</span></div> <p align="right"><a href="http://www.adobe.com/"><img decoding="async" width="30" align="right" src="/images/acopdflogo.gif" height="30" border="2"></a> <a href="http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5850957912/m/666008686731"><b>Download the PDF</b> </a><br>(This feature for <a href="http://arstechnica.com/etc/subscribe/subscribe-1.html">Premier subscribers only</a>.) </p> <div class="page-anchor-wrapper"><a class="record-pageview" name="page-2" data-page="2" data-url="https://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/mobo-guide-1/"></a></div> <h2>Computers in the real world</h2> <p> Real-world computers implement all of the components described so far in various ways. Take a look at the following chart, which shows how each of the the types of parts listed above is implemented in a generic PC system. </p> <div class="table-wrapper"><table width="80%" align="center" border="1"> <tr> <th><b>Computer</b></th> <th> <div align="left"> <b>PC system</b></div> </th> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top">ALU</td> <td style="vertical-align:top">CPU</td> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top">Storage</td> <td style="vertical-align:top">Fast: RAM</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top">Slow: Hard Drive</td> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top">Bus</td> <td style="vertical-align:top">Internal: Frontside bus, memory bus</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top">External (I/O): AGP, PCI, PCIe, USB, keyboard, mouse</td> </tr> </table></div> <p> As you can see from the chart, the PC's motherboard supports all three of the basic parts of the computer listed above. </p> <p> Let's take a look at a diagram that shows the basic parts of a standard personal computer mapped onto a simple computer like that in Figure 2. </p> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/computer-to-mobo.png"><br> <br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 3: The parts of a personal computer</span> </div> <p>Components like the CPU, RAM, hard drive, etc. are the major items you'll shop for when you go to build a system, and Figure 3 shows how they all relate to each other in terms of the basic three-part model of a computer developed so far. Note that Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram that doesn't quite match the way the parts on a real-world motherboard are connected to each other. It merely shows which roles (fast storage, slow storage, ALU, etc.) are filled by which components (RAM, hard drive, CPU, etc.).</p> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <p> Figure 4 below gets us closer to the actual topology of a real-world motherboard, in that it more accurately represents the connections between the components. </p> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/chipset-PCI-GPU.png"><br> <br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 4: A simple motherboard layout</span></div> <p> The diagram above shows how a simple (non-AGP) motherboard is laid out. The motherboard's <i>core logic chipset</i> ("chipset," for short) is responsible for routing traffic through the various buses that connect the parts of the system. It acts as a central hub or switch, that enables the various devices that connect to it to "talk" to each other. For instance, the CPU uses the chipset to load code and data from RAM or the hard drive, or to send results to the video card for display. Similarly, the video card often stores image data in RAM, and when it wants to render that image data on the screen it must request it from RAM via the chipset. </p> <p> The chipset is so named because it consists of a "set" of chips (a pair, actually, but "chippair" sounds stupid): the northbridge chip and southbridge chip. This segregation of the routing functions of the chipset into a northbridge and a southbridge is done for a reason, and if you look at Figure 5 below you can start to get a sense of what that reason is. We'll go into more detail on this segregation of parts, below. </p> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/northbridge-southbridg.png"><br> <br><span class="ImageCaption">Figure 5: The northbridge and southbridge</span> </div> <p> Figure 5 shows a generic (pre-AGP) motherboard layout, where the CPU, RAM, and PCI expansion bus hang off of the northbridge, and the rest of the I/O devices hang off the southbridge. Let's take a closer look at the northbridge and southbridge, to get a better idea of exactly what they do and how they do it. </p> <div class="page-anchor-wrapper"><a class="record-pageview" name="page-3" data-page="3" data-url="https://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/mobo-guide-1/"></a></div> <h2>The northbridge: a look back at the Intel 430HX</h2> <p> The northbridge is really the heart of the motherboard, which is why a chipset usually goes by the name of its northbridge chip. For instance, the Intel 82443BX/82371SB northbridge/southbridge combination, which we'll take a look at later in this guide, was a chipset that went by the official name of "440BX" and was popularly called the "BX chipset." Similarly, the chipset that we'll look at in the next two sections is called the Intel 430HX chipset, because it consists of the 82439HX northbridge and the 82371SB southbridge. The 430HX is a fairly typical Pentium-era chipset, which is why we'll use it as an example chipset to get you familiar with the the basics of northbridge and southbridge functionality. </p> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <p> The northbridge is so important is because attached to it are the most critical components in the computer system: the CPU, RAM, and the all of the PC's most bandwidth-intensive I/O devices (video, sound, networking, and the other devices that sit on the high-bandwidth expansion bus.). Segregating these high-bandwidth components from the rest of the system and giving them their own private "hub" enables system designers to keep down the cost of the bridge chip and the motherboard. Thus the northbridge can focus primarily on routing traffic among processor, memory, and bandwidth-intensive I/O components, while letting another chip (the southbridge) focus on slower I/O traffic and miscellaneous functionality (timing, power management, the BIOS, etc.). </p> <p><b>Note:</b> if you're reading this and thinking "I thought that the southbridge handled all of the I/O, including the PCI bus," you're probably thinking of chipsets produced after Intel's 800-series chipsets. The 800-series introduced the Intel Hub Architecture by turning the northbridge and southbridge into a <i>Memory Controller Hub </i>(MCH) and an <i>I/O Controller Hub</i> (ICH), respectively. However, for chipsets that supported the original Pentium, the Pentium Pro, the Pentium II, and the early Pentium III (along with their competitors), the PCI bus is attached to the northbridge. In fact, the northbridge has consistently handled high-bandwidth I/O devices in one form or another at least since the original Pentium days.</p> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/430HX.png"><br> <br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 6: The Intel 430HX</span></div> <p>Figure 5 from the previous section (reproduced above with one addition as Figure 6) is essentially a diagram of a system based on the Intel 430HX (a.k.a. Triton II) chipset. The 430HX was one of the more popular business-oriented chipsets for the original Pentium, and it supported features like USB, EDO DRAM, and PCI.</p> <p> As you can see from Figure 5, the 430HX's northbridge (the 82439HX) has four buses hanging off of it: </p> <ul> <li>The <b>memory bus</b> is the RAM's single avenue of communication with the rest of the system. The northbridge's <b>memory controller</b> manages traffic on the memory bus, and performs all of the memory accesses on behalf of the rest of the components in the system.</li> <li>The <b>frontside bus</b> (FSB) connects the CPU to northbridge, and thus it is the CPU's sole means of communication with the rest of the system. Instructions, data, and results all travel to and from the CPU over the frontside bus. Because the FSB plays such a critical role in enabling the processor to talk to the other components on the motherboard, it is essential that the FSB have as much bandwidth as possible.</li> <li>The <b>peripheral component interconnect</b> (PCI) bus connects the northbridgeand hence the CPU and RAM alsoto two things: 1) the southbridge chip, and 2) a collection of important and bandwidth-intensive add-on devices like the video card, network card, soundcard, etc. </li> <li>The <b>L2 cache bus</b> connects the northbridge to the L2 cache. The level 2 cache, which was soldered onto the motherboard in many early PC systems, serves as even faster "fast storage" than RAM. Thus the L2 cache sits "between" the RAM and the CPU on the storage heirarchy. Most L2 caches have moved off the motherboard and are now etched onto the same silicon die as the CPU, so they more properly belong in a CPU guide and not a motherboard guide. This being the case, I've mainly included the L2 cache and cache bus here for completeness' sake, and I won't be discussing it more in this guide.</li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <p> We'll look at the first three buses above in more detail later, but for now it's sufficient to note their names and functions. </p> <h3>Bus protocols and bridges</h3> <p> The memory bus, FSB, and PCI bus each speak a special language called a <i>bus protocol</i>. In fact, each type of bus that we'll meet as we explore the motherboard has a different bus protocol. Because bus protocols are unique to each type of bus, the bridge chips that connect these buses together must not only act as traffic routers, but they must also function as translators, translating information encoded in one bus protocol into another bus protocol for transmission on a different bus. </p> <div class="CenteredImage"> <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/430HX-Intel.png"><br> <br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 7: The Intel 430HX northbridge</span></div> <p> This being the case, the northbridge needs special interface hardware for each of its three buses. I mentioned above that the memory controller sits on the northbridge and acts as the interface between main memory and the rest of the system. This memory controller translates memory access requests that originate with the CPU and other system components into a language that the memory subsystem can understand. </p> <p> Similarly, the northbridge also has a special <i>frontside bus interface</i> (= "host interface" in Figure 7 above) through which the northbridge and the rest of the system can communicate with the CPU. Finally, the PCI bus is attached to a <i>PCI controller</i>, which manages PCI bus traffic and handles protocol translation chores. </p> <p> Incidentally, these crucial protocol translation functions are why the two chips that make up the chipset are called "bridge" chipsbecause their on-board interface hardware bridges the language gap between different bus protocols. </p> <div class="page-anchor-wrapper"><a class="record-pageview" name="page-4" data-page="4" data-url="https://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/mobo-guide-1/"></a></div> <h2>The southbridge</h2> <p> The southbridge is a bit like the little brother of the northbridge. All of the mission critical jobs are taken by the northbridge, so system designers tend to load down the southbridge with a ton of miscellaneous, lower-priority tasks. To give you a preview of later installments of this guide, as we move forward in time and transistor counts increase, the southbridge takes on an ever higher number of responsibilities. Whenever system designers want to integrate a new component into the core logic chipset (e.g. networking, RAID, sound, etc.), they roll it into the southbridge. </p> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <div class="CenteredImage"> <a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/430HX-southbridge-Intel.gif"><img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.media/430HX-southbridge-Intel.thu.png"></a><br> <span class="ImageCaption">Figure 8: The Intel 82371SB southbridge</span> </div> <p> The Intel 82371SB (PIIX3) is the southbridge of the Intel 430HX chipset, and it has the following bus interface/bridge chip functionality built-in: </p> <ul> <li><b>PCI controller</b>: because the southbridge sits on the PCI bus, it needs a PCI interface so that it can talk to the northbridge and to the other devices on the PCI bus.</li> <li><b>IDE controller</b>: the <i>integrated drive electronics</i> (IDE) bus is the standard bus for personal computer mass storage devices (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, hard disk). Of course, the IDE bus has gone through multiple incarnations since the 430HX chipset days (EIDE, ATA, S-ATA), so the new IDE drive that you'd buy today wouldn't work with the 430HX.</li> <li><b>ISA controller</b>: the 16-bit <i>industry standard architecture</i> (ISA) bus was originally introduced with the IBM AT motherboard. In its day, it was an expansion bus like PCI, but it has since been replaced by a combination of PCI and USB (see below). Legacy ISA support was included in the 430HX for the purpose of backwards compatibility with older ISA devices.</li> <li><b>USB controller</b>: the <i>universal serial bus</i> (USB) was introduced to replace a number of aging peripheral interconnect buses and formats, like ISA, PS/2 (for mouse and keyboard), the serial port, and the parallel port.</li> <li><b>X-bus interface</b>: the 8-bit X-bus is a legacy bus for use by the PS/2 keyboard and mouse, and the Flash ROM that contains the BIOS code.</li> </ul> <p>The PIIX3 acts as a bridge between PCI and the four non-PCI bus types listed above, i.e., IDE, ISA, USB, and X-bit. So when looking through Intel's 430BX documentation, you'll see mention of the chipset's "PCI-to-ISA" bridge, or a "PCI-IDE" bridge, which is a reference to the fact that the southbridge contains hardware that translates between the PCI protocol and the IDE (for mass storage), ISA (for legacy devices), USB (for peripherals), and X-bit (for PS/2 keyboard and mouse).</p> <p> In addition to the bus interface hardware listed above, the PIIX3 southbridge also includes the following functionality. </p> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="my-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <ul> <li><b>DMA controller</b>: direct memory access (DMA) is a catch-term for a family of protocols that do just what the name would implythey allow components on the motherboard (especially hard drives) to access main memory directly, without having to use the CPU as a go-between the manage the transfer (as was the case in the days before DMA). As with most of the items in this list, an in-depth discussion of DMA would take a whole article. For our puroposes here, it's sufficient to note that the Intel 430 family was one of the earlier PC chipsets to include bus mastering DMA for IDE drives on the PCI bus.</li> <li><b>System timer</b>: the system timer generates a clock pulse for the ISA bus and an oscillating tone for the speaker. The latter is responsible for the beeps you hear on boot-up.</li> <li><b>Interrupt controllers</b> (AIPIC, NMI, standard IRQs): there are times when a device needs to <i>interrupt</i> the processor and tell it to drop what it's doing and address some new input or development. For instance, there has to be some way of letting the processor know that the mouse has just moved, so that the code that handles mouse input can be loaded and run. The system's interrupt mechanism allows different categories of devices to generate different types of interrupts, in order to take control of the CPU. We'll go into interrupts in a bit more detail at a later date.</li> </ul> <p> The list above is not quite exhaustive, as there are features of the 430HX chipset that would be too minor or obscure to go into here. Nonetheless, the above items should give you a good idea of what the different parts of the chipset do. </p> <p align="center"> </p><h2>Conclusion</h2> <p> With the rise of gaming and multimedia on the home PC, the video card became a much more important and much more bandwidth-hungry part of the PC system. The bandwidth provided by the aging PCI bus couldn't support the kinds of video applications that Pentium II users were demanding, so Intel invented a new bus type especially for the video card: the <i>accelerated graphics port</i> (AGP) bus. With the introduction of AGP on the Intel 440LX, the PC essentially became an asymetric multiprocessing system, where the CPU and graphics processor act as a two ALUs that shared a single pool of fast storage (RAM). </p> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky is-rail"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--rail"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ad-wrapper with-label is-fullwidth"> <div class="ad-wrapper-inner"> <div class="ad ad--mid-content"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mt-2.5 mx-auto px-[15px] sm:px-5 lg:grid lg:max-w-5xl lg:grid-cols-3 lg:gap-6 lg:px-8 xl:px-0"> <div class="relative lg:col-span-2"> <div class="post-content post-content-double"> <p> Part II will cover the introduction of AGP and will introduce the reader to a chipset that probably needs no real introduction to Ars Technica's audience: the famous Intel 440BX chipset. After taking a quick look at the BX chipset, we'll move on to Intel's 800 series chipsets and the changes they brought to the PC motherboard. We'll also cover some more motherboard basics, like the BIOS, the boot-up process, and form factors. </p> </div> <div class="-mx-2.5 sm:mx-0"> </div> <div class="author-mini-bio"> <div class="flex flex-col items-start gap-5 border-t-4 py-5 dark:border-gray-700 sm:flex-row"> <div class="flex items-center gap-3"> <div class="font-impact mb-0 text-left text-base font-semibold uppercase sm:hidden"> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/author/hannibal/">Jon Stokes</a> <span class="block font-sans text-sm font-normal italic sm:inline-block"></span> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="font-impact mb-0 hidden text-left text-base font-semibold uppercase sm:block"> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/author/hannibal/">Jon Stokes</a> <span class="block font-sans text-sm font-normal italic sm:ml-2 sm:inline-block"></span> </div> <div class="text-left text-base leading-5 text-gray-400" itemprop="description"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="story-tools flex items-center justify-between border-b-4 border-t-4 text-sm dark:border-gray-700 sm:text-lg"> <a class="view-comments font-impact my-5 flex items-center gap-2 whitespace-nowrap font-semibold uppercase" href="https://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/mobo-guide-1/#comments" title="0 comments"> <svg class="text-gray-300 hover:text-gray-500 h-6 w-6" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 80 80"><defs><clipPath id="bubble-zero_svg__a"><path fill="none" stroke-width="0" d="M0 0h80v80H0z"/></clipPath><clipPath id="bubble-zero_svg__b"><path fill="none" stroke-width="0" d="M0 0h80v80H0z"/></clipPath></defs><g clip-path="url(#bubble-zero_svg__a)"><g fill="currentColor" clip-path="url(#bubble-zero_svg__b)"><path d="M80 40c0 22.09-17.91 40-40 40S0 62.09 0 40 17.91 0 40 0s40 17.91 40 40"/><path d="M40 40 .59 76.58C-.67 77.84.22 80 2.01 80H40z"/></g></g></svg> 0 Comments </a> </div> </div> <div class="dusk:bg-gray-100 hidden min-w-[300px] justify-self-end dark:bg-gray-50 lg:block"> <div class="ad-wrapper is-sticky 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