computer builds and overclocking: lecture 2 motherboards

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NFS: Computer Builds and Overclocking

Instructors:John Levidy and Alex Soto

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Form Factors

Purpose

Chipsets

Northbridge / Southbridge

How to buy?

Today’s Lecture

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Before deciding on a Motherboard, you will want to know what CPU to buy (and what socket generation).

Only then will you select a motherboard with a compatible chipset and compatible socket for that CPU.

Important

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Form Factor is simply a physical specification of the size of the motherboard. You will want to make sure the case you buy is large enough for your motherboard.

What is Form Factor?

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A: PCI Slot

Short for Peripheral Component Interconnect.

Add-in Cards.

Overview

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B: PCI-E 16x Slot

PCI - Express.

Faster than PCI, mainly for graphics.

Overview

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C: PCI-E 1x Slot

Slower than PCI-E 16x

Good for sounds cards.

Overview

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D: Northbridge

Allows communication between the CPU, system RAM, and PCI-E Slots.

First of two parts that make the “chipset”

Overview

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E: ATX 12 V Power

4 Pins, provides power to the motherboard.

Mainly provides CPU Power.

Overview

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F: CPU-Fan Connector

Connection to add fan to cool CPU.

Overview

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G: Socket

Location for CPU

Determines what CPUs you can use.

Overview

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H: Memory Slots

Locations for RAM

Color Coding is for dual/tri channel

Overview

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I: ATX Power

Main power supply to motherboard, this powers on all the other chips.

Overview

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J: IDE Connector

Integrated Drive Electronics

No longer used

Overview

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K: Southbridge

Controls PCI slots, onboard audio, USB.

Second part that makes the “chipset”

Overview

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L: SATA Connections

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment.

Used for HDDs and DVD Drives.

Overview

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M: Front Panel

Connections to case.

Includes power, reset buttons.

Overview

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N: FDD Connection

Floppy Disk Controller

Kind of old…

Overview

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O: External USB

Allows for front panel USB connections.

Overview

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P: CMOS Battery

Stores settings. Including your overclocking settings!

Keeps the time.

Overview

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The “chipset” of the motherboard performs functions such as retrieving data from hard drives and sending it to the CPU, as well as communicating with expansion cards and USB devices.

Limits CPU types, speeds, RAM types and speeds, and (to a large degree) what sort of Overclocks you will be able to achieve.

The Chipset

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Chipset - A number of integrated circuits designed to perform one or more related functions. (an integrated circuit is just a “chip”, a small circuit made of semiconductor).

In our class, we will use the term chipset to mean a group of integrated circuits located on the motherboard, that are designed to interact with hardware in a specific way.

The Chipset

View of the ChipsetOften chipsets are visualized by these

“block diagrams”.

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The first chipset ever produced was the New Enhanced AT chipset by IBM. ◦ 8284 clock generator◦ 8288 bus controller◦ 8254 programmable interval timer◦ …

The list goes on, but the point is these are each products that have individual functionality, and when combined in a specific way, form the chipset.

NEAT chipset

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Before we talk about Intel’s most recent chipset, the X58, we will discuss the X38 / X48, and P45 chipsets.

These chipsets all contained one northbridge, and one southbridge.

The Modern Chipset

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The Northbridge (also knows as the MCH – memory controller hub) along with the Southbridge (also known as the ICH – input / output controller hub) form the core logic components of a computer.

They take data from the CPU and allow it to communicate with all other components in the system.

Northbridge responsibilities.

Southbridge responsibilities.

Northbridge and Southbridge

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The P45 Chipset

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Intel’s most recent chipset, the X58 was a big change in the way previous chipsets were designed (for Intel).

Memory / RAM control.

The old “northbridge” is now known as the Input / Output hub. (confusing) – new responsibilities

The old “southbridge” is now known as the Legacy Input / Output hub. The chip used for the southbridge was not modified enormously for X58.

“Stole” AMD’s design. AMD chipsets have always looked very similar to the X58 chipset.

The More Modern Chipset

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AMD is better about supporting previously released sockets.

AM3 is AMD’s most recent socket, used with their Hexacore and Phenom II CPUs.

More about AMD

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The X58 Chipset

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Affect what type of RAM can be used and the speed of RAM that can be used.

Faster RAM and higher Overclocks will require a more stable “base clock” on the behalf of the motherboard.

Different numbers of USB, serial, PCI, sockets etc..

Most importantly, determines what processors you are able to put in your computer.

Important Features of Chipsets

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Anything containing a number in the name > 50 is made for use with an “i series” intel processor.

Anything containing a number between 30 and 50 is for use with a Core 2 series or Pentium processor.

Use “details” page on distributor websites to find socket number.

Chipsets cont’d

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DDR (Double Data Rate)

Dual-Channel (and now tri-channel)

Synchronicity

Multiplier

Timing

RAM

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CL: CAS Latency. The time it takes between a command having been sent to the memory and when it begins to reply to it. It is the time it takes between the processor asking for some data from the memory and it returning it.

tRCD: RAS to CAS Delay. The time it takes between the activation of the line (RAS) and the column (CAS) where the data are stored in the matrix.

tRP: RAS Precharge. The time it takes between disabling the access to a line of data and the begin of the access the another line of data.

tRAS: Active to Precharge Delay. How long the memory has to wait until the next access to the memory can be initiated.

CMD: Command Rate. The time it takes between the memory chip having been activated and when the first command may be sent to the memory. Sometimes this value is not informed. It usually is T1 (1 clock cycle) or T2 (2 clock cycles).

RAM Timings

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Peripheral Component Interconnect Express is a computer expansion standard used to replace PCI and AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port).

Used for most modern graphics cards, sound cards and other expansion options such as additional SSDs, etc.

Controlled by Southbridge!

What is PCI-E?

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• Scalable by parallelism.

• More Links…faster performance!

What is PCI-E?

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• x1 – Sound Cards

• x16 – Graphics Cards

• Speed not dependent on physical connections.

What is PCI-E?

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• The 32-bit PCI bus has a maximum speed of 33 MHz, which allows a maximum of 133 MB of data to pass through the bus per second. The 64-bit PCI-X bus has twice the bus width of PCI.

What is PCI-E?

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Most important aspect of overclocking.

The bus that carries data between the CPU and the northbridge.

Faster capable FSB, better performance.

Front Side Bus

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Used as the overclocking frequency for i7 generation chips

Replaces the FSB, so overclocking is different

Not dependent on motherboards.

Base Clock

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Purchasing

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Details Page

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Details Page cont’d

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Details Page, cont’d

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BIOS Features – such as dual bios

Dual/ Triple Channel Memory

Dual CPUs

CPU and Motherboard Temperature Monitors

More Things to Look For