All language subtitles for 3_Motherboards

The motherboard, the foundation

that holds our
computer together.

It lets us expand our computers

functionality by adding
expansion cards.

It routes power from
the power supply,

and it allows the
different parts of

the computer to communicate
with each other.

In short, it's a total boss.

Every motherboard has a
few key characteristics.

First is the chipset,

which decides how components

talk to each other
on our machine.

The chipset on motherboards
is made up of two chips.

One is called the
Northbridge that

interconnects stuff like
RAM and video cards.

The other chip is
the Southbridge,

which maintains our IO or
input-output controllers,

like hard drives
and USB devices,

that input and output data.

In some modern CPUs,

the Northbridge has been
directly integrated into

the CPU so there isn't a
separate Northbridge chip set.

The chipset is a
key component of

our motherboard that allows

us to manage data
between our CPU,

RAM, and peripherals.

Peripherals are the
external devices

we connect to our computer,

like a mouse, keyboard,
and the monitor.

In addition to the chipsets,

motherboards have another
key characteristic

which allows the use
of expansion slots.

Expansion slots also
give us the ability to

increase the functionality
of our computer.

If you wanted to upgrade
your graphics card,

you could purchase one
and just install it on

your motherboard through
the expansion slot.

The standard for an
expansion bus today is

the PCI Express or

Peripheral Component
Interconnect express.

A PCIe bus looks like a
slot on the motherboard

and a PCIe base expansion card

looks like a smallest
circuit board.

The last component
of motherboards that

we'll discuss is form factor.

There are different size of

motherboards that
are available today.

These sizes of form
factors determine

the amount of stuff
we can put in

it and the amount of
space we'll have.

The most common form factor
for motherboards is ATX,

which stands for Advanced
Technology Extended.

ATX actually comes in
different sizes too.

In desktops, you'll commonly
see full-sized ATXs.

If you don't want to
use an ATX form factor,

you could use an IT or

information technology
extended form factor.

These are much smaller
than ATX boards.

For example, the Intel NUC uses

a variation of the ATX board,

which comes in
three board sizes;

mini ITX, nano
ITX, and pico ITX.

When building your computer,

you will need to keep in mind

what type of form
factor you want.

Do you want to build
something small that

can't handle as much workload,

or do you want

a powerhouse
workstation that you

can add lots of
functionality to?

The form factor will
also play a role into

what expansion slots
you might want to use.

Understanding motherboards

and their characteristics can be

a big plus one fixing
hardware issues since

things like the type of RAM
module or processes socket

are dependent on the kind of

motherboard they
need to fit into.

Let's say you're
responding to a ticket for

a user who's having
video problems,

you don't want to
make it all the

way to their desk
only to realize

the graphics card you
bought as a replacement

doesn't fit the motherboard
their computer uses.