motherboards

[icepick1]

I need some help in determining the types of motherboards. I know its a big subject but what I am look for is simple information. Such as what is an A slot motherboard, what are the other kinds? What does A slot pertain too, is this a reference to what kind of tower you need? I am confused on the basics please help if you can.

thanks

Ice

 

[DO97]

Im far from an expert but I know enough to answer your questions in lamens terms. I used to have the same worries. I only know about current hardware so I hope that's what you're looking for.

First of all you want to buy an ATX Form Factor motherboard (sometimes just called ATX). Any new motherboard coming out for a long time will be ATX Form Factor. This specification determines the physical layout of some of the devices on the motherboard, namely the PCI, ISA, and AGP slots. Also it determines where your PS/2, serial, parallel, and USB ports will be. Any ATX motherboard will fit properly inside an ATX case. However there are different I/O shields (input/output). This is a thin piece of metal or plastic that has holes cut out to accomodate PS/2, serial ports, parallel ports and your USB ports. This small shield attaches to your case on the back. The motherboard will fit nicely into it. It's all standardized and it all fits like Legos.

Next are the differences between Slot A, Socket A, Socket 370 and Slot 1.

Slot A is for classic AMD Athlons and the first set of Thunderbirds. The "Slot A" determines the actual physical interface your CPU will use. It's a long thin interface on the motherboard itself.

Socket A is also for AMD Athlons. It's used by the newest Thunderbirds and the Durons. It's a square shaped interface as opposed to a slot. It has many holes in it to accomodate socketed Thunderbirds and Durons which have many pins sticking out the bottom of them.

Slot 1 is for Intel processors. It's shaped just like a Slot A except that they are not compaitable. The CPUs that use a Slot 1 interface are Pentium 2, some Pentium 3s, and some Celerons (I'm not sure about Celeron 2s).

The last type of socket you'll come across is called Socket 370. The newest Intel Pentium 3s use this interface as well as some older Celerons. It's similiar to a Socket A (as I described above) but again they are not compaitable. You may come across the term "FC-PGA" or "PGA". PGA stands for "pin grid array". The "FC" stands for "flip chip". Flip chip refers to the fact that internally the processor in a Pentium 3 is flipped over to dissipate heat more effciently. "Pin grid array" refers to the fact that underneath the CPU there are many pins laid out in even rows. The latest Pentium 3s are FC-PGA and they fit inside a Socket 370 interface.

An ATX Form Factor motherboard can have ANY one of the above CPU interfaces (Slot A, Socket A, Slot 1, Socket 370.) All the latest hardware is ATX Form Factor. You won't have any problems finding an ATX Form Factor case to put everything into. Again it's all standardized. You shouldn't worry about wether or not an ATX mother board will fit inside an ATX case.

Their is one exception though. There is a specification called Micro-ATX. Basically ( I believe) it's just like regular ATX but smaller. Sometimes called "Baby ATX". Micro ATX motherboards should fit into standard ATX cases. I don't see why it wouldn't. However non Micro ATX motherboards will have problems fitting into a Micro ATX case. For simplicity's sake and to avoid headaches and costly returns to online vendors. Get a standard ATX motherboard and any standard ATX case. It'll all fit together nicely, like Legos.

I hope this helped you some and calmed down some of your worries. Got any other questions?

dave

[edit] by the way, I think this is the longest message I've ever posted on these forums

 

[Goi]

nice post...

 

[Ulysses]

Right on, DO97 !

I'd just mention that the most up to date types of boards are the Socket A type boards for AMD's new Athlon/Thunderbird and Duron CPU's (those boards will take either chip) and the Socket 370 type boards for the Intel Pentium III Coppermine chips that come in the FC-PGA form.

The Slot A type boards are somewhat outdated and are primarily designed for the old Athlons (not the new). There are some new Athlon CPU's that come in this format too and which may or may not work right in such a board. It is best to get a new Athlon in the Socket A format and a board to match.

You can put an Intel FC-PGA chip into a Slot 1 board with a 'slotket' adapter. See:
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentiumiii/ssalist.htm

I won't get into it here ( ), but motherboards may also be classified by the type of chipset that they are based upon. The chipset is a group of microchips that are on the mobo and act as the 'traffic cop' for electronic signals among them components of your PC. The chipset determines, among other things, which CPU's the motherboard can accept.

 

[icepick1]

Thanks for the great answer Dave. I knew it had something to do with the type of processor but just wasn't positive. My only other question is about the ATX case. How can you tell if the case is for an ATX Motherboard?

 

[icepick1]

That brings me to another question what you siad about Chip sets Ulysses. Which mobos except the most amount or the most different kind of Chip Sets? So if I wanted to start out with a less expensive processor. Also do you know which chip sets are best for gameing applications? I would like to put together a system strictly for gameing and stick to the AMD product because of the price. I want high resolution capabilities with the 3D graphics. I have been told with some of these newer video cards like the GEforce. A procesor no bigger than a 450MHZ would do. I am a little skeptical however. I want to run resolutions of at least 1024X??. Well I would like to.

 

[Goi]

icepick...when you buy a case, usually they'll say if its ATX or another standard, such as the older AT standard.
To know for sure, you'll have to look inside the case at the Power Supply connector. If its 2 long white strips, its an AT power supply, if its 1 single white long strip, its an ATX power supply.

As for chipsets, I don't think you understand them well. Chipsets are non-upgradeable. A motherboard only has 1 chipset. For the intel camp, there's the venerable intel BX chipset, the newer intel 810, 820, the new intel i815 chipset, and the VIA Apollo Pro. Performance wise, the BX still rules, but you'll have to overclock it and run several components out of spec, since there's no official support for newer features such as 133MHz FSB and 1/2 AGP divider. There's also no official support for ATA66/ATA100, but most new BX motherboards do include that feature.

In the AMD Athlon camp, there's the old AMD750, the newer VIA KX133 and the latest KT133. Depending on which CPU you're getting, you should choose between the KX133 and KT133, since the AMD750 is getting old and lacks several features. Note that the KX133 does NOT support the newer Duron and Thunderbird CPUs.

As for processor speed, you should really get more than 450MHz if you play games, even at higher resolutions. Personally, I'd recommend at least a 600MHz CPU, depending on your budget.