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This week we look more at the architecture of the motherboard. Understanding these principles is critical to understanding component compatibility, like CPUs and memory. This also enables us to better appreciate changes in technology and build systems that work at peak performance.
Understanding the Chipset is essential for understanding PC systems.
System component manufactures have recently slowed development of faster processor speeds. Why has this come about when previously they have increased these speeds dramatically year in year out?
Busses
- Consider 7 different PC busses.
- What factors determine the bus speed?
- What is bus width?
- What are the three main bus functions?
- What is synchronisation or 'Hand Shake'?
- What is a clock in bus terminology?
- What is the FSB and what are some typical speeds? How have advances in technology changed the CPU frequency, (i.e. represent unique moments in time) without increasing the system clock? (This chart is from a monster article (86 pages) about the history of the CPU)
- What is legacy? Which bus is considered a legacy bus?
- What is Plug and Play?
- What is HyperTransport?
- What is Dual Channel?
- What a Bus is.
- What affects Bus speeds.
- Know some common Busses.
- What a clock is.
- A clocks relationship to power and heat.
- Bus Jargon (Manufacturer's Terminology).
Important concepts to understand
Chipsets
- What are Chipsets?
- What are the main roles of the North Bridge?
- What are the main roles of the South Bridge?
- Why does the North Bridge require a heat sink or even a fan?
- Can you find the chipset model for any type of motherboard?
- Can you name (either code name or number) 3 Intel and 3 AMD chipsets?
- Why is it important to understand chipsets when building or upgrading a PC?
- Do you know the chipset for your PC? Download Bios Wizard or CPUID - Z
- What should you consider first when buying a PC?
- The motherboard
- The Chipset
- The Memory
- The Processor
- Roles of the chipset.
- Current chipsets available.
- Some common legacy chipsets.
- Importance of the chipset
- How manufactuers of motherboards build and price their boards around a chipset.
Important concepts to understand
Memory
- Can you identify different memory types by the number of pins or notches?
- What is DDR and how is it faster?
- What is the bus width of SDRAM?
- What are the bus widths of EDO RAM?
- What does PC3200 mean? What type of RAM is it? Can you find out the FSB required?
- What voltage does RAMBUS or RDRAM operate at?
- When selecting DDR ram why is it important to know the true FSB of the motherboard?
- What are the terms ECC, FPM, SDRAM, SIMM, DIMM and EDO?
- What does Dual Channel mean? What is the available bus data width?
- In which two circumstances is memory required to be installed in pairs?
- What are the symptoms of faulty memory? How can you determine which stick is faulty?
- Types of memory.
- Identify with features.(pins/notches) esp Current memory.
- Memory configuration - Dual channel for example.
- Memory speeds/types and compatibility.
- Understand what DDR is.
Important concepts to understand (17th class)
Further Reading
Busses
Article about the change to Quad and Double Pumped data.
PCI Bus Overview
A bit about bits.
64 Bits for what?
PCI Express - The replacement for the AGP
Motherboards
Overview of a modern motheroard
Memory
DDR2 Memory FAQs
System Memory Scanner from Crucial
Chipsets
Intel's Current Chipset Lineup card
Still one of the best Chipset charts on the Web.
Intel's Own
Latest News from Hardware Central
The future for Chipsets? NForce3 Single chip design
