MODULE 2

MODULE II Motherboard organisation

Motherboard - form factors - block diagram of ATX motherboard - comparison of microprocessors -
RAM, DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, DDRAM, RDRAM - memory refreshing - memory modules - SIMM,
DIMM and RIMM - cache memory - types - CMOS chip - CMOS setup - BIOS - POST - expansion
cards - I/O card, graphics card, sound card, network - interface card, internal modem - ROM - PROM,
EPROM, EEPROM, UVEPROM and EAPROM – firmware

MOTHERBOARDS
 Motherboard is the heart of any personal computer.
 It provides system resources interrupt request (IRQ lines),
DMA channels, and Input Output locations).
 Support the core components such as CPU, chipsets &Real
Time Clock (RTC).
 It handles all system memory includes SD-RAM, BIOS
RAM, CMOS RAM.
Motherboard Components and Their Function

The main important parts of components of the motherboard are,

1. CPU

 CPU stands for Central Processing Unit.

 It is the heart of the motherboard or the whole computer
 The CPU does not communicate directly with the real world

2. Clock Generator

 It is basically a pulse signal generation circuit.

 It generates a pulse signal and provides to all the important devices of the motherboard such as
processor, RAM, and other devices.
 It makes synchronization between all the devices for communication, data transferring, etc.
 The speed of the clock generation is measured by Herth(Hz), Megahertz(MHz), or
GigaHertz(GHz).
3. Bus
  Bus or Busbar is a pathway for data or signal transmission between different components of the
motherboard.
 It is built with so many electrical conductors or conducting paths.

4. Chipset

 It is built with different ICs, devices that manage the data transmission between the processor
and different components of the motherboard.
 Generally, the northbridge and southbridge chipset together is called the chipset.

5. Northbridge and SouthBridge

 The northbridge and southbridge are the main two components of the chipset.
 The northbridge controls the memory units such as RAM, Processor, and the Accelerated
Graphics Port(AGP).
 It is the controlling hub for the memory unit.

 On the other hand, the southbridge controls all the Input/Output control such as USB, IDE,
SATA, Ethernet, Audio Codec, and other ports.

6. Slots

 Slots are the arrangement for placing or interfacing different devices such as audio cards, RAM,
graphics cards, network cards, modems, etc.
 Here, in the computer motherboard, you will see different types of slots such as PCI(Peripheral
Component Interconnect) Slots, Graphic Card Slot, Memory Card Slots, etc.
 These slots help to connect and disconnect devices very easily.

7. RAM and ROM

 RAM stands for Random Access Memory and ROM Stands for Read-Only Memory.
 RAM is a memory that is used during the program execution by the CPU.
 It is a temporary memory.
 CPU stores data temporarily in this RAM.
 On the other hand, ROM is a permanent memory.
 Once the data is stored in the ROM, it cannot be deleted.
 ROM is used to store the main program instructions, BIOS software, etc.

MOTHER BOARD TYPES

Motherboard is a printed circuit board.
Active:
 It is comprehensive and the RAM, ROM, CPU is attached in the motherboard.
 So we can’t able to upgrade by adding RAM or processor in the motherboard.
  One way to upgrade is replace with newer.
 Example: Only PCI bus slots we can add.
 Passive:
 More than interconnecting slots.
 No major chips on the black plane.
 The CPU, RAM, BIOS ROM and other central process component are fabricated on the board
that simply plug in to one of the back plane slots
 Back Plane:
 It is a group of electrical connector in parallel with each other.
 So the pin and connectors is linked to the same relative pin of other connector forming a
computer bus.
 The back plane is a printed circuit board containing connections (slots) for expansion boards and
allows for communication between all connected boards.
FORM FACTOR
 It is the Specification of the motherboard
 Depend on Dimension , power supply types
 Depend of Location of mounting holes & Number of ports on back panel.
 Placement of key component such as CPU, memory module, expansion slots, I/O parts.
Form factor types
1. AT
2. Baby AT
3. ATX
4. Micro ATX
5. EATX(Extended Advanced Technology extended)
6. BTX
7. NLX
8. ITX
 AT(Advanced Technology):
 AT is introduced by IBM 1984.
 Two sets of 6 pin inline connector:
 CPU is positioned in line with one or more ISA between slots.
 I/O ports (LPT, PS2, USB) are spread out in the board.
 Baby AT:
 1987,size 12”to 8.5”
 The smaller version of original AT motherboard.
 The I/O ports which were cabled to connectors on the back of the case.
 Socket 7 was used.
 ATX (Advanced Technology Extended):
 It is Introduced in the year 1995, size 12”wideX13.8” deep.
  Ex: Intel 850GB ATX
 All I/O are connected in to single I/O panel located rear of the motherboard.
 It has 20,24 pin power connector.
 CPU is connected away from all expansion bus slots.

 ATX uses (socket 7, 360, 432, slot 1, slot 2, slot A) CPU.

 Micro ATX:
 It is Slim & small in structure.
 Dimension is 9.6 by 9.6 inches or 7 by 7 inches.
 It used in digital cable boxes& HD recorders.
 Extended ATX:
 It is used in Work station level motherboard specification.
 It has 12 by 13 inches.
 NLX(New Low profile Extended):
 It is introduced 1997, 9” wide X 13.6 deep.
 All expansion slots, power cable & PCI are located on edge mounted riser card.
 This allows easy removal of motherboard.
 AT & ATX is time consuming to upgrade & replace.
 To overcome the replaceable motherboard.
 BTX( Balanced Technology Extended):
 North Bridge & south bridge are located near each other and hardware they control line CPU,
RAM, expansion ports.
ITX (Information Technology Extended)
 small motherboard introduced in 2001
 they are used in low cost ,small set ups found in cars, network devices, set top box and
other components
 8.5 X 7.5 inches

CHIPSET

 To reduce the number of chips on the motherboard the electronics logic around which the
microprocessor is communicating and processing are integrated into to or 3 chips.
 These chips contain more than one logic likes DMA logic, timer logic, and interrupt logic etc.
 These chips are called as chipset.
 Northbridge and Southbridge are two chips in the chipset.
Advantages

1. Reduce chip count in a computer

2. Reduced power requirements.

 3. Reduce Construction cost

4. Improve the reliability

Northbridge and Southbridge

 Northbridge and Southbridge are the two chips in the logic chipset architecture on the PC
motherboard

Northbridge

 North bridge is connected directly to the CPU via the front side bus
 The main function of Northbridge east to provide communication between the CPU, AGP
and the RAM memory.
 Northbridge is located in the northern section of the motherboard.
 Northbridge operates at a faster speed as it connects to high-speed components in the
computer.
 North bridge is larger than South Bridge
 It is costly compared to Southbridge

Southbridge

 Southbridge Bridget is not directly connected to CPU

 Provide communication between the hard drive controller input output controller and
integrated Hardware.
 Integrated Hardware can include sound card & video card on the motherboard, USB, PCI,
ISA, IDE, BIOS and Ethernet
 Southbridge is located in the southern section of the motherboard.

 It is slower compared to Northridge

  It is smaller in size compared to Northridge

MEMORY MODULES

 Memory is made from tiny semiconductor chips.

 There are many different kinds of memory packages in the PC today
1. Single Inline memory module (SIMM)
2. Dual inline memory module (DIMM)
3. Dual Inline Package(DIP)
4. Rambus inline memory module (RIMM)

1. SIMM
 Single Inline memory module (SIMM)
 SIMM are placed into a special sockets on the motherboard created to hold them
 The sockets are designer in such a way that once inserted, the SIMM will be held in the
place tightly.
 SIMM are available in two types
a) 30 pin
b) 72 pin
a) 30 pin
 The 30 pin SIMM are available in sizes from 1 to 16 MB
 Each one has 30 pins and provides 1 byte of data + one additional bit for
parity version
b) 72 pin
 The 72 pins provide 4 bytes of data at a time + 4 bits for parity
 Most of the Motherboards support 32 pin or 72 pin not both
2. DIMM
  Dual Inline Memory Module
 168 pin configuration
 The can pack twice as much memory in one package compared to SIMM
 DIMM have board buffers and sockets
 These are designer to offer better reliability
 They are costly
 Offer better performance
3. DIP
 Dual Inline Package
 A dip is a rectangular package with rows of pins it's two longer edges
 Older computer system used DIP memory directly either soldering it to the
motherboard placing it in socket that had been soldered to the motherboard
 But this arrangement caused many problems ,the entire motherboard had to be
trashed if any of the memory chip get damaged
 New system do not use DIP memory packaging directly
 The DIP are soldered onto small circuit board called memory module (SIMM,
DIMM)
4. RIMM
 Rambus Inline Memory Module
 It is 184 pin
 Its speed is up to 800 Mhz
 RIMM commonly used on the Intel Pentium 4motherboard

Cache Memory
cache memory or memory cache is a fast and relatively small memory, not visible to the
software, that is completely handled by the hardware, that stores the most recently used (MRU)
main memory (MM) (or working memory) data.
The function of the cache memory is to speed up the MM data access (performance increasing)
and most important, in multiprocessor systems with shared memory, to reduce the system bus
and MM traffic that is one of the major bottleneck of these systems.
Cache memory makes use of the fast technology SRAM (static randomaccess memory cells),
against a slower MM DRAM (dynamic random-access memory), connected directly to the
processor(s).
 Cache memory is fast and expensive.
Traditionally, it is categorized as "levels" that describe its closeness and accessibility to the
microprocessor:
Level 1 (L1) cache is extremely fast but relatively small, and is usually embedded in the
processor chip (CPU).
Level 2 (L2) cache is often more capacious than L1; it may be located on the CPU or on a
separate chip or coprocessor with a high-speed alternative system bus interconnecting the cache
to the CPU, so as not to be slowed by traffic on the main system bus.
Level 3 (L3) cache is typically specialized memory that works to improve the performance of
L1 and L2. It can be significantly slower than L1 or L2, but is usually double the speed of
RAM. In the case of multicore processors, each core may have its own dedicated L1 and L2
cache, but share a common L3 cache. When an instruction is referenced in the L3 cache, it is
typically elevated to a higher tier cache.

Expansion slot support

 We can add other devices to the motherboard by plugging them into expansion s lots.
they are

a) ISA
This is a classic industry standard architecture
 It is the 16 bit Internal bus used in specialized industrial purposes
b) PCI
 Peripheral Component Interconnect
 It was 32/64 bit
 PCI bus is designed to support general purpose devices
 c) AGP
- Accelerated Graphics Port
 AGP high performance port using a superset of PCI architecture to handle huge
volume of video data
 It is specially designed for graphic card
d) USB
 USB allow you to add devices outside of the PC
 USB can be used for adding devices such as monitor, keyboard, joystick and
Mouse etc
e) AMR
 Audio modem riser
 This interface can be used to support both audio and modem features.

BIOS

 Basic Input Output System

 BIOS is a ROM chip.
 It contains programs that performs the basic low level functions necessary for the PC to
boot and to access the various system components

 BIOS services are

 Start-up-routine
 Service Handling
 Hardware Interrupt Handling
a) The start-up-routines
 The start-up-routines get the computer when power is turned on.
  The main parts of start-up-routines are POST and Initialization.
 Post (Power On Self Test)
 POST routine test that the computer is in good working order.
 The initialization involves routine like creating the interrupt vectors
 Many of the parts of the computer need to have register set, parameters loaded and
other things done to get them in the ready to go condition.
 Disk Boot
 Last part of the starter-up-routines is the boot routine.
 The bootstrap process read a boot record from the beginning of a disc.
 The boot program begins the process of loading DOS into the computer.
b) service handling
 The service handling routines are there to perform work for the programs.
 Example: Programs make service request to clear the display screen the screen from text
mode to graphics mode.
c) Hardware interrupt handling
 Hardware interrupt handling part taken the independent needs of the PC hardware.
 Example1: When a key is pressed on the keyboard, the keyboard Rise and interrupt. The
hardware interrupts routine service the interrupt.
 Example2: When our program sends a request to display the character, the service
routine passes the request to the interrupt handling routine. The character is then
displayed.

BIOS features

 CPU support
 Memory support
 Power management support
 Chipset support
 PCI, AGP & USB support
 Anti-virus protection

POST(Power-On-Self-Test)
 A power-on self-test (POST) is a set of routines performed by firmware or software
immediately after a computer is powered on, to determine if the hardware is working as
expected
 POST sequence is executed irrespective of the Operating System and is handled by the
system BIOS.
  Once the tests are passed the POST would generally notify the OS with beeps while the
number of beeps can vary from system to system.
 When POST is successfully finalized, bootstrapping is enabled. Bootstrapping starts the
initialization of the OS.

The Role of POST in the Boot Sequence

 The boot sequence is the process of starting a computer/system.

 The boot process is initiated when the power button is pressed, it sends power to the boot-
loader in the cache memory.
 The Boot loader performs POST as a preboot sequence and if everything is working well
without any errors the BIOS(Basic Input Output System) is activated which finds and loads the
operating system.
 Finally the software has to interact with the hardware units to complete the process.
The principal duties of the main BIOS during POST are as follows:
1. Find, size, and verify the system main memory.
2. Initialize BIOS.
3. Identify, organize, and select which devices are available for booting.
4. Verify CPU registers.
5. Verify the integrity of the BIOS code itself.
6. Verify some basic components like DMA, timer, interrupt controller.
7. Pass control to other specialized extensions BIOS (if installed).
The checks are performed majorly on:
 Hardware elements like processor, storage devices and memory.
 Basic System Devices like keyboard, and other peripheral devices.
 CPU Registers
 DMA (Direct Memory Access)
 Timer
 Interrupt controller

Types of Errors encountered during POST

If there are any errors in the POST the system would fail to proceed towards the next steps(boot
process) as it would throw a fatal error.
The error message could consist of text messages on the console or audio in the form of beeps.
Example beep codes for MAC are:

Beeps Meaning

1 No RAM installed/detected

2 Incompatible RAM types

3 No good banks
 4 No good boot images in the boot ROM, or bad sys config block, or both

5 Processor is not usable

RAM (Random Access Memory)

➢ RAM is the internal memory of the CPU for storing data, program, and program result.
➢ It is a read/write memory which stores data as long as power is being supplied.
➢ RAM is volatile memory; data is lost when power is removed.
➢ RAM is of two types − 1) Static RAM (SRAM) 2) Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
1) Static RAM (SRAM )
➢ SRAM is a type of semiconductor memory that holds data in a static form(that is, store data as
long as the memory has power).
➢ Application : used as cache memory.
➢ SRAM chips use transistors and no capacitors to store data.
➢ No need of refresh : Transistors do not require power to prevent leakage, so SRAM no need
to refresh ➢ manufacturing cost is higher :
(SRAM uses more chips than DRAM for the same amount of storage space).
➢ Other characteristics
• Fast access
• Long life
• Larger in size compared to DRAM
• High power consumption.
2) Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
➢ Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is a type of semiconductor memory that uses capacitors to store the
bits.
➢ The charging and discharging of the capacitor represents 1and 0.
Capacitor require power to prevent leakage, so Needs to be refreshed continuously
➢ The DRAM is a volatile memory i.e. the data in memory is lost when power is switched off.
➢ DRAM is low cost compared to SRAM so it is primarily used in main memory.
➢ Other Characteristics of Dynamic RAM
• Short data lifetime
• Slower as compared to SRAM
• Application : Used as RAM
 • Smaller in size
• Less expensive compared to SRAM
• Less power consumption

DRAM is of two types − I. Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) II. Asynchronous DRAM

Asynchronous DRAM
➢ Asynchronous DRAM is an older type of DRAM used in the first personal computers.
➢ It is called "asynchronous" because memory access is not synchronized with the computer
system clock.
➢ Modern PCs use SDRAM (synchronized DRAM) that responds with the signal of the system
clock
. ➢ Different types of Asynchronous DRAMs –
a) FPM DRAM (Fast Page Mode DRAM)
b) EDO DRAM (Data Extended Data Out DRAM
a) FPM DRAM
• Fast Page Mode DRAM
• FPM is actually the slowest memory technology used in modern PC’s
• designed to be faster than conventional types of DRAM
• Standard DRAM requires that row and column be sent for each access, FM work by sending
the row address just once for many access.

b) Extended data out DRAM (EDO DRAM)

• EDO memory has timing circuit
 • EDO DRAM memory can begin access to the memory before the last one has finished.
• Slightly faster than FPM memory.
II. SDRAM
➢ SDRAM stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
➢ It synchronizes itself with the computer’s system clock.
➢ can run at faster speeds than conventional DRAM.
➢ It is more suitable for high speed memory systems
➢ Different types of Asynchronous DRAMs –
a) SDR SDRAM b) DDR SDRAM
a) SDR SDRAM
➢ Single data rate (SDR) SDRAM
➢ is the older type of memory, commonly used in computers prior to 2002.
➢ SDR SDRAM can only read/write one time( raising edges) in a clock cycle

c) DDR SDRAM
➢ Double data rate (DDR) SDRAM
➢ This faster version of SDRAM L
➢ they transfer data on both raising and falling edges of the clock,
➢ the data transfer rate is doubled
➢ Different types
1. DDR1: (released in 2002)
2. DDR2: (2003) - more Compactable, Improve BUS signal
3. DDR3: (2007) - Reduced power consumption compared to DDR2
4. DDR4: (2014) – Lower output voltage, higher transfer rate and Higher efficiency
III. RDRAM:
➢ Rambus DRAM - a type of DRAM that was developed by Rambus Inc
➢ The RDRAM provides a very high data transfer rate over a narrow CPU-memory bus.
➢ very fast signal timing. 3) Cache DRAM (CDRAM)
➢ This memory is a special type DRAM memory with an on-chip cache memory (SRAM) that
acts as a high-speed buffer for the main DRAM.
Memory Refresh
Memory refresh is a process that largely defines the characteristics of dynamic random access
memory (DRAM), which is the most used computer memory type
 o DRAM will store bits of data in a storage or memory cell, consisting of a capacitor and a
transistor.
o The storage cells are typically organized in a rectangular configuration. When a charge is sent
through a column, the transistor at the column is activated.
o A DRAM storage cell is dynamic, meaning that it needs to be refreshed or given a new electronic
charge every few milliseconds to compensate for charge leaks from the capacitor.
o The memory cells will work with other circuits that can be used to identify rows and columns,
track the refresh process, and instruct a cell whether or not to accept a charge and read or restore
data from a cell.

ROM (Read Only Memory)

➢ The memory from which we can only read but cannot write on it.
➢ This type of memory is non-volatile.
➢ The information is stored permanently in such memories during manufacture
➢ Different types of ROM:

1. PROM 2. EPROM 3. EEPROM

1. PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory)
➢ PROM is read-only memory that can be modified only once by a user.
➢ PROM never deletes the program itself. It means your programs are permanently saved in
PROM. ➢ Inside the PROM chip, there are small fuses which are burnt open during
programming.
➢ It can be programmed only once and is not erasable.
➢ Application :used in BIOS chip, TV remote

2. . EPROM (Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

➢ EPROM can be erased by using ultra-violet light
➢ To reprogram it, erase all the previous data.
➢ it takes about 40 minutes to erase the data of EPROM.
➢ Application : used in Modem, Video Card

3. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

➢ EEPROM is programmed and erased electrically.
➢ In EEPROM, any location can be selectively erased and programmed.
➢ EEPROMs can be erased one byte at a time, rather than erasing the entire chip.
➢ Hence, the process of reprogramming is flexible but slow.
➢ It takes about 4 to 10 milliseconds to erase the data in EEPROM.
➢ Application : Microcontrollers for Smart Cards
 Advantages of ROM
The advantages of ROM are as follows –
• Non-volatile in nature
• Cannot be accidentally changed
• Cheaper than RAMs
• Easy to test
• More reliable than RAMs
• Static and do not require refreshing
UVEPROM
Ultra-Violet Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (UV-EPROM) is a special type of
Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM) that can be erased by exposing it to ultraviolet
 light and programmed again with new data.
EAPROM
EAPROM stands for Electronically Alterable Programmable Read-Only Memory. It is a type
of PROM whose contents can be changed. It acts as a non-volatile storage device, and its
individual bits can be re-programmed during the course of system operation.
Firmware
 The most widespread application of ROMs is in the storage of data and program codes
that must be available on power-up in microprocessor based systems.
 These data and program codes are called firmware because they are firmly stored in
hardware (i.e., ROM chips) and are not subject to change during normal system
operation.
 Some PCs, business computers, and laptop computers store their operating system
programs and language interpreters (e.g., BASIC, PASCAL) in ROM firmware so that
the computer can be used immediately after power is turned on.