The motherboard (in English motherboard - mainboard-MB, mobo or M / B) or card
system is a fundamental part of a modern personal computer
: collects in it all the electronic circuitry to interface between the various components and between them and the main bus
expansion and interfaces to the outside. It is responsible for transmitting and correct timing of many hundreds of different signals, all high-frequency, all sensitive to interference: its good for this operation is a key factor in the quality and reliability of the computer.
Detail of a Socket 370 motherboard
It consists of a printed circuit
extremely complex, built from a sandwich
vetronite layers of copper and
: Typically a motherboard can have four six layers of copper. In these tracks are made connecting the components, which must be calculated with great care: at the frequencies normally used by
CPU and RAM memory
in use today, the transmission of electrical signals can no longer be considered instantaneous, but must take account of '
impedance characteristic of the copper and the input and output impedances of the connected components, which affect the flight time of signals from one point in the circuit.
on this circuit board are welded a series of integrated circuits
of sockets and connectors, ICs are the most important
chipset that performs much of the work as an interface between the main components
and bus expansion,
ROM (or PROM, EEPROM or the like) for the
Socket processor and connectors needed for installation of other PC components and expansion cards. The current structure of the computer system boards is the result of a technological evolution that has led to define a system architecture valid, in principle, for all the Class
personal computer or power comparable.
