Mobo + Processor+RAM=a good start! So far in our A+ unit, we’ve learned about all of the above

Now…..Learning Target today:  Let’s learn about how they fit together  The types of Mobo, CPU, and RAM you may want to consider buying if you were building a computer.

A typical ATX Mobo and her parts:  Drive Controller- sends & received data to your hard drives & optical drives

SATA Drive Controller  Much like a ref. at a soccer match.  Power users favor an onboard serial ATA (SATA) controller  SATA controllers=faster performance than Pentium 4

Spend extra for onboard ports  Onboard drive controller  Onboard USB  FireWire  eSATA (external SATA) ports save an adapter slot  Onboard sound card  Add your own video adapter

Spend more for onboard ports  ATX mobo should have serial and parallel ports onboard

Mobo Shopping Guidelines!  PCI Express Slots for video cards  PCI=Peripheral Component Interconnect technology  Provides better technology for your adapter cards.

MOBO Shopping  Every Mobo carries a set of chips called: –BIOS (Basic input output system) –BIOS determines much of what your computer can do –Also controls what happens for different types of input. –Keeps track of what hard drives and floppy drives you can use.

MOBO Shopping!  BIOS (cont.) –What happens when you press a key on the keyboard –How data is read and written to RAM –Displays the error message –Either Intel, Award, Phoenix, NVIDIA, or AMI

MOBO Shopping!  Flash BIOS -Just like a superhero! -Most mobos include Flash BIOS Enables you to update the capabilities of your computer with new features and bug fixes from the motherboard manufacturer.

Mobo Shopping!  CHOOSE MORE RAM! –The more the merrier! –All mobos have a maximum amount of RAM that they can handle. –A board that supports 3 to 4 GB RAM should be sufficient at the date of this book. –Real techno-nerds or ultra-power users might demand 6 GB of RAM (what I have).