© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Third Edition Motherboards

© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to

Managing and Troubleshooting PCs

Third Edition

MotherboardsChapter 9




Third Edition

Overview

• In this chapter, you will learn how to

– Explain how motherboards work

– Identify the types of motherboards

– Explain chipset varieties

– Upgrade and install motherboards

– Troubleshoot motherboard problems




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Layers of the PCB

• Motherboards are officially printed circuit boards (PCBs)– PCBs come in multiple layers with

highways of wires (bus systems) in the layers

– These highways of wires are called traces

– Layers enable complexity while minimizing any interference




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Motherboard Characteristics

• Form factor defines– Size of the motherboard– General location of components and parts

• Chipset defines– Type of processor and RAM supported

• Built-in components determine– The core functions of the system




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How Motherboards Work

• Form factor defines– Size, shape, and layout of the motherboard

• Determines the type of case you can use

– Power supply interface type

• For upgrades and recommendations, you need to know form factors




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The AT Form Factor

• IBM invented the AT form factor in the early ’80s– Lasted through mid ’90s– Currently obsolete– Large keyboard socket, split power socket (P8/P9)– Baby AT was smaller version

• Alternatives were– LPX– NLX

• Both offered expansion on central riser cards

• More built-in connectors• LPX and NLX designed for slimline cases




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ATX Motherboard Parts




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ATX Form Factor

• Created in 1995– About the same size as Baby AT– Had many ports accessible from rear of PC

including mini-DIN– RAM was closer to Northbridge and CPU for better

performance– Uses the soft power feature to turn PC on and off

through software




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ATX Spin Offs

• MicroATX and FlexATX are two smaller versions of ATX– Many techs and Web sites use the term mini-ATX to

describe these boards– Cases need to be matched to motherboards– Can’t put a larger motherboard into a smaller case– Case manufacturers have made

accommodations for smaller motherboards in larger cases




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Other Form Factors

• Balanced Technology eXtended (BTX) – Due to heat, cooler form factors needed– I/O ports and expansion slots switched– CPU moved to front of the motherboard– Thermal unit blows CPU heat directly out– Widely publicized; completely DOA

• Proprietary form factors– Unique to a specific company– Don’t follow standards and require

upgrades and service from that company

– Difficult to support




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Chipsets

• A chipset defines – The processor type– Type and capacity of RAM– What internal and external

devices the motherboard will support

• It serves as the electronic interface through which the CPU, RAM, and I/O devices interact

• Most modern chipsets have two primary chips– Northbridge– Southbridge




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Chipset Chips

• Northbridge– Helps the CPU work with RAM (on Intel-based

systems)– Communicates with video on newer AMD systems

• Southbridge– Handles expansion devices and mass storage

drives– Sits between expansion slots and hard drive

controllers

• Super I/O chip– Provides legacy support for serial

ports, parallel ports, floppy drives, and more




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• Schematic ofa modernchipset

Chipset Schematic




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Lab – Find the Bridges

• On your motherboard, find the following:

– Northbridge

– Southbridge




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Chipset Chips

• Not always called Northbridge and Southbridge

• Intel-based motherboards may refer to them as– Memory Controller Hub (MCH) for Northbridge– I/O Controller Hub (ICH) for Southbridge

• Require drivers, though Windows has some generic driver support




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Many Makers of PC Chipsets

• Intel

• NVIDIA

• AMD (ATI)

• VIA

• SiS

• Ali




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Chipset Comparison




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Chipset Comparison (continued)




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Motherboard Components

• Not all chipset features may be supported with ports (for cost savings)

• Some motherboards may add features

– USB / FireWire

– Sound

– RAID

– AMR/CNR




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Upgrading and Installing Motherboards




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• Determine what motherboard you need– Is your CPU supported? Is the RAM?– How many components will you have to upgrade?– What’s the best bang for the buck?

• Look for a high-quality manufacturer– ASUS, BIOSTAR, DFI, GIGABYTE, Intel, MSI

• Be sure you have access to the motherboard manual

Choosing a Motherboard and Case




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Choosing a Case

• Select a motherboard compatible with your case

• Or select a new case• Cases come in six basic sizes

– Slimline– Desktop– Mini-tower– Mid-tower– Tower– Cube




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Case Options

• Removable face– Can make disassembly easier

• Detachable motherboard mount– Can make working on the motherboard

easier

• Front-mounted ports– Allows easier access for hot-swappable

devices

• Power supply– Verify the power supply is sufficient– Replace as necessary




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Removing a Motherboard

1. Remove all the cards

2. Remove obstructing drives

3. Remove the power supply (only if necessary)

4. Unscrew the old motherboard– The motherboard mounts to the case with small

connectors called standouts




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Installing a Motherboard

1. Install the CPU and RAM on the motherboard before putting it in the case

2. Check/adjust the location of the standouts

3. Mount the motherboard in the case

4. Install the hard drive(s), power supply, and so forth

5. Insert the power connections and other wires

6. Test!




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Wires, Wires, Wires

• Final step is to connect LEDs, buttons, and front-mounted ports– Soft power– Reset button– Speaker– Hard drive activity LED– Power– USB port– FireWire port– Sound ports




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Troubleshooting Motherboards




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Troubleshooting Symptoms

• Catastrophic failure– System will not boot

– Although uncommon, most motherboards will fail (if they’re going to) within the first 30 days due to manufacturing defects, which is called burn-in failure

– Electrostatic discharge is the other most common cause

– To fix, replace the motherboard




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More Troubleshooting Symptoms

• Component failure– Intermittent problems

– Examples include a hard drive that shows up in CMOS but not in Windows

– Most common causes are electrical surges and ESD

– Sometimes a BIOS upgrade may solve this problem if the issue is lack of BIOS support for a newer technology

– Fixes include replacing the component with an add-on card or flashing the BIOS




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More Troubleshooting Symptoms (continued)

• Ethereal symptoms– Things just don’t work all the time

– PC reboots itself for no apparent reason

– Blue Screens of Death appear as the computer crashes

– Causes include faulty components, buggy device drivers or application software, slight corruption of the operating system, and power supply problems

– Fixes include flashing the BIOS or replacing the motherboard




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Techniques

• Isolate the problem by eliminating potential factors

• Check, replace, verify good component– If the hard drive doesn’t work, try a different hard

drive or try the same hard drive with a different motherboard

• If the new hard drive works, you know it wasn’t the motherboard

• If the same hard drive with a different motherboard works, you can suspect the motherboard




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Options

• There are a couple of options for dealing with a motherboard failure– Catastrophic failure – replace the motherboard– Component failure – consider an add-on card to

replace the device• Consider a BIOS update if the device issue is more of

a tech problem rather than physical damage




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Beyond A+

• Relatively new in PC technology

– Shuttle’s new form factor results in PCs the size of a toaster but as powerful as larger PCs

– VIA’s tiny form factor called Mini-ITX




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Documents

© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Third Edition Motherboards