Motherboard Anatomy

[Hop]

Hi all!

I did a search of the forums using "Motherboard Anatomy" and synonyms of that and came up empty so I feel better asking about this.

I want to learn more about what building blocks make up a modern day (and legacy even) motherboard.

Not the components mind you, they change daily, even hourly. I want to know more about what makes up a motherboard design. The chipset, support devices, the power structure, various buses.

I'm looking for suggestions for reading and research via links, forums, even collegiate classes.

I've been working on computers and building them since the Intel 286 and I feel it is time to understand what makes a motherboard tick, or fail even. Why a solid-state capacitor is better than a cap that isn't. Where the heat is most likely to generate to levels that need additional cooling. All that jazz.

I hope you guys (and girls) can offer some good educational sources and info.

Thank you for your time!

Hop

 

[Isura]

I'd say get your hands on college level texbooks on

analog circuits
digital logic and circuits
power systems
computer architecture
system programming
operating systems

Hard to give exact advice without knowing your current knowledge level

 

[Hop]

Not looking for the intricate workings of the motherboard or other digital embedded system. I write code for those and build my own embedded systems. Just the areas of function, like the building blocks. What part of the motherboard does what... mosfets, power systems, etc. Pardon my lack of terminology. Does any of that make sense?

Hop

P.S. Thank you Isura for your suggestions. You pretty much laid out the prerequisites for an electrical engineering degree, but I'm just looking for knowledge about the various areas of function of a motherboard. Thanks anyway.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...otherboard_diagram.svg