14. Motherboards
Dezső Sima
Fall 2006
 D. Sima, 2006
Overview
•
1 Predecessors
•
2 Desktop motherboards
•
•
•
2.1 Overview
•
2.2 AT
•
2.3 Baby AT
•
2.4 LPX
•
2.5 ATX
•
2.6 NLX
•
2.7 BTX
3 Server/workstation motherboards
4 Overview of the evolution of motherboards
1. Predecessors (1)
AT
Designation
Type
5150 1
IBM/PC
IBM/PC-XT
2
5160 Mod. 087
4.77
16 KB
3/83
8088
4.77
128 KB
64 KB
Soldered+DIPP
no
5 1/4
no
5
-
256 KB
DIPP
no
5 1/4
360 K
10 MB
8
-
8.5"*12"
216*305
5
1/4
1.2 M
-
2
6
12"*13.8"
305*350
Type 1 MOB
360 K
20 MB
2
6
12"*13.8"
305*350
Type 1 MOB
1/2
6
256 KB
512 KB
DIPP
no
5170 Mod. 099
8/84
80286
6
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP
no
3
4
Mod. 339
IBM/PC XT-286
4
8088
4
5162
HD
No. of ISA slots Motherboard size
(standard)
8-bit 16-bit
inches
mm
MB
Chipset
80286
Mod. 319
3
8/81
Mhz
FD
(standard)
Size
KB
Memory
Type
8/84
Mod. 239
2
Proc.
type
5170 Mod. 068
IBM/PC-AT
1
fc
Memory size
Min.
Max.
on-board on-board
Date of
intro.
Remarks
10/85
80286
6
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP
no
3
720 K
30 MB
2
6
9.3"*13.8" 238*350
Type 2 MOB
4/86
80286
8
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP
no
3 1/2
1.44 M
30 MB
2
6
9.3"*13.8" 238*350
Type 2 MOB
4/86
80286
8
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP
no
3 1/2
5 1/4
1.44 M
30 MB
2
6
9.3"*13.8"
238*350
Type 2 MOB
5
8.6"*13"
218*330
9/86
80286
6
640 KB
640 KB
DIPP+SIMM/30
no
1.2 M
20 MB
3
BASIC compiler in PROM, up to two optional5 1/4FD with 160 KB/diskette, the max. on-board memory was increased to 256 KB in 3/83.
Several further models followed with enhanced features.
Baby AT
84-Key keyboard.
101-Key keyboard.
Figure 1.1: Main features of early IBM/PCs
1. Predecessors (2)
ROM
RAM
16-64 kbyte
or
64-256 kbyte
5x ISA/16
Casette
Keyboard
DMA
vezérlő
Parallel Intel 8088
I/O
CPU
PC
8087 arithm.
proc. socket
Figure 1.2: The motherboard of the IBM PC
Source: http://www.tomh.net/museum/mobo/pccassif.html
1. Predecessors (3)
1
8-bit
16-bit
Inches
no
5
-
yes
5
-
372*180
8
-
332*333
yes
3
5
8.6"*13"
330*218
DIPP
yes
3
2
8.6"*13"
330*218
DIPP
yes
~12"*10"
302*256
Compaq Portable 1
11/82
8088
4.77
128 KB
256 KB
Compaq Portable Plus
10/83
8088
4.77
128 KB
640 KB
Compaq Deskpro
6/84
80286
8
128 KB
640 KB
DIPP
Compaq Desktop 286
4/85
80286
8
256 KB
2125 KB
DIPP
Compaq Portable 286
4/85
80286
8
256 KB
640 KB
Compaq Portable II
2/86
80286
8
128 KB
640 KB
Compaq Deskpro 386
9/86
80386
16
Mhz
Memory size
Min.
Max.
on-board
on-board
Motherboard size
Proc.
type
Designation
fc
No. of ISA slots
Date of
intro.
Memory
Type
Chipset
Soldered
no
IDE
Remarks
mm
The Compaq Portable delivered 3/83 was the first 100x compalible IBM/PC clone.
Baby AT
Figure 1.3: Main features of early COMPAQ PCs
2. Main types of motherboards
2.1. Overview (1)
AT
8/84
LPX 2
Enhanced
version
1987
Chipsets
ATX w/riser 5
NLX4
11/96
12/99
Slim
boxes
Baby AT 1
ATX3
Enhanced
version
~1985
BTX7
Efficient
cooling
8/95
Value
oriented
microBTX 7
microATX 6
1/98
Value
oriented
picoBTX7
9/03
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
1
Baby AT: Smaller board size through higher integrated components (chip sets)
2
Non-standardized slimline design with a central mounted riser card allowing 2-3 expansion slots
3
Through better component arrangement reduced cost and EMI emission, integrated AGP (from version 2.02 on)
4
Standardized, improved slimline design with an edge mounted riser card, integrated AGP
5
Low cost slimline ATX design by using a riser card with 2-3 expansion slots
6
Reduced size low cost ATX design with up to four expansion slots
In-line core layout to improve system cooling with scalable board dimensions
7
01
02
03
04
05
Figure 2.1: Genealogy of major form factors
2.1. Overview (2)
PCI
AT
8/84
LPX 2
ATX w/riser 5
NLX4
1987
11/96
12/99
ATX3
Baby AT
~1985
BTX7
8/95
microBTX 7
microATX 6
1/98
picoBTX7
9/03
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
Figure 2.2: Introducing new types of system architectures
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
ISA
EISA
8.33 MHz
8/16-bit
8.33 MHz
32-bit
1987
88
89
PCI
PCI v.2
PCI v.2.11
33 MHz 33 MHz
32-bit
64-bit
90
91
92
93
33/66 MHz
32/64-bit
94
Figure 2.3: Introducing the PCI bus
1995
2.1. Overview (2)
PCI
AT
HUB architecture
8/84
LPX
ATX w/riser
NLX
1987
11/96
Baby AT
12/99
ATX
~1985
BTX
8/95
microBTX
microATX
1/98
picoBTX
9/03
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
Figure 2.2: Introducing new types of system architectures
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
PCI architecture
HUB architecture
P
P
System contr.
MCH
PCI
Perif. contr.
ICH
ISA
Figure 2.4: Contrasting the PCI and the HUB architectures
PCI
2.1. Overview (3)
SIMM/72
AT
DIMM/168
8/84
LPX
ATX w/riser
NLX
1987
11/96
Baby AT
12/99
ATX
~1985
BTX
8/95
microBTX
microATX
1/98
picoBTX
9/03
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
Figure 2.5: Introducing new types of memory modules
00
01
02
03
04
05
2.1. Overview (4)
PCI
AT
ATA
AGP
USB LPC
8/84
LPX
AC ‘97
ATX w/riser
NLX
1987
11/96
Baby AT
PCI-E
SATA
12/99
ATX
~1985
BTX
8/95
microBTX
microATX
1/98
picoBTX
9/03
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
Figure 2.6: Introducing new types of buses
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
2.1. Overview (5)
Date of
intro.
AT
Type of
strandard
Typ. nr. of
I/O-slots
8/84
Quasi-standard
8
Baby AT
~1985
Quasi-standard
LPX (Western Digital)
~1987
NLX
Typical board measures (W*D)
inches
mm
Case
12"*13.8"
305*350
Full AT, Full Tower
7/8
8.6"*13" (~9"-13")
218*330 (~229-330)
Baby AT
Quasi-standard
3/4
9"*13" (~9"-13")
229*330 (~229-330)
Slimline
11/96
Standard
3/4
(8"-9")*(10"-13.6")
(203-229)*(254-345)
Slimline
ATX
8/95
Standard
7
12"*9.6" (~7"-9.6")
305*244 (~178-244)
ATX
MicroATX
1/98
Standard
4
9.6"*9.6"
244*244
MicroATX
ATX with riser
12/99
Standard
2/3
12"*9.6" (~7"-9.6")
305*244 (~178-244)
Slimline
MicroATX with riser
12/99
Standard
2/3
9.6"*9.6"
244*244
Slimline
BTX
9/03
Standard
7
12.8"*10.5"
325*267
BTX
MicroBTX
9/03
Standard
4
10.4"*10.5"
264*267
MicroBTX
PicoBTX
9/03
Standard
1
8"*10.5"
203*267
PicoBTX
W: Maximum allowable width
D: Maximum allowable depth
Figure 2.7: Salient features of major form factors
2.2. AT (1)
8/16-bit
ISA slots
305
DIPP
CPU
(286)
KBD
KBD
PC
350
Figure 2.8: Layout of an AT-motherboard
2.2. AT (2)
DRAM
512 Kbyte
2x 8 bit/
5x 16 bit
ISA
8087 arithm.
proc. socket
Keyboard
PC
Intel 8088
CPU
Figure 2.9: The motherboard of the IBM PC/AT
Source:http://library.thinkquest.org/18268/photos.htm
2.2. AT (3)
This is a Western Digital Disk Drive Interface Card.
This is a Case Interface, both parallel and serial.
Figure 2.10: Adapter cards of the IBM PC/AT
Source:http://library.thinkquest.org/18268/photos.htm
2.3. Baby AT (1)
KBD
Power connectorPC
244
SIMM/30
8/16-bit ISA slots
L2 cache DIPP
CPU
(386)
218
Figure 2.11: Layout of an early Baby AT-motherboard
2.3. Baby AT (2)
KBD
FD
HD
230
PC
PCI/32 slots
SIMM/72
ISA/16 slots
CPU
(Pentium)
L2 cache
218
Figure 2.12: Layout of a late Baby AT-motherboard
2.3. Baby AT (3)
3x PCI/32
PC
System
contr.
4x SIMM/72
3x ISA/16
FD
L2
CPU
Periph.
contr.
IDE
Figure 2.13: Example: A Pentium-based late Baby AT-motherboard
2.4. LPX (1)
PCI/32
ISA/16
I/O
connector
s
PC
330
Riser
card
HD
FD
RAM
SIMM/72
DIPP
L2
cache
229
Figure 2.14: Layout of an LPX-motherboard
2.4. LPX (2)
Figure 2.15: Example: A Pentium-based LPX-motherboard (The PB680 from Packard Bell)
source: http://www.geocities.com/anotherpackardbellsite/en_pb_carte680.htm#1
2.5. ATX (1)
1
Double-high expandable I/O
Figure 2.16: Layout principles of an ATX case
Source: ATX Specification v. 2.01,
Source: http://www.berkprod.com/docs/atx_201.pdf
MIDI/Game port
MIDI/Game port
USB
VGA
Line Out
COM1
Line In Mic In
Figure 2.17: Double height connectors of an ATX motherboard
Source: ABIT SL6 Users’s Manual
http://www.abit.com.tw
PS/2 Mouse
PS/2 Keyb.
2.5. ATX (1)
1
Double-high expandable I/O
2
One chassis fan
3
7
Six full-length slots
6
4
Processor located
near power supply
One power connector
5 Connectors close to
peripheral bays
Easy to access
system memory
Figure 2.18: Layout principles of an ATX case
Source: ATX Specification v. 2.01,
Source: http://www.berkprod.com/docs/atx_201.pdf
2.5. ATX (2)
ATX
Baby AT
AT
Figure 2.19: Placement of the mounting holes on the AT, Baby AT, and ATX motherboards
Source: ATX Specification v. 2.01,
Source: http://www.berkprod.com/docs/atx_201.pdf
2.5. ATX (3)
Main types of ATX motherboards
Early
PCI-based
Late
PCI-based
Early
port-based
Mature
port-based
Serial
port-based
Chipset
430
440
81x/82x
84x/86x
915
Processor
Pentium
PentiumII/
PentiumIII
(slot 1)
PentiumIII
Pentium4
Pentium4
Prescott
Typ.
Memory
I/O
SIMM/72
DIMM/168
IDE/ATA
USB
AGP
PCI-E
Example
Example
Example
Example
2.5. ATX (4)
Early port
based
Serial port
based
Mature port
based
Late PCI
based
AT
8/84
LPX 2
1987
11/96
Baby AT 1
85
12/99
ATX3
~1985
84
ATX w/riser 5
NLX4
8/95
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
Figure 2.20: Main types of ATX motherboards
00
01
02
03
04
05
2.5. ATX (5)
USB
I/O connector
PC
PC
186
Slot1 (Pentium II/III)
PCI/32
AGP
DIMM/168
ISA/16
HD
FD
305
Figure 2.21: Layout of a late PCI-based ATX-motherboard
2.5. ATX (6)
3x ISA/16
4x PCI/32
AGP
ATX connectors
CPU
(Slot1)
System
contr.
PC
4x DIMM/168
BIOS
Peripherial
contr.
Battery
FD
IDE
Figure 2.22: A late PCI-based motherboard for PentiumIIs (MSI’s MS-6111)
(Based on Intel’s 440LX chipset for slot 1 processors (1997)
Source: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/download
2.5. ATX (7)
USB
I/O connector
CPU
(Pentium III)
PC
PC
186
PCI/32
AGP
DIMM/168
ISA/16
HD
FD
305
Figure 2.23: Layout of an early port based ATX-motherboard for Pentium III/Pentium4 processors.
2.5. ATX (8)
CNR
5x PCI/32
ATX connectors
AGP
PC
MCH
CPU
Battery
3x DIMM
BIOS
ICH
IDE
FD
Figure 2.24: Early, port based ATX motherboard for Pentium IIIs (Abit’s SL6)
(based on Intel’s 815 chipset)
Source: http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb
2.5. ATX (9)
4x PCI/32
AGP
ATX connectors
Battery
CPU
(P4)
BIOS
4x DIMM/168
ICH
FD
MCH
PC
IDE
Fgure 2.25: Mature port-based ATX motherboard for Pentium4 processors (Intel’s D865PERL)
Source: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d865perl/index.htm
2.5. ATX (10)
I/O connector
PCI E. x1
244
PCI/32
CPU
(Pentium 4)
PCI E. x16
HD
DIMM/168
SATA
PC
FD
305
Figure 2.26: Layout of a serial-port based ATX-motherboard for Pentium4 Prescott processors.
2.5. ATX (11)
PCI Ex16
BIOS
2x PCI Ex1
MCH
(915P/G)
3x PCI/32
P4 Prescott
Bat
IDE RAID c.
(VIA 6410)
IHC6/6R
4x DIMM
2x USB
Syst. monitoring
2xIDE
4x SATA
IDE
PS
FD
Figure 2.27: Serial port-based ATX-motherboard for Pentium4 Prescotts (MSI’s 915G Combo)
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=3191326
2.6. NLX (1)
PCI/32
HD
FD
I/O
connectors
PC
ISA/16
AGP
Riser
card
330
Slot1
(Pentium
II/III)
SIMM/168
229
Figure 2.28: Layout of an NLX-motherboard
2.6. NLX (2)
Figure 2.29: View of an NLX-motherboard
Source: Intel Corporation, Intel NLX Form Factor
http://www.intel.com
2.7. BTX (1)
Figure 2.30: Overview of BTX-motherboard sizes
Source: Shimpi A.L., „Balanced Technology eXtended (BTX) Form Factor” Sept. 2003
http://www.anandtech.com/
2.7. BTX (2)
I/O connector
PCI E. x1
SATA
HD
PCI/32
267
PCI E. x16
MCH
FD
DIPP/168
CPU
(Pentium4)
PC
325
Figure 2.31: Layout of a micro BTX-motherboard
2.7. BTX (3)
ATX connectors
PC
PCI-X/64
ICH
PCI
IDE
4x DIMM/168
MCH
FD
CPU
Figure 2.32: A micro BTX-motherboard (Intel’s D915GMH)
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/mh
2.7. BTX (4)
Figure 2.33: Temperature distribution in the example motherboard
Source: Shimpi A.L., „Balanced Technology eXtended (BTX) Form Factor” Sept. 2003
http://www.anandtech.com/
3. Server/workstation motherboards (1)
Figure 3.1: Block diagram of a pserial port-based entry level server motherboard ( P8SCT)
Source:http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/E7221/P8SCT.cfm
3. Server/workstation motherboards (2)
IDE
PCI-X
64bit
4x DIMM
2x GbE
ATX connectors
PCI
MCH
E7221
ICH
IPMI
CPU
IDE
Figure 3.2: Example: A P4-based ATX-board for entry-level servers (The P8SCT from Supermicro)
Source:http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/E7221/P8SCT.cfm
3. Server/workstation motherboards (3)
IPMI: Intelligent Platform Management Interface
(Intel, HP, DELL, NEC)
•
Set of common hardware and firmware interfaces to manage the system remotely
•
Operates independently of the OS
•
Operates even in the absence of the OS or if the monitored system is not powered on
•
Alerts can be sent out via a serial or LAN connection to a remote client (from v. 1.5 on)
•
It allows to query platform status, to review hardware logs, etc.
IPMI consists of a main controller, called BMC (Baseboard Management Controller)
and other satellite controllers.
3. Server/workstation motherboards (4)
Remote
Mgmt. Card
MODEM
/ Serial
LAN
ICMB
Bridge
Controller
“sideband”
IPMB (I2C)
RS-232
Mgmt
Netwk
Ctrlr
Baseboard NV Store
SMBus/PCI Mgmt. Bus
SDR,
Mgmt.
SEL,
Controller
FRU
I2C/SMBus
(BMC)
PCI
Baseboard
SENSORs
& control
circuitry
System Interface
System Bus
IPMI Messages
Figure 3.2: IPMI Architecture
Source:http://www.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi
Satellite
Mgmt.
Controller
sensors
& control
circuitry
I2C / SMBus
Aux. IPMB
FRU SEEPROM
Chassis
3. Server/workstation motherboards (5)
Figure 3.3:Blockdiagram of a serial port based DP-server (Intel’s SE7525GP2)
Source: http://www.intel.com/products/server/motherboard
3. Server/workstation motherboards (6)
ICH
HW management
PCI-X 64-bit
IDE
PRO/1000 server
adapter
PCI Expr. x8
PCI
PCI Expr. x16
MCH
(I7525)
Registered
ECC DDR
Dual
Processor
ATX
connectors
Figure 3.4: Serial port based DP-server board of ATX style (Intel’s SE7525GP2)
Source: http://www.intel.com/products/server/motherboard
4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (1)
On card 1
On-board 2
By the chipset
Examples:
VGA controller
IDE/ATA controller
1
2
On an ISA/PCI adapter card
By dedicated controller chips on the motherboard
Figure 4.1: Evolution of the implementation of I/O controllers
4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (2)
ATX w/riser
~2000
NLX
~1997
Form factors of
announced
motherboards
LPX
~1987
AT
ATX
8/84
~1996
Baby AT
~1985
microATX
~1998
BTX
microBTX
picoBTX
ˇ~2004
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
Figure 4.2: Estimated use of form factors in announced motherboards
03
04
05
4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (3)
ATX w/rise r
~2000
NLX
~1997
Formfactors of
announced
motherboards
LPX
~1987
AT
ATX
8/84
~1996
Baby AT
~1985
m icroATX
~1998
BTX
m icroBTX
picoBTX
ˇ~2004
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
8088
6/79
286
2/82
386
10/85
486
4/89
Processors used
in the motherboards
Pe n tiu m
3/93
Pe n tiu m Pro
11/95
Pe n tiu m II
5/97
Pe n tiu m III
3/99
Pe n tiu m 4
11/00
Figure 4.3: Estimated use of supported processor types in announced motherboards
04
05
4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (4)
ATX w/rise r
~2000
NLX
~1997
LPX
~1987
AT
Formfactors of
announced
motherboards
ATX
8/84
~1996
Baby AT
~1985
m icroATX
~1998
BTX
m icroBTX
picoBTX
ˇ~2004
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
DRAM
1981
FPM
~1987
EDO
DRAM technology
and packaging
1995
S DRAM
~1996
DIPP
1981
RDRAM
2000
S IPP/30
~1983
S IMM/30
~1984
S IMM/72
~1989
DIMM/168
1995
Figure 4.4: Estimated use of DRAM technology and packaging style in announced motherboards
4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (5)
ATX w/ri se r
~2000
NLX
~1997
LPX
~1987
AT
Formfactors of
announced
motherboards
ATX
8/84
~1996
Baby AT
~1985
m i croATX
~1998
BTX
m i croBTX
pi coBTX
ˇ~2004
79
80
81
82
83
84
8
16
1981
1984
IS A
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
PC I
1992
93
94
95
96
97
98
v2.0
v2.1
v2.2
1993
1995
1998
99
00
01
02
03
04
v2.3
2002
PC I-X
2004
2000
US B
PC I-E
1.0
2.0
1996
2002
2004
LPC
Supported I/O
1997
2x
4x
8x
1997
1999
2002
AGP
SCSI
~1991
ATA
1991?
ATA-2
1995
ATA/33
ATA/66 ATA/100
1999
1997
2000
1.0
S ATA
Implemented on-board
Implemented on-chipset
2003
MbE
1991?
GbE
2002
AC /97
1999
2000
2001
Figure 4.5: Estimated I/O-support in announced motherboards
05