MAY 2005 MA XIMUMPC 3
MOTHERBOARDS:
OTHER COMPONENTS: Motherboard manufactur-
ers can add functions not built into the chipset by
soldering components directly to the mobo’s surface.
Here we see a Silicon Image SATA RAID chip, a Texas
Instruments FireWire controller, and two Broadcom
Gigabit LAN chips. If you have a LAN or FireWire
fetish, jot down the chip make and model to see if it’s
up to your standards before you buy the board.soldering components directly to the mobo’s surface.
Here we see a Silicon Image SATA RAID chip, a Texas
Instruments FireWire controller, and two Broadcom
Gigabit LAN chips. If you have a LAN or FireWire
fetish, jot down the chip make and model to see if it’s
up to your standards befup to your standards befup to your standards befup to your standards befup to your standards befup to your standards before you buy the board.ore you buy the board.ore you buy the board.ore you buy the board.ore you buy the board.ore you buy the board.EXPANSION SLOTS: New boards support a mix
of PCI and PCI Express expansion slots. Drop a
new circuit board into one of these and you can
add new functionality (better graphics and sound,
for instance) to your machine. The long black slot
is a x16 PCI Express slot (for a graphics card); the
small ones are x1 PCI-E slots. The white slots to the
left accommodate legacy PCI cards.new circuit board into one of these and you can
add new functionality (better graphics and sound,
for instance) to your machine. The long black slot
is a x16 PCI Express slot (for a graphics card); the
small ones are x1 PCI-E slots. The white slots to the
left accommodate legacy PCI cards. left accommodate legacy PCI cards. left accommodate legacy PCI cards.NORTH BRIDGE: Under-
neath this fan is the north
bridge chip, which acts as
an interface between the
graphics card and the CPU,
and between RAM and the
CPU. It also communicates
with the south bridge. The
north bridge can also feature
additional high-speed ports
for LAN, and even extra PCI
Express ports. Packed with
more transistors than early
CPUs, these chips will over-
heat if not cooled. If your
motherboard is slow, it’s
usually because the north
bridge is a slacker.CPU SOCKET: This socket
determines which CPUs
your board can accommo-
date. Pay close attention to
the presence of capacitors
near the processor. If you
have your eye on a mon-
strous heatsink to facilitate
overclocking, the part might
not fit if the capacitors on
the mobo are placed too
close to the socket. In that
case, your friend watching
you build your system will
probably snort, “Dude, you
got cap blocked!”NORTH BRIDGE:
neath this fan is the north
bridge chip, which acts as
an interface between the
graphics card and the CPU,
and between RAM and the
CPU. It also communicates
with the south bridge. The
north bridge can also feature
additional high-speed ports
for LAN, and even extra PCI
Express ports. Packed with
more transistors than early
CPUs, these chips will over-
heat if not cooled. If your
motherboard is slow, it’s
usually because the north
bridge is a slacker.CPU SOCKET:
determines which CPUs
your board can accommo-your board can accommo-
date. Pay close attention to
the presence of capacitors
near the processor. If you
have your eye on a mon-
strous heatsink to facilitate
overclocking, the part might
not fit if the capacitors on
the mobo are placed too
close to the socket. In that
case, your friend watching
you build yyou build your system will our system will
probably snort, “Dude, you
got cap blocked!”SOUTH BRIDGE: Underneath this heatsink lies the south bridge chip, which controls
optical and hard drives, USB ports, and PCI and PCI Express expansion slots. It usually
plays second fiddle to the north bridge, but with increasing emphasis on hard drive,
USB, and expansion-card performance, the south bridge is garnering more and more at-
tention. Just a year ago, these chips didn’t require cooling, but now they move so much
data that they demand a heatsink.SOUTH BRIDGE:SOUTH BRIDGE: Underneath this heatsink lies the south bridge chip, which controls
optical and hard drives, USB ports, and PCI and PCI Express expansion slots. It usually
plays second fiddle to the north bridge, but with increasing emphasis on hard drive,
USB, and expansion-card performance, the south bridge is garnering more and more at-
tention. Just a year ago, these chips didn’t require cooling, but now they move so much
data that they demand a heatsink.BIOS: When you turn on
your PC, the motherboard
boots and runs code
contained in the basic input
output system (BIOS). The
BIOS runs tests, preps the
hardware, and then hands
off control to the operating
system. The BIOS is stored
in a small amount of flash
RAM—typically 2MB to
4MB. It must be updated to
support such things as RAM
timing and new processor
features (e.g., Hyper-Thread-
ing or multiple cores).BIOS:BIOS: When you turn on
your PC, the motherboard your PC, the motherboard
boots and runs code
contained in the basic input
output system (BIOS). The
BIOS runs tests, preps the
hardware, and then hands
off control to the operating off control to the operating
system. The BIOS is stored system. The BIOS is stored
in a small amount of flash in a small amount of flash in a small amount of flash
RAM—tRAM—typically 2MB to ypically 2MB to
4MB. It must be updated to 4MB. It must be updated to
support sucsupport such things as RAM h things as RAM
timing and netiming and new processor w processor
features (e.g., Hyper-Thread-
ing or multiple cores).Foxconn’s 925XE7AA is a sweet
motherboard that runs Intel’s top-of-
the-line 925XE chipset.Z
MEMORY SLOTS: These
slots harbor your computer’s
RAM, and their shape hasn’t
changed much since they
were introduced many years
ago. More important than
the number of slots available
is how the core-logic chipset
(or the CPU, in the case of
the Athlon 64) supports it:
Single or dual channel? DDR
or DDR2?MEMORY SLOTS:
slots harbor your computer’s
RAM, and their shape hasn’t
changed much since they
were introduced manwere introduced many years y years
ago. More importago. More important than ant than
the number the number of slots available of slots available
is how the core-logic chipset
(or the CPU, in the case of
the Athlon 64) supports it: the Athlon 64) supports it:
Single or dual channel? DDR
or DDR2?or DDR2?