Intel D850GB P4 Motherboard

Intel are known more for their line of incredibly successful processors than their motherboards, but if the D850GB is any indication, they can definitely hold their own with the likes of motherboard companies such as MSI. The D850GB is a Pentium 4 socket 423 motherboard built around the well performing and stable i850 Tehama chipset and supports the classic 5 PCI and 1 AGP configuration.

With dual RDRAM channels supporting up to 2.0GB of RIMM memory the D850GB offers the performance or workstation user the expandability for true expansive use. Individuals interested in doing a little overclocking on the side will find little to no tweaking tool with this motherboard - this is Intel after all. During our tests we found the board to live up to its expectations in terms of reliability, and even managed to surprise us with its performance abilities.

Intel D810E2CA3 Motherboard

We are currently witnessing a flooding of high performance motherboards on the market today. These days, the fastest motherboard may only be marginally faster than the slowest ones available. Without a doubt, the mainboard and chipset market is no less than cutthroat. Though most users are accustomed to seeing such products available in abundance, a significant portion of the market remains interested on those products that focus upon the delivery of good business performance at a low cost.

As we will see in this review, the Intel D810E2CA3 "Cayman 3" motherboard is one such motherboard providing very good performance in business applications at a reduced overall cost. The D810E2CA3 is based upon the Intel 810E2 chipset and comes outfitted with ATA 100 support, 4 USB ports, 4 PCI slots and 2 DIMM sockets in a micro ATX layout.

With a feature set like this, the line between business and high end motherboards seems to be a lot less defined.

Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 LGA775 ATX Motherboard

Designed for enthusiasts with extreme over-clocking and blistering gaming performance in mind, the GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 is based on the killer combination of the newest Intel X48 chipset plus support for the latest multi-core processors up to FSB 1600MHz, including the Intel 45nm processors. The GA-X48-DQ6 is CrossFireX enabled with true dual PCI-E 2.0 x16 connectivity for the ultimate in extreme gaming performance. Built tough to provide maximum stability, durability and performance for even the most hard-core gamers, the GA-X48-DQ6 delivers several advanced GIGABYTE innovations including the Ultra Durable 2 design, featuring top quality electronic components which provide optimized power savings, ultra cooling and extended system durability.

Features:

* Revolution energy saving design with DES technology
* Supports Intel Core 2 multi-core and 45nm processors.
* 1600 MHz FSB (Front Side Bus) support.
* DDR2 1200 memory with Intel ECC technology featuring faster speeds and higher data bandwidth
* High quality CPU power module with Ferrite Core Chokes, Lower RDS (on) MOSFETs and Lower ESR Solid Capacitors.
* Supports ATI CrossFireX with Dual PCI-E 2.0 x16 graphics for extreme gaming performance.
* High speed Gigabit Ethernet with Green design for power consumption
* ALC889A with DTS Connect enables high quality Full Rate Lossless Audio and support for both Blu-ray and HD DVD.
* Features SATA 3Gb/s with Quad eSATA 2 interface.
* Quad BIOS for an extended level of protection.
* Quad-Triple Phase Power Design for ultimate system stability.
* 2 Gigabit Ethernet LAN through Teaming.

Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe Motherboard

When Intel introduced the Socket 775
platform and the ICH6 Southbridge, it did something radical, it removed a parallel IDE channel. Intel reasoned that the IDE standard had reached its maximum capability and that Serial ATA would quickly replace IDE due to its vast technological advantage.

Hard drive manufacturers quickly adopted the new standard however it still took the public a few years to move over. Optical drive makers on the other hand (aside from Plextor) have not moved over to the Serial ATA architecture and to the dismay of other manufacturers and consumers, continue to release primarily IDE devices.

Like it or not, Intel is forcing the hands of everyone to adopt the Serial ATA architecture by completely dropping IDE from its ICH8 Southbridge. Other chipset manufacturers are also starting to loose support for IDE, with nVIDIA's latest nForce 500 series chipsets the latest example.

In this review, PCSTATS is testing the Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe motherboard. This board is based on Intel's P965 Northbridge and ICH8 Southbridge chipsets. With Intel phasing out IDE, motherboard manufacturers have been scrambling trying to fill the void since Serial ATA optical drives are difficult to find. Biostar address the lack of native IDE channels by integrating a separate IDE controller onto the Tforce P965 motherboard in the form of a VIA VT6410. Other integrated goodies on this full sized ATX board include Gigabit LAN,7.1 channel high definition Intel Azalia audio, a flurry of USB2.0 jacks, and expansion slots.

Biostar TA690G AM2 AMD 690G Motherboard

For most of its existence, the AMD processor
platform has heavily depended on third party chipsets made by VIA, nVIDIA, ATI, ALI, or SIS. It's fortunes were tied to the performance and capabilities of 3rd party core logic. In 2006 AMD gobbled up the Canadian videocard company ATi. ATI had been making headway with its own line of motherboard chipsets, and for the first time since this merger AMD has had its own in-house motherboard chipset to pair with an Athlon64 processor. The last time the planets aligned like this was with the AMD750 Irongate (Slot A) and the AMD760 (Socket A, SMP platform), but in each of those situations that was core logic born out of utter necessity.

ATi's experience in building chipsets is not a long tale, but its pre-AMD merger platforms seriously challenged stock from Intel and nVIDIA's stables. The ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset is still considered faster than Intel's 975X, and that was certainly quite a feat at the time. However, the real winner in ATI's line up was a little known chipset slated for release at the time of the merger, the 'RS690.' Intended to be married with an AMD Athlon64 processor, the 'RS690' was said to beat the pants off nVIDIA's extremely popular GeForce 6100 & 6150 series...

Asus CUV4X Motherboard

Asus is perhaps the most prominent motherboard maker around, they are renown for quality, stability and speed. The Asus CUV4X hopes to carry on the tradition, while using the VIA 133Z (essentially the 133A, except for Socketed processors) chipset.
The Asus CUV4X comes complete with an instruction manual, a driver CD, an UltraATA/66 cable, a serial port connector, USB connector, as well as a floppy drive cable. All for about $168 CDN / $113 USD

As with all Asus motherboards, the CUV4X is just a plain brown PCB. The CUV4X uses the VIA 133Z chipset which enables a few important features, these include native ATA66 compatibility as well as AGP 4X, and true PC133/133mhz FSB support.

The CUV4X supports Celeron's and PIII's in PPGA and FCPGA form factors.

ASrock Penryn 1600SLI X3-WiFi nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Asrock's motherboards are made with affordability in mind, and thus the boxes are pretty light when it comes to the bundle. It's one of those 'consider yourself lucky to see a SATA or IDE cable thrown in for free' manufacturers, which is okay because ASrock motherboards are inexpensive, and generally well enough built. The Asrock Penryn 1600SLI X3-WiFi motherboard breaks this mold somewhat by offering consumers a $125 platform with a bevy of multi-videocard, integrated wireless networking and quad-core Intel processor support.

The Penryn1600SLI X3-WiF motherboard is built on nVidia's nForce 680i SLI chipset, and as you may have guessed this platform supports Intel 'penryn' quad core, 45nm 'yorkfield' and dual core 'wolfdale' processors. Essentially, Intel's full family of 45nm quad and dual core chips, ranging from 800-1600MHz front side bus are spec'd out as compatible, with the following caveat... 1600MHz FSB processor support comes to us care of overclocking mode, it's not native. nVidia's nForce 680i SLI chipset technically only accomodates up to 1333MHz FSB processors, so keep that in mind.

AOpen AX4C Max i875P Motherboard Review

While DDR memory crept into mainstream Pentium 4 systems in 2002, back then users looking for top of the line performance still had to go with RDRAM. The i850E/PC1066 RDRAM combo held the performance crown for most of last year, but in 2003 things are turning out to be totally different. Cast aside the i850E chipset and RDRAM which have gone the way of the dodo, and the new king of the hill is clearly Intel's i875P chipset a.k.a. "Canterwood."

As for the actual performance and architectural differences between the i865PE and i875P which runs with DDR memory, we'll get to that in just a bit.

Intel had previously road mapped the Pentium4 from 533MHz FSB to 667MHz with the "Springdale" chipset. Springdale-based motherboards were originally expected to support 667/533/400MHz FSB Pentium 4 processors, but with Canterwood everything has been shifted towards 800MHz FSB.

These changes were announced on November of 2002 during Comdex Fall 2003, much to the surprise of motherboard manufacturers
who had many 667MHz FSB Springdale motherboards actually on display. When we take into account AMD's recent rise to 400 MHz FSB, Intel's mirroring of this bus speed change in November of last year now makes more sense.

ASRock 775V88 VIA PT880 Motherboard Review

There's little doubt that Asus is one of the technological leaders in the motherboard industry. One area that Asus had not previously explored much is the entry-level market, where companies like Biostar
, ECS, and others have a strong foothold. Traditionally, Asus' motherboards have been built to satisfy the needs and wants of higher-end systems and price points, with features to match. Since the entry-level motherboard market is extremely large, and determined foremost by prices, you can understand why Asus would want to try its hand at it eventually.

Asus had a bit of a branding problem to deal with first though. How do you enter this market when you're known as an exclusively mid to high-end parts provider? To avoid diluting its respected motherboard brandname, Asus decided to create a new subsidiary focused entirely on entry-level motherboards and peripherals, and thus ASRock was born.

Compaq 283983-001 Intel 845 Socket 478 mATX MB w/VID SND & LAN

Ready to build or upgrade your system? Get it going with this Compaq 283983-001 mATX Motherboard! It features the Intel 845 chipset with support for Intel Pentium 4 and Celeron processors up to 3.06 GHz CPU speeds and 400/533 MHz bus speeds!

This Compaq 283983-001 mATX Motherboard has integrated video, audio and Ethernet and supports up to 2 GB PC-3200 DDR memory. With two IDE controllers and one floppy controller, you can easily hook up a hard drive, optical drive and a floppy drive!

For expansion, this Compaq motherboard offers the user many options with one AGP slot, three PCI slots and two 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets! There are plenty of I/O ports including PS/2, 9-pin serial, 15-pin VGA, 25-pin parallel, USB and audio ports for connecting additional PC peripherals!

Intel STL2 Dual Socket 370 Server MB w/VRM & LAN

The STL2 motherboard's scalability provides the performance needed for today's unpredictable e-Business economy. It supports up to two Intel Pentium III processors with 133MHz system bus and six PCI slots. Two of the PCI slots are on an independent, 64-bit/66MHz PCI bus, which provides added I/O throughput. Additional server technologies include the Intel PRO/100+ Fast Ethernet Controller, Ultra160 SCSI storage, 4GB of PC133 ECC SDRAM memory capacity and Intel server management
Order yours now!

Intel D915GMHLK Intel 915G Socket775 mBTX MB w/VID SND & LAN

Upgrade your PC or use this Intel D915GMHLK socket 775 mBTX motherboard as a building block for building your own system!

This socket 775 mBTX motherboard is based on the Intel 915G chipset with support for socket 775 Intel Pentium 4 processor Extreme Edition with 800 MHz system bus, socket 775 Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting Hyper-Threading technology with 533/800 MHz system bus, and socket 775 Intel Celeron D Processor with 533 MHz system bus (click on link for complete list of supported processors).

Four DIMM sockets support up to 4 GB DDR SDRAM. Key features include Intel Media Accelerator 900 graphics, Intel High Definition Audio, and 10/100/1000 LAN. There's plenty of room for expansion with one PCI Express x1 slot, one PCI Express x16 slot, and two PCI slots. Order today!

ASUS M3N78 Pro Motherboard Review

Integrated graphics on the motherboard are a bit of a joke on the Intel side of things with the NVIDIA GeForce 7050 and Intel G45 being the king of the hill on that side of the fence. Both have issues in that the GeForce 7050 is DirectX 9.0c only and the Intel chipset has issues with numerous games and performance isn’t the greatest.

The AMD side of the integrated graphics battle is a lot better with solutions from both NVIDIA and ATI that support DirectX 10.0 and performance that while not the same class as the latest graphics cards from either company, do the job. NVIDIA launched the GeForce 8300 motherboard chipset in July and it supports DirectX 10 natively. Today the motherboard on the test bench is the ASUS M3N78 Pro which is based upon the GeForce 8300 motherboard chipset.

Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Motherboard Review

The Intel P45 Express chipset has been amazingly competitive within the market the true successor to the P35 chipset that preceded it. Every major motherboard manufacturer with the obvious exception of AMD and certain NVIDIA partners that use NVIDIA chipsets only such as EVGA and XFX has at least 3 P45 motherboards in their lineup.

Gigabyte is a Tier-1 motherboard manufacturer based in Taiwan and is a favorite among the hardcore enthusiast crowd due to their tweaking options on their boards. A couple of years ago Gigabyte introduced the Ultra Durable brand of technologies to lower power usage and increase overclocking capability. Ultra Durable 3 the latest generation of these technologies was introduced last month. Today I’m reviewing the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard based upon their Ultra Durable 3 technology.

ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe Motherboard Review :: Introduction

AMD has been making chipsets for their CPUs for years now. Their latest high-end chipset is the AMD 790FX which was launched along with the SB600 as the ultimate solution for their CPUs. For the most part, the 790FX was an excellent choice but there were a couple of deficiencies in the SB600 chipset that were fixed in the launch of the SB750 Southbridge. This new Southbridge was launched with the 790GX motherboard chipset and today several motherboard manufacturers have built motherboards with the new combination, making for a powerful choice on the AMD side of things.

ASUS motherboards have long been a favorite of mine here at Motherboards.org. In point of fact, every motherboard in our personal systems is all based upon ASUS motherboards. ASUS has long been known as an excellent innovator on the motherboard front with high-end enthusiasts loving their boards due to the excellent overclock ability, the features and the tweaking that their boards allows and general high performance make ASUS boards excellent choices for the consumer. The general negative of their boards is the higher price compared to the competition, but again here is where the quality of their boards comes in. Today’s review is of the ASUS M3A79-T board that combines the old 790FX chipset with the SB750.

Intel DX48BT2 Motherboard Review :: Introduction

Intel is the number one motherboard chipset manufacturer in the world to go along with being the number one CPU supplier to the computing public. The high-end enthusiasts in the market use Intel based motherboards but generally stay away from their branded motherboards. Intel is trying to get into the enthusiast market with boards like the DX48BT2 which is supposed to be for overclockers with their BoneTrail platform of which this is the motherboard component.

The X48 Express chipset was launched a month or two ago to great acclaim as it introduced new features like the FSB 1600MHz CPUs (Yorkfield) and sported a new MCH. The X48 chipset has been a success in the market place as AMD’s Phenom has not been a successful launch in terms of performance and features. Today’s review is on their branded DX48BT2 motherboard which Intel touts is for the overclocker and is geared for the enthusiast

ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition Motherboard Review :: Introduction

Microsoft's recent release of the new Vista Operating System has changed the software and hardware landscape in ways that are just now becoming apparent. Motherboards with integrated graphics have become almost passe, as the requirements for the Vista Premium OS are high. The vast majority of CPUs on the market today are Dual-Core or more. Memory requirements for applications are fast overcoming the 1GB level. Manufacturers have to work harder and harder on drivers as the XP model has completely changed.

NVIDIA is one of the leading companies on the computer market today. With 2006 revenue exceeding 3 Billion USD, NVIDIA has diversified itself from being the video card chipmaker to entering into handheld, console, motherboard chipsets and more. ASUS manufactures motherboards based upon NVIDIA chipsets among other chipsets. One of the most popular ASUS motherboards over the last year has been the M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. ASUS has recently updated the motherboard to better serve the Vista customers in the form of the ASUS M2N32-SLI which is on the test bench today.

ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus Motherboard Review :: Introduction

The big push today with computers is the support of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and Dual Core or even Quad Core CPUs. Intel released the Core 2 and Quad Core CPUs last year regaining the performance lead from AMD in the processor front. On the motherboard chipset front, Intel has released the 965P chipset and is about to release a new chipset for the 45 nanometer processors coming in the next few months.

NVIDIA announced the nForce 680i SLI chipset last year for the Intel platform. After a bit of an aborted start of their 590 SLI platform for Intel, NVIDIA decided to move on to their next chipset after only a few nForce 590 SLI boards were shipped to the market place. A mere six months after the nForce 590 SLI chipset was born, NVIDIA released the nForce 680i chipset with slightly modified features and better overclocking. They also launched the 650i SLI chipset for the performance-enthusiast and the nForce 650 chipset for the low-end and mainstream.

ASUS manufactures motherboards, video cards and other computer components. With the launch of the nForce 680i SLI chipset, ASUS released the Striker Extreme and P5N32-E SLI motherboard. It is a bit confusing but today's board on the review bench is the P5N32-E SLI PLUS motherboard based upon the nForce 650 SLI chipset, but the PCB design fits in with the Striker Extreme board which is on the 680i chipset. This board on paper seems like a very high-quality product, lets take a deeper look and see if this board really has what it takes to be a winner.

EPoX Optimus EP-AD580 XR Motherboard Review :: Introduction

EPoX is a second-tier motherboard manufacturer based in Taiwan founded in 1995, over 10 years ago. They have quiet as of late in the US market, as the ever-changing motherboard market has mostly ignored their motherboards except for a few vendors. Recently, EPoX has re-emerged in the US market with a line of motherboards called Optimus, named I guess after the Transformer Optimus Prime. Long-time comics and cartoon fans know the Transformers are the Autobots versus the Decepticons and the board is styled after that series in a conceptual sort of way.
Multiple GPU solutions have taken the form of two main competitors, SLI and Crossfire from NVIDIA and ATI, respectively. While many more motherboards support Crossfire than SLI, due to ATI's relaxed stand towards other manufacturers having Crossfire support (i.e. Intel), NVIDIA's SLI solution has the lion's share of the market of multiple-GPU solutions actually in use (Steam survey 3/1/2007 NVIDIA 96%, ATI 4%.) Today, the motherboard on the review slate is the EPoX Optimus AD580 XR motherboard.

abit AB9 QuadGT Motherboard Review :: Introduction

abit is one of the better known motherboard manufacturers out of Taiwan. It along with other motherboard manufacturers like ASUS and GIGABYTE have released motherboards based upon virtually every chipset available, as they sell millions of motherboards in a month and are considered Tier-1 motherboard manufacturers. Intel is the biggest CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturer in the world.

Intel is also easily one of the largest tech companies with thousands of employees and many products that meet every portion of the market. Intel launched the 965P chipset last year to replace the 945P chipset in the mainstream. The board on the test bench today is abit's AB9 QuadGT based upon Intel's P965 chipset. The AB9 QuadGT shares a lot in common with the AB9 Pro I reviewed earlier this year, with support for Quad Core CPUs added (hence the name).

EVGA 780i SLI Motherboard Review :: Introduction

NVIDIA was founded in 1993, and is best known for building kick ass video card chipsets. Over the last few years they’ve branched out into different markets including the consoles (Xbox 360, PS3), handheld graphics market, and notebook graphics. They entered the motherboard market in 2001 with the release of the original nForce series of motherboards which introduced features like GeForce 2 MX class integrated graphics, SoundStorm and other features into the motherboard market.

EVGA is best known for building NVIDIA video cards and their excellent technical support, but they have recently gone into making motherboards based upon NVIDIA chipsets as well. EVGA has built motherboards based upon the nForce 650i SLI, nForce 680i SLI and now the new nForce 780i SLI chipsets. The board on the test bench today is the nForce 780i SLI board from EVGA. It’ll be interesting to see how the new chipset will fare against the Intel X38 and P35 platform and how the 780i SLI fares against the older 680i platform. There a few new feature sets with the 780i, but beyond that there are not many changes with the it so performance increases should be minimal

Zebronics Unveils Biostar TP35 T-Force Motherboard

Zebronics (TopNotch Infotronix) has launched Intel P35/ICH9R and P35/ICH9 chipsets-based Biostar TP35 motherboards.

The Intel P35 Express Chipset supports new technologies such as 1333 MHz System Bus speed, next-generation 45nm dual- and quad-core processors, and DDR3 memory to deliver system bandwidth and performance.

Pradeep Doshi, director (Sales) of Topnotch Infotronix, said that Biostar P35 DDR2 boards will bring performance computing to the mainstream, which is the core segment in India right now. "We haven't just focused on the DDR3 variant. The DDR2 based P35 T-Force series board is also available readily through Zebronics Not only is DDR3 memory expensive, its availability is also scarce, especially in the non-metro cities," he added.

With built-in design headroom, Intel Fast Memory Access (Intel FMA), and Intel Turbo Memory platforms, based on the Intel P35 Express Chipset, enable best-of-class performance and offer the best value for performance desktop computing.
Biostar TP35D2-A7 and TP35D3-A7 Deluxe boards are now available through Zebronics partners.

Gigabyte to Train Partners on Energy Saver Mobos

Motherboard and graphics card manufacturer Gigabyte United plans to train partners on its new range of Dynamic Energy Saver motherboards, which, the company claimed, deliver power savings of up to 70 per cent and up to 20 per cent improved power efficiency.

Gigabyte will launch a series of regional events to promote the new product. "We'll undertake a series of events across India to train partners about the Energy Saver, once the financial year is over," said Arthur Liu, sales manager-Asia Region, Gigabyte United. The company also unveiled X48, X38 and P35-based motherboards.

According to Liu, the company aims to ship around 800 K motherboards in India in 2008. Fifty to 60 per cent of that shipment will consist of the Energy Saving motherboards. The Energy Saver is already available in the Indian markets at a slightly higher price than that of traditional motherboards.

The Dynamic Energy Saver features proprietary software and hardware design, including components from Intersil. The multi-gear power phase design of the product allows for efficient switching of power phases depending on CPU work loading. When the CPU work loading is light or at idle, the Dynamic Energy Saver downshifts gears and only allows the minimum required power phases needed to accomplish the task to operate. As soon as the workload increases, the motherboard is able to shift into higher gear, turning on power phases, as they are needed.

The motherboard interface allows users to turn on and off the power-saving features with a simple click of a button. The product enables users to see real-time CPU power consumption in Watts and also record the power saved in a set period.

Gigabyte to Sell One Million Mother Boards

Gigabyte has adopted an aggressive go to market strategy, aiming at achieving a robust growth in 2008. At its recently concluded Annual Sales Meet to review 2007 and plan for 2008, Gigabyte India has embarked on a target of 1 million motherboards sales-out.

In the meeting attended by Gigabyte India sales team, a team of senior managers from Gigabyte TWN including James Lo, Arthur Liu and Alan Szu, it has been decided that the company will focus on the higher end and gaming solutions in motherboard, and VGA segment in India.

In the words of P. Vyas, managing director of Gigabyte (India), "We have created a strong foothold in the motherboards and VGA market in the year 2007 - 2008, shipping above 500K motherboards in channels. An achievement - which has boosted the morale of the entire Gigabyte team, and ensuring a platform to target 1 million motherboards in the new fiscal."

"After a successful last fiscal, we will get more aggressive not only in the tier 1 markets, but also in the B, C and D locations - by strengthening our channels and RMA infrastructure. We will have 38 Direct RMA locations within this month. Our installed base in India is over 2 million, and we assure the best post sales network to our customers. We will work more closely with all our distributors, vendors, and strengthen our position in India and globally," informed Rajan Sharma, general manager (MB and VGA BU) - Gigabyte India

Intel Offers Motherboards Targeting Kind of Use

Intel Corporation has launched 3 new motherboards, namely, Desktop Board DX48BT2 Extreme Series, Desktop Board DG35EC Classic Series and Desktop Board D945GCLF Essential Series.

The keyboards, individually aimed at the extreme gamer, the mainstream multi-media user, and the entry-level PC users, enable a number of features for today's PCs, such as - greater PC performance, clearer definition video and low-powered technologies.

Tom Rampone, vice president, Sales and Marketing Group, and general manager, Channel, Intel, says, "From ultimate gaming bliss, to crisp high definition, to the most-affordable internet-centric desktop, Intel continues to push the boundaries of world-class desktop offerings. As the demand for desktops across the board moves from strength to strength, we are also quickly moving towards more feature differentiation and innovation down our product roadmap."

According to the company, for extreme gaming performance, Desktop Board DX48BT2 Extreme Series board unleashes the fastest native 1600 MHz front side bus and memory support, providing powerful performance and extreme overclockability.

For mainstream users, who want to experience a new level of 3D and media crispiness, the Desktop Board DG35EC Classic Series board's built with sharpest performing integrated graphics, supported on Intel architecture, informs the manufacturer.

Belonging to an exciting new category of computers called Nettops - a new family of affordable desktop computing devices purpose-built for Internet-centric usage models - the Desktop Board D945GCLF is an affordable and unique motherboard, which integrates a single unit of computer with a microprocessor, chipset, motherboard, and heat sink, communicates Intel.

Gigabyte Unveils New AMD AM2+ Platform MB

Gigabyte, a manufacturer of motherboards (MB) and graphics cards, has extended its line up of AMD 780G based motherboards to include the new ATX form factor. The new motherboard, Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H, features the first DirectX 10 IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) solution for the AM2+ platform.
Based on the AMD 780G chipset, the GA-MA78G-DS3H offers support for AM2 Athlon processors as well as the latest AM2+ Phenom processors with ultra-low latency, high bandwidth Hyper Transport 3.0 (5200MT/s) technology.

At the heart of the MB lies the ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics core, featuring support for DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL2.0. The new MB is able to boost the GPU frequency up to 950 MHz, delivering UMA graphics performance with a 3DMARK06 score of 2000 or higher, the company claimed.

The AMD 780G meets the HDCP specification for output protection management and security specifications of the latest Blu-Ray media format. Featuring support for ATI UVD (Universal Video Decoder) technology and ATI Avivo technology, the MB provides picture clarity at resolution up to Full HD 1080P for fine image quality and smooth playback. High-Definition multimedia support is carried throughout the Radeon HD 3200 outputs, which include not only D-Sub and DVI, but also HDMI to support numerous monitors.

The GA-MA78G-DS3H also provides an additional PCI-E 2.0 x16 graphics interface and a PCI-E2.0 x4 expansion slot to support the ATI Hybrid Graphics technology, allowing users to combine the power of their integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics core by adding an additional discrete graphics card, for enhanced 3D gaming performance, productivity and power efficiency.

ATI SurroundVIew provides support for 4 or more monitors with the addition of a discrete graphics card, allowing users to maximize their productivity while ATI PowerPlay enables power-saving profiles to help reduce power consumption when the graphics processor is idle or in minimal use for reduced system temperatures and fan noise.

The motherboard is equipped with the built-in high-definition 7.1 + 2 channel Realtek ALC889A audio chip, whose 106dB signal-to-noise ratio reduces noise during signal transmission.

The GA-MA78G-DS3H also features a solid capacitor design for the CPU VRM, providing system stability and reliability.

Gigabyte's Motherboard Delivers Power Efficiency

Gigabyte has announced the launch of the G31 Series Motherboards based on the Intel G31 chipset. These motherboards use Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saver technology, and deliver huge power savings and better power efficiency for the computers.

The company offers two models in this series - GA-EG31M-S2 and GA-EG31MF-S2. The former has Ultra Durable2 design for its CPU Voltage Regulator Module (VRM). This ensures better cooling, lower power loss and longer lifespan for computers in daily operation, and boosts system stability even under extreme conditions.

"Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saver Series Motherboards are able to provide exceptional power savings of up to 70% improved power efficiency, without sacrificing computing performance, our entry model GA-EG31M-S2 is DES compliant," said Rajan Sharma, general manager (MB and VGA BU) of Gigabyte India.

According to a Gigabyte communique, these motherboards are compatible with high-end processors including Intel Core 2 multi-core and 45nm processors. The motherboards come equipped with dual Channel DDR2 800 memory.

These also have the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 that supports Microsoft DirectX 9.0 and Windows Vista Aero experience, which improves realism and delivers excellent graphics performance.

Armed with the SATA specification, the bus bandwidth of the G31 Series is now doubled from 1.5Gb/s to 3Gb/s. The Native Command Queuing specification enables out-of-order execution of commands for efficient retrieval of data.
The Gigabit network interface delivers a high-speed LAN connection with data transfer rates - up to 1000Mb/s, gearing you up for the broadband and streaming video era. Also, supported is theIEEE1394 Fire Wire interface from Texas Instruments (TI). With transfer speeds of up to 400Mb/s, this new generation interface enhances PC connectivity with consumer electronics audio/video (A/V) appliances, and storage peripherals.

Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 is priced at Rs.5500, and Gigabyte GA-EG31MF-S2 is priced at Rs.6000. They are distributed in India by Avnet, Ingram Micro and Redington.

The new specifications of ASUS

Electrostatic Discharge Protection (ESD)

ASUS has designed motherboards that surpasses the EU s strict static electricity standards and provide users with protection against such static discharge in the most commonly used scenarios for example the front USB ports. Each USB port on the motherboard is protected against static electricity discharge.

Overcurrent Protection for Safe Computing

An overcurrent is a current that exceeds the amperage rating of the external device (flash memory, hard disks, and etc.) or other active components in a circuit (e.g., ICs). When you connect an external device (e.g. external HDD) with a flawed circuit into your PC system, it might cause an overcurrent. ASUS s motherboards are designed with an installed circuit that acts like fuses and circuit breakers to detect an overcurrent condition when the current reaches a value that will cause an excessive or dangerous temperature rise in conductors and in doing so, protecting your external devices, ICs and the safety of the users themselves.

ASUS Data Guardian (TPM) for Total Data Security

The ASUS Data Guardian (TPM support) provides ultimate data security protection for the user s personal data by creating a virtual folder that is protected by an encryption key and then stored on a USB portable drive allowing users to store their most valued and secret data safely against unauthorized access.

Drive Xpert The Easy and Safe Way for Data Management

Drive Xpert solves all the dilemmas and is ideal for anyone who needs to secure their data on their hard drives or enhance hard drive performances without the hassles of complicated configurations. With Drive Xpert's exclusive user-friendly graphical user interface, users can easily arrange hard drive backups or enhance their hard drive transfer rates - making sure that data is looked after every moment, every day.

Data Security with Asus Motherboards

Asus, manufacturer of motherboards, has announced key motherboards innovations to offer users the ultimate data security. Available in the P5Q series and other top-notch motherboards, these innovations include ESD and over current protection for safeguarding users against electrostatic discharges, and over current; as well as Asus Data Guardian (TPM) and Drive Xpert for data security and backup.

Commenting on the launch, Vinay Shetty, business manager (Components) of Asus, said, These new motherboards feature ASUS s exclusive EPU technology, which optimizes the power consumption according to the application being run and reduce power consumption by up to 80.23 percent. This will greatly benefit all end-users with low power consumption and help to conserve the environment by lower emission levels. Also, the other new innovations in these motherboards will appeal equally to end-users across all segments.

This motherboard has 10 USB 2.0 ports (four soldered on the motherboard and six available thru I/O brackets, which didn’t come with the motherboard)

On the storage side, this motherboard has a total of six SATA-300 ports, four provided by the south bridge (ICH8) and two provided by a JMicron JMB363 chip. The ports controlled by the chipset do not support RAID, as the south bridge used is ICH8 and not ICH8R, however the two ports controlled by the JMicron chip supports RAID0, RAID1 and JBOD. One of these two ports is located externally, for connecting an external drive. This port is different, as it is a port multiplier connector, so you can’t use a regular SATA cable on it.

Port multiplier is a technology targeted to external hard disk drives, allowing you to connect up to 15 Serial ATA hard disk drives to a single SATA-300 port. In order to use more than one SATA HDDs on this port you need an external port multiplier bridge, which is an external device sold separately. The hard disks are connected to this device, while this device is connected to this port multiplier port, which, in turn, is internally connected to one of the SATA ports controlled by the JMicron JMB363 chip on the motherboard. Read our Everything You Need to Know About Serial ATA tutorial to learn more about port multiplier.

It is very important to notice that the single ATA/133 port available on this motherboard is controlled by the JMicron chip, not by the chipset. This means that if you still have a parallel IDE optical drive it will only be recognized on Windows after you install JMicron’s driver. The problem is that this driver comes on the motherboard CD-ROM, and you won’t be able to install it, as the system does not recognize your optical drive. You can download the driver from the net, however the driver for the on-board LAN port is also on the CD-ROM… The only option you have is to copy the JMicron driver from the CD to a floppy disk or a USB pen drive using another PC. This problem happens not only with this motherboard from ASUS, but also with all other motherboards based on Intel P965 chipset we’ve seen to date. Of course if you have a SATA optical drive you won’t face this issue.

This motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port, controlled by the south bridge using a Realtek RTL8111B to make the physical layer interface.

The audio section from this motherboard provides 7.1 audio, produced by the south bridge chip with the aid of an Analog Devices AD1988A codec. This codec provides a better signal-to-noise ratio for its inputs compared to Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 and MSI P965 Platinum – 90 dB against 85 dB. The signal-to-noise ratio for its output is of 95 dB and it supports up to 192 KHz sampling rate for its inputs and outputs (the one used by the two abovementioned boards from MSI and Gigabyte support 192 KHz only for their outputs, with their inputs limited to 96 KHz).

On the rear panel (Figure 3) you can find the Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 2.0 ports, separated analog audio inputs/outputs (7.1 format), SPDIF coaxial and optical outputs, one external SATA port, one parallel port, PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard connectors. The serial port is missing here but you still can use it by installing an I/O bracket, but this bracket didn’t come with the board we reviewed.

ASUS P5B Motherboard Review

ASUS P5B is a socket 775 motherboard targeted to new Core 2 Duo family, as it is based on the new Intel P965 chipset. One of the main advantages of this new chipset is its unofficial support for DDR2-1066/PC2-8500 memories, feature present on this motherboard from ASUS. Let’s see how this motherboard from ASUS performed against competitors from Gigabyte and MSI.

Right now there are four P5B versions: P5B, P5B-E, P5B Deluxe and P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP. Our review is based on the basic model, P5B. P5B-E uses ICH8R south bridge instead of ICH8 like on P5B, so on this board there are six SATA-300 ports controlled by the chipset supporting RAID (0, 1, 10 and 5) plus two extra ports controlled by a JMicron chip. P5B-E has also two Firewire ports. The rest of the specs are equal to P5B. P5B Deluxe has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two x16 PCI Express slots (the second one running at x4), only one x1 PCI Express slot and a passive cooling solution using a heat-pipe. The rest of the specs are the same as P5B-E. P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP is identical to P5B Deluxe but features a wireless access point supporting IEEE 802.11b/g (up to 54 Mbps).

This motherboard uses a passive cooling solution on its chipset and does not use any cooling solution on its voltage regulator transistors, as you can see on Figure 1.This motherboard provides one x16 PCI Express slot, three x1 PCI Express slots and three standard PCI slots.
On the memory side, ASUS P5B has four DDR2-DIMM sockets, supporting up to 8 GB officially up to DDR2-800, however this motherboard supports DDR2-1066/PC2-8500 memories (we installed four DDR2-1066 modules and they worked just fine at 1,066 MHz). On this motherboard sockets 1 and 3 are yellow and sockets 2 and 4 are black. Configuring DDR2 dual channel on this motherboard is pretty easy: just install each module on a socket with the same color.

AMD CPUs have taken a backseat to the Intel juggernaut as of late

The latest AMD Phenom X4 9850 does not have the performance to match the latest Intel Core 2 Quad CPUs. AMD has been forced to compete in price/performance and even there they are fighting a losing battle as the Intel Q6600 outperforms the 9850 but offers the same price online today.
AMD announced their Spider platform last year with the launch of their 790FX motherboard chipset and the Phenom 9600 series.

Unfortunately due to a TLB error, and subpar performance compared to Intel equivalents this platform was not as successful as it could have been. With the release of the Phenom B3 revision, the platform and CPU performance has come up to par with the Intel equivalently priced CPU. Gigabyte is a Tier-1 motherboard manufacturer based in Taiwan. They are well known for their high-end motherboards, video cards and other computer components. They have motherboards based upon virtually every known motherboard chipset from AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, VIA and S3. Today’s board review is based upon the AMD 790FX chipset and the board is the Gigabyte MA-790FX-DS5.

Gigabyte's Motherboard Delivers Power Efficiency

Gigabyte has announced the launch of the G31 Series Motherboards based on the Intel G31 chipset. These motherboards use Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saver technology, and deliver huge power savings and better power efficiency for the computers.

The company offers two models in this series - GA-EG31M-S2 and GA-EG31MF-S2. The former has Ultra Durable2 design for its CPU Voltage Regulator Module (VRM). This ensures better cooling, lower power loss and longer lifespan for computers in daily operation, and boosts system stability even under extreme conditions.

"Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saver Series Motherboards are able to provide exceptional power savings of up to 70% improved power efficiency, without sacrificing computing performance, our entry model GA-EG31M-S2 is DES compliant," said Rajan Sharma, general manager (MB and VGA BU) of Gigabyte India.

According to a Gigabyte communique, these motherboards are compatible with high-end processors including Intel Core 2 multi-core and 45nm processors. The motherboards come equipped with dual Channel DDR2 800 memory.

These also have the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 that supports Microsoft DirectX 9.0 and Windows Vista Aero experience, which improves realism and delivers excellent graphics performance.

Armed with the SATA specification, the bus bandwidth of the G31 Series is now doubled from 1.5Gb/s to 3Gb/s. The Native Command Queuing specification enables out-of-order execution of commands for efficient retrieval of data.

The Gigabit network interface delivers a high-speed LAN connection with data transfer rates - up to 1000Mb/s, gearing you up for the broadband and streaming video era. Also, supported is the
IEEE1394 Fire Wire interface from Texas Instruments (TI). With transfer speeds of up to 400Mb/s, this new generation interface enhances PC connectivity with consumer electronics audio/video (A/V) appliances, and storage peripherals.

Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 is priced at Rs.5500, and Gigabyte GA-EG31MF-S2 is priced at Rs.6000. They are distributed in India by Avnet, Ingram Micro and Redington.

Gigabyte Unveils New AMD AM2+ Platform MB

Gigabyte, a manufacturer of motherboards (MB) and graphics cards, has extended its line up of AMD 780G based motherboards to include the new ATX form factor. The new motherboard, Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H, features the first DirectX 10 IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) solution for the AM2+ platform.

Based on the AMD 780G chipset, the GA-MA78G-DS3H offers support for AM2 Athlon processors as well as the latest AM2+ Phenom processors with ultra-low latency, high bandwidth Hyper Transport 3.0 (5200MT/s) technology.

At the heart of the MB lies the ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics core, featuring support for DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL2.0. The new MB is able to boost the GPU frequency up to 950 MHz, delivering UMA graphics performance with a 3DMARK06 score of 2000 or higher, the company claimed.

The AMD 780G meets the HDCP specification for output protection management and security specifications of the latest Blu-Ray media format. Featuring support for ATI UVD (Universal Video Decoder) technology and ATI Avivo technology, the MB provides picture clarity at resolution up to Full HD 1080P for fine image quality and smooth playback. High-Definition multimedia support is carried throughout the Radeon HD 3200 outputs, which include not only D-Sub and DVI, but also HDMI to support numerous monitors.

The GA-MA78G-DS3H also provides an additional PCI-E 2.0 x16 graphics interface and a PCI-E2.0 x4 expansion slot to support the ATI Hybrid Graphics technology, allowing users to combine the power of their integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics core by adding an additional discrete graphics card, for enhanced 3D gaming performance, productivity and power efficiency.

ATI SurroundVIew provides support for 4 or more monitors with the addition of a discrete graphics card, allowing users to maximize their productivity while ATI PowerPlay enables power-saving profiles to help reduce power consumption when the graphics processor is idle or in minimal use for reduced system temperatures and fan noise.

The motherboard is equipped with the built-in high-definition 7.1 + 2 channel Realtek ALC889A audio chip, whose 106dB signal-to-noise ratio reduces noise during signal transmission.

The GA-MA78G-DS3H also features a solid capacitor design for the CPU VRM, providing system stability and reliability.

Intel Offers Motherboards Targeting Kind of Use

ntel Corporation has launched 3 new motherboards, namely, Desktop Board DX48BT2 Extreme Series, Desktop Board DG35EC Classic Series and Desktop Board D945GCLF Essential Series.

The keyboards, individually aimed at the extreme gamer, the mainstream multi-media user, and the entry-level PC users, enable a number of features for today's PCs, such as - greater PC performance, clearer definition video and low-powered technologies.

Tom Rampone, vice president, Sales and Marketing Group, and general manager, Channel, Intel, says, "From ultimate gaming bliss, to crisp high definition, to the most-affordable internet-centric desktop, Intel continues to push the boundaries of world-class desktop offerings. As the demand for desktops across the board moves from strength to strength, we are also quickly moving towards more feature differentiation and innovation down our product roadmap."

According to the company, for extreme gaming performance, Desktop Board DX48BT2 Extreme Series board unleashes the fastest native 1600 MHz front side bus and memory support, providing powerful performance and extreme overclockability.

For mainstream users, who want to experience a new level of 3D and media crispiness, the Desktop Board DG35EC Classic Series board's built with sharpest performing integrated graphics, supported on Intel architecture, informs the manufacturer.

Belonging to an exciting new category of computers called Nettops - a new family of affordable desktop computing devices purpose-built for Internet-centric usage models - the Desktop Board D945GCLF is an affordable and unique motherboard, which integrates a single unit of computer with a microprocessor, chipset, motherboard, and heat sink, communicates Intel.

MSI K9A2 Platinum Spec Sheet

AMD CPUs including the Phenom X4 9750 and the Phenom X3 8750 CPUs that were just launched. MSI needs to update their spec sheet. Note, that for the latest CPUs you need to have the latest BIOS update to 1.4 from the MSI website. That’s one advantage of the AMD platform; a simple BIOS update may be all that is needed to install a new CPU.
HyperTransport 3.0 is the latest version of the bus that AMD uses to communicate between the CPU and the chipset. The AMD 790FX chipset supports HT 3.0 for up to 5200 megabits/second bandwidth between the chipset and CPU. When an older chipset like the AMD 690G works with a newer CPU like the Phenom X3, HyperTransport is limited to the 2.0 specification as the chipset doesn’t have the speed of the CPU, but with the 790FX chipset this isn’t an issue as the chipset fully supports HTT3.0.
AMD video cards have a feature that NVIDIA video cards can’t do at the moment, they can put four cards in CrossFireX mode while NVIDIA has limited this to three. The 790FX chipset is the first one with support for four ATI cards in CrossFireX mode. The MSI K9A2 Platinum has four PCI Express x16 slots for that express purpose. Note, that the last PCI Express x16 slot may interfere with your FDD port as the heat sink of a HD3870 covers the port when installed. When four video cards are installed, the chipset operates the cards in x8 x8 x8 x8 mode.

CPU

Supports 64-bit AMD® Phenom FX / Phenom processor (Socket AM2+)
Supports Phenom FX CPU: FX-82
Supports Phenom CPU: 9700, 9600, 9500 & 8000 Series
Supports 64-bit AMD® Athlon 64FX / Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 processor (Socket AM2)
Supports Athlon 64 CPU: 3500+, 3800+
Supports Athlon 64FX CPU: FX-62
Supports Athlon 64 X2 CPU: 3800+, 4000+, 4200, 4400+, 4600+, 4800+, 5000+, 5200+, 5400+, 6000+, 6400+

Chipset

AMD 790FX (AMD RD790) Chipset
HyperTransport connection to AMD Phenom/Athlon processor
HyperTransport supporting speed up to 2.6GHz (5200mt/s)
Supports 4 PCI-E x 16, & 1 PCI-E X 1
ATI SB600 Chipset
Supports SATAII controllers for four drives
Supports single channel Ultra DMA 66/100/133 master mode EIDE controller
ACPI & PC2001 compliant enhanced power management
Supports Hi-Speed (USB2.0) controller 480 mbsec transfer rate up to 10 ports

Main Memory

Supports 4 240-pin DDR2 SDRAMs up to 8GB memory size
Supports Dual Channel DDR2 800/1066 DDR2 SDRAM
Supports 1.8v DDR2 SDRAM DIMM
Example: Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 PC-6400 operates at 2.0V, 4-4-4-12. For more information about specification of high performance memory modules, please check with your Memory Manufactures for more details.

Slots

Four PCI Express X16 slots , support ATI CrossFire Technology (PCI Express Bus Specification v2.0 compliant)
{Slot configurations: Dual CrossFire (16X+16X), Triple CrossFire (16X+8X+8X), Quad CrossFire (8X+8X+8X+8X)}
One PCI Express X1 slot
Two 32-bit PCI slots (3.3v/5v PCI Bus Master slots)
On Board IDE/SATA
An IDE controller on the ATI SB600 chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66 operation modes.
Can connect up to 2 IDE devices
SB600 supports 4 SATA II ports (SATA1-4). Transfer rate is up to 300MB/s.
Supports up to 4 SATA
RAID 0 or 1, 0+1 is supported
RAID function` work w/ SATA/SATAII HDDs
Promise T3 controller supports 2 SATAII (SATA5/6)(SAS ready) & 2eSATA ports
RAID 0, 1, or 0+1 is supported
RAID function work with SATA/eSATA HDDs

BIOS

The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically.
The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
Supports boot from LAN, USB Device 1.1 & 2.0 and SATA HDD

Audio

8 Channel software audio codec Realtek ALC888
Compliance with Azalia v1.0 spec.
Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing

LAN

Realtek® 8111B LAN chip
Supports 10Mb/s, 100Mb/s and 1000Mb/s
Compliance with PCI-Express v1.0a

IEEE1394

VIA VT6308P controller
Support up to 2 IEEE 1394 ports (rear x 1 / front x 1)
Transfer rate up to 400 mbps.

On-Board Peripherals

1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes
1 serial port (supported by pin-out)
1 audio jack (5-in-1), coaxial/fibre SPDIF out
10 USB 2.0 ports (Rear x 4 / Front x 6)
1 RJ45 LAN jack
2 eSATA ports
2 IEEE 1394 a connectors (Rear x 1/ Front x 1)
1 CD-in pinheader

Dimension

12 in (L) x 9.75 in(W) ATX Form Factor

Mounting

9 mounting holes

MSI K9A2 Platinum Review

Intel motherboards dominate the market since their CPUs also dominate the market. Their main rival in the consumer business AMD has continued to struggle with their business mainly due to the inability of their CPUs to compete with their Intel counterparts, with the announcement that they lost $300 million USD in their last quarter. AMD has continued to have a market among the mainstream CPU market as their CPUs are competitive with the mainstream Intel CPUs while AMD competes well with the Intel mainstream CPUs. MSI is still a major player in the motherboard market with motherboards being a small portion of their lineup that includes graphics cards, barebones systems, notebook computers and more. They have mostly been ignored by this site due to some issues. I’m reviewing the MSI K9A2 Platinum Edition motherboard today based on AMD’s 790FX chipset.

What Does a Motherboard Do All Day?

All the other devices in your PC such as the microprocessor, memory, drives, multimedia cards, printer, and monitor all "plug" into the motherboard in one way or another. Once connected to the motherboard, each device is able to send data to the main memory. Main memory is a holding ground for the data and instructions the CPU needs in order to complete tasks. When the CPU requests data, the memory locates it, then sends it over to the CPU via a pathway on the motherboard called the system bus. When the processor finishes processing the data, it sends the result back to the memory, which in turn sends it back to the device that needs it. The motherboard's chipset coordinates and controls the speed and timing of those interactions.

On the right is a diagram of a motherboard. Notice it is made up mostly of sockets, slots, connectors, and ports. The two primary exceptions are the chipset and the BIOS chip, which are built into the board.

The chipset is the most important part of a motherboard; it is largely responsible for the stability and performance of the board, and it determines which features are supported and which are not. Some well known motherboard chipset manufacturers include Intel, Via, SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems Corp.), AMD, and Nvidia. ATI has recently entered the core logic market as well.

The BIOS (basic input/output system) is responsible for booting up the computer when you first turn it on. It also helps control the flow of data between the operating system and hardware devices. Traditionally, the BIOS was on a ROM (read only memory) chip to ensure that its instructions would never be erased. However, all modern motherboards now have the BIOS on flash memory, which enables the BIOS to be "flashed" (updated) if desired. Further, most modern motherboards even have dual BIOS, which is described in more detail in "Special Features" below.

Motherboard

A motherboard is the central or primary circuit board making up a complex electronic system, such as a modern computer. It is also known as a mainboard, baseboard, system board, planar board or, on Apple computers, a logic board, and is sometimes abbreviated as mobo.

Most motherboards produced today are designed for so-called IBM-compatible computers, which held over 96% of the global personal computer market in 2005. Motherboards for IBM-compatible computers are specifically covered in the PC motherboard article.

A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane also contains the central processing unit and other subsystems such as real time clock, and some peripheral interfaces.

A typical desktop computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components on the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via edge connectors and cables, although in modern computers it is increasingly common to integrate these "peripherals" into the motherboard.