Research Paper On Motherboards

2 Pages 440 Words

Research Paper on Motherboards
There are many types of motherboards ranging in size and shape. The first motherboard appeared in 1981 and was made by IBM PC. It measured 8” x 11.5” and had five expansion slots that were positioned 1” apart in the back, left of the board.
The XT(Extended Technology) computer came about in 1982 and measured about 8.5” x 12” inches. This board had a total of eight expansion slots positioned at 0.8” apart.
The first AT(Advanced Technology) board measured 12” x 13.5” and also had eight expansion slots spaced 0.8” apart. The popular form of the AT became the main model made by manufacturers.
Mini At(8.7” x 18”) and Baby AT(8.57” x 13.04”) made it possible to put all of the components onto the board using less physical space. These designs made the mini-tower and mini-desktop form factor possible.
The ATX(Advanced Technology Extended-style_ form factor was introduced in 1995 which made it easier for manufacturers to produce motherboard designs. The ATX had a maximum size of 12” x 9.6” and looked like a Baby AT board rotated 90 degrees. The board has a special design to accommodate the new, larger Pentium processors.
Western Digital came up with the design for LPX(Low Profile Extended) motherboard in 1986 for corporate use. It made it possible to reduce space and costs, and soon lead to the creation of the slim-line “pizza box” style case which was meant to fit underneath a typical monitor. Expansion slots on the LPX style motherboard, were not built into the board itself, they were instead set on a riser card that plugged into the single slot connector on the motherboard.
But there were a few problems with the LPX motherboards. There were only a few certain full-length I/O cards allowed for the board. Also, the installation of the I/O cards generated clutter while creating several temperature pockets that prevented good airflow through the system. Another problem was...