1. Alaplapok
Sima Dezső
2010 őszi félév
(Ver. 2.0)
 Sima Dezső, 2008

2. Contents 1. Predecessors 2. Desktop motherboards 2.1 Overview 2.2 AT
2.3 Baby AT
2.4 LPX
2.5 ATX
2.6 NLX
2.7 BTX
3. Server/workstation motherboards
4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards

3. 1. Predecessors

4. 1. Predecessors (1) Figure 1.1: Main features of early IBM/PCs AT
Date of
Proc. fc
Memory size
Memory FD HD
No. of ISA slots
Motherboard size
Designation
Type
intro.
type
Min.
Max.
Type
(standard)
Chipset
(standard)
Remarks
Mhz
on-board
on-board
Size KB MB
8-bit
16-bit
inches mm
IBM/PC
5150 1
8/81
8088
4.77
16 KB
64 KB
Soldered+DIPP no 5
1/4 no 5 -
IBM/PC-XT
5160 Mod. 087 2
3/83
8088
4.77
128 KB
256 KB
DIPP no 5
1/4
360 K
10 MB 8 -
8.5"*12"
216*305
5170 Mod. 068
8/84
80286 6
256 KB
512 KB
DIPP no 5
1/4
1.2 M - 2 6
12"*13.8"
305*350
Type 1 MOB
IBM/PC-AT
5170 Mod. 099
8/84
80286 6
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP no
360 K
20 MB 2 6
12"*13.8"
305*350
Type 1 MOB
Mod. 239
10/85
80286 6
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP no 3
1/2
720 K
30 MB 2 6
9.3"*13.8"
238*350
Type 2 MOB
Mod. 319 3
4/86
80286 8
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP no 3
1/2
1.44 M
30 MB 2 6
9.3"*13.8"
238*350
Type 2 MOB
Mod. 339 4
4/86
80286 8
512 KB
512 KB
DIPP no 3
1/2
1.44 M
30 MB 2 6
9.3"*13.8"
238*350
Type 2 MOB
IBM/PC XT-286
5162 4
9/86
80286 6
640 KB
640 KB
DIPP+SIMM/30 no 5
1/4
1.2 M
20 MB 3 5
8.6"*13"
218*330 1
BASIC compiler in PROM, up to two optional 5
1/4
FD with 160 KB/diskette, the max. on-board memory was increased to 256 KB in 3/83. 2
Several further models followed with enhanced features. 3
Baby AT
84-Key keyboard. 4
101-Key keyboard.
Figure 1.1: Main features of early IBM/PCs

5. 1. Predecessors (2) Figure 1.2: The motherboard of the IBM PC
ROM
RAM
16-64 kbyte or
kbyte
5x ISA/16
Casette
Keyboard
DMA
vezérlő
Parallel
I/O
Intel 8088
CPU
8087 arithm.
proc. socket PC
Figure 1.2: The motherboard of the IBM PC
Source:

6. Figure 1.3: Main features of early COMPAQ PCs
1. Predecessors (3)
Baby AT
Figure 1.3: Main features of early COMPAQ PCs

7. 2. Main types of motherboards

8. 2. Main types of motherboards
2.1. Overview (1) AT
8/84
LPX 2
NLX 4
ATX w/riser 5
Enhanced version
1987
11/96
12/99
Chipsets
Slim boxes
Baby AT 1
ATX 3
BTX 7
Enhanced version
Efficient
cooling
~1985
8/95
Value
oriented
microATX 6
microBTX 7
1/98
Value
oriented
picoBTX 7
9/03 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 1
Baby AT: Smaller board size through higher integrated components (chip sets) 2
Non-standardized slimline design with a central mounted riser card allowing 2-3 expansion slots 3
Through better component arrangement reduced cost and EMI emission, integrated AGP (from version 2.02 on) 4
Standardized, improved slimline design with an edge mounted riser card, integrated AGP 5
Low cost slimline ATX design by using a riser card with 2-3 expansion slots
Figure 2.1: Genealogy of major form factors 6
Reduced size low cost ATX design with up to four expansion slots 7
In-line core layout to improve system cooling with scalable board dimensions

9. Figure 2.2: Introducing new types of system architectures
2.1. Overview (2) AT
PCI
8/84
LPX 2
NLX 4
ATX w/riser 5
1987
11/96
12/99
Baby AT
ATX 3
BTX 7
~1985
8/95
microATX 6
microBTX 7
1/98
picoBTX 7
9/03 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05
Figure 2.2: Introducing new types of system architectures

10. Figure 2.3: Introducing the PCI bus
1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94
1995
ISA
8.33 MHz
8/16-bit
EISA
32-bit
PCI
33 MHz
PCI v.2
64-bit
PCI v.2.11
33/66 MHz
32/64-bit
Figure 2.3: Introducing the PCI bus

11. Figure 2.2: Introducing new types of system architectures
2.1. Overview (2) AT
PCI
HUB architecture
8/84
LPX
NLX
ATX w/riser
1987
11/96
12/99
Baby AT
ATX
BTX
~1985
8/95
microATX
microBTX
1/98
picoBTX
9/03 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05
Figure 2.2: Introducing new types of system architectures

12. Figure 2.4: Contrasting the PCI and the HUB architectures
PCI architecture
HUB architecture P P
System contr.
MCH
PCI
Perif. contr.
ICH
ISA
PCI
Figure 2.4: Contrasting the PCI and the HUB architectures

13. Figure 2.5: Introducing new types of memory modules
2.1. Overview (3) AT
SIMM/72
DIMM/168
8/84
LPX
NLX
ATX w/riser
1987
11/96
12/99
Baby AT
ATX
BTX
~1985
8/95
microATX
microBTX
1/98
picoBTX
9/03 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05
Figure 2.5: Introducing new types of memory modules

14. Figure 2.6: Introducing new types of buses
2.1. Overview (4) AT
PCI
ATA
AGP
AC ‘97
PCI-E
USB
LPC
SATA
8/84
LPX
NLX
ATX w/riser
1987
11/96
12/99
Baby AT
ATX
BTX
~1985
8/95
microATX
microBTX
1/98
picoBTX
9/03 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05
Figure 2.6: Introducing new types of buses

15. Typical board measures (W*D)
2.1. Overview (5)
Date of
Type of
Typ. nr. of
Typical board measures (W*D)
Case
intro.
strandard
I/O-slots
inches mm AT
8/84
Quasi-standard 8
12"*13.8"
305*350
Full AT, Full Tower
Baby AT
~1985
Quasi-standard
7/8
8.6"*13" (~9"-13")
218*330 (~ )
Baby AT
LPX (Western Digital)
~1987
Quasi-standard
3/4
9"*13" (~9"-13")
229*330 (~ )
Slimline
NLX
11/96
Standard
3/4
(8"-9")*(10"-13.6")
( )*( )
Slimline
ATX
8/95
Standard 7
12"*9.6" (~7"-9.6")
305*244 (~ )
ATX
MicroATX
1/98
Standard 4
9.6"*9.6"
244*244
MicroATX
ATX with riser
12/99
Standard
2/3
12"*9.6" (~7"-9.6")
305*244 (~ )
Slimline
MicroATX with riser
12/99
Standard
2/3
9.6"*9.6"
244*244
Slimline
BTX
9/03
Standard 7
12.8"*10.5"
325*267
BTX
MicroBTX
9/03
Standard 4
10.4"*10.5"
264*267
MicroBTX
PicoBTX
9/03
Standard 1
8"*10.5"
203*267
PicoBTX
W: Maximum allowable width
D: Maximum allowable depth
Figure 2.7: Salient features of major form factors

16. Figure 2.8: Layout of an AT-motherboard
8/16-bit ISA slots
DIPP
305
CPU
(286)
KBD
KBD PC
350
Figure 2.8: Layout of an AT-motherboard

17. Figure 2.9: The motherboard of the IBM PC/AT
DRAM
512 Kbyte
2x 8 bit/
5x 16 bit
ISA
8087 arithm.
proc. socket
Keyboard PC
Intel 8088
CPU
Figure 2.9: The motherboard of the IBM PC/AT
Source:

18. 2.2. AT (3) Figure 2.10: Adapter cards of the IBM PC/AT
This is a Western Digital Disk Drive Interface Card.
This is a Case Interface, both parallel and serial.
Figure 2.10: Adapter cards of the IBM PC/AT
Source:

19. Figure 2.11: Layout of an early Baby AT-motherboard
Power connector
CPU
(386)
KBD
8/16-bit ISA slots
L2 cache DIPP PC
SIMM/30
218
244
Figure 2.11: Layout of an early Baby AT-motherboard

20. Figure 2.12: Layout of a late Baby AT-motherboard
KBD
230 FD PC HD
PCI/32 slots
SIMM/72
ISA/16 slots
CPU
(Pentium)
L2 cache
218
Figure 2.12: Layout of a late Baby AT-motherboard

21. Figure 2.13: Example: A Pentium-based late Baby AT-motherboard
3x PCI/32 PC
System
contr.
3x ISA/16
4x SIMM/72 FD L2
CPU
Periph.
contr.
IDE
Figure 2.13: Example: A Pentium-based late Baby AT-motherboard

22. Figure 2.14: Layout of an LPX-motherboard
PCI/32
ISA/16
I/O connectors PC
330
Riser card HD FD
CPU
Pentium
RAM SIMM/72
DIPP
L2 cache
229
Figure 2.14: Layout of an LPX-motherboard

23. 2.4. LPX (2)
Figure 2.15: Example: A Pentium-based LPX-motherboard (The PB680 from Packard Bell)
source:

24. 2.5. ATX (1) Figure 2.16: Layout principles of an ATX case
1  Double-high expandable I/O
Figure 2.16: Layout principles of an ATX case
Source: ATX Specification v. 2.01,
Source:

25. Figure 2.17: Double height connectors of an ATX motherboard
MIDI/Game port
Line Out Line In Mic In
VGA
COM1
USB
PS/2 Mouse
PS/2 Keyb.
Figure 2.17: Double height connectors of an ATX motherboard
Source: ABIT SL6 Users’s Manual

26. 2.5. ATX (1) Figure 2.18: Layout principles of an ATX case
1  Double-high expandable I/O
2  One chassis fan
3 Processor located near power supply
7 Six full-length slots
4 One power connector
6 Easy to access system memory
5 Connectors close to peripheral bays
Figure 2.18: Layout principles of an ATX case
Source: ATX Specification v. 2.01,
Source:

27. 2.5. ATX (2)
ATX
Baby AT AT
Figure 2.19: Placement of the mounting holes on the AT, Baby AT, and ATX motherboards
Source: ATX Specification v. 2.01,
Source:

28. Main types of ATX motherboards
Early
PCI-based
Late
PCI-based
Early
port-based
Mature
port-based
Serial
port-based
Chipset
430
440
81x/82x
84x/86x
915
Processor
Pentium
PentiumII/
PentiumIII
(slot 1)
PentiumIII
Pentium4
Pentium4
Prescott
Typ.
Memory
SIMM/72
DIMM/168
I/O
IDE/ATA
USB
AGP
PCI-E
Example
Example
Example
Example

29. Figure 2.20: Main types of ATX motherboards
Early port
based
Serial port
based
Late PCI
based
Mature port
based AT
8/84
LPX 2
NLX 4
ATX w/riser 5
1987
11/96
12/99
Baby AT 1
ATX 3
~1985
8/95 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05
Figure 2.20: Main types of ATX motherboards

30. Figure 2.21: Layout of a late PCI-based ATX-motherboard
USB
I/O connector PC PC
186
Slot1 (Pentium II/III)
PCI/32
AGP
DIMM/168
ISA/16 HD FD
305
Figure 2.21: Layout of a late PCI-based ATX-motherboard

31. 2.5. ATX (6)
3x ISA/16
4x PCI/32
AGP
ATX connectors
CPU
(Slot1)
System contr. PC
4x DIMM/168
BIOS
Peripherial
contr.
Battery FD
IDE
Figure 2.22: A late PCI-based motherboard for PentiumIIs (MSI’s MS-6111)
(Based on Intel’s 440LX chipset for slot 1 processors (1997)
Source:

32. 2.5. ATX (7)
USB
I/O connector
CPU
(Pentium III) PC PC
186
PCI/32
AGP
DIMM/168
ISA/16 HD FD
305
Figure 2.23: Layout of an early port based ATX-motherboard for Pentium III/Pentium4 processors.

33. 2.5. ATX (8)
ATX connectors
CNR
5x PCI/32
AGP PC
MCH
CPU
Battery
3x DIMM
BIOS
ICH
IDE FD
Figure 2.24: Early, port based ATX motherboard for Pentium IIIs (Abit’s SL6)
(based on Intel’s 815 chipset)
Source:

34. Source: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d865perl/index.htm
2.5. ATX (9)
4x PCI/32
AGP
ATX connectors
Battery
CPU (P4)
BIOS
4x DIMM/168
ICH FD
MCH PC
IDE
Fgure 2.25: Mature port-based ATX motherboard for Pentium4 processors (Intel’s D865PERL)
Source:

35. 2.5. ATX (10)
I/O connector FD
PCI/32
PCI E. x1
CPU
(Pentium 4) PC
SATA
PCI E. x16 HD
DIMM/168
305
244
Figure 2.26: Layout of a serial-port based ATX-motherboard for Pentium4 Prescott processors.

36. 2.5. ATX (11)
PCI Ex16
MCH
(915P/G)
BIOS
2x PCI Ex1
3x PCI/32
P4 Prescott
Bat
IDE RAID c.
(VIA 6410)
IHC6/6R
4x DIMM
2x USB
Syst. monitoring
2xIDE
4x SATA
IDE PS FD
Figure 2.27: Serial port-based ATX-motherboard for Pentium4 Prescotts (MSI’s 915G Combo)

37. 2.6. NLX (1) 330 229 Figure 2.28: Layout of an NLX-motherboard PCI/32HD FD
I/O connectors PC
ISA/16
AGP
Riser card
330
Slot1 (Pentium II/III)
SIMM/168
229
Figure 2.28: Layout of an NLX-motherboard

38. 2.6. NLX (2) Figure 2.29: View of an NLX-motherboard
Source: Intel Corporation, Intel NLX Form Factor

39. Figure 2.30: Overview of BTX-motherboard sizes
Source: Shimpi A.L., „Balanced Technology eXtended (BTX) Form Factor” Sept. 2003

40. Figure 2.31: Layout of a micro BTX-motherboard
325
I/O connector FD
PCI/32
PCI E. x1
CPU
(Pentium4) PC
SATA
PCI E. x16 HD
MCH
ICH
DIPP/168
267
Figure 2.31: Layout of a micro BTX-motherboard

41. Figure 2.32: A micro BTX-motherboard (Intel’s D915GMH)
ATX connectors
PCI-X/64 PC
ICH
PCI
IDE
4x DIMM/168
MCH FD
CPU
Figure 2.32: A micro BTX-motherboard (Intel’s D915GMH)

42. Figure 2.33: Temperature distribution in the example motherboard
2.7. BTX (4)
Figure 2.33: Temperature distribution in the example motherboard
Source: Shimpi A.L., „Balanced Technology eXtended (BTX) Form Factor” Sept. 2003

43. 3. Server/workstation motherboards

44. 3. Server/workstation motherboards (1)
Figure 3.1: Block diagram of a pserial port-based entry level server motherboard ( P8SCT)
Source:

45. 3. Server/workstation motherboards (2)
2x GbE
ATX connectors
PCI-X
64bit
4x DIMM
IDE
PCI
MCH
E7221
ICH
IPMI
CPU
IDE
Figure 3.2: Example: A P4-based ATX-board for entry-level servers (The P8SCT from Supermicro)
Source:

46. 3. Server/workstation motherboards (3)
IPMI: Intelligent Platform Management Interface
(Intel, HP, DELL, NEC)
Set of common hardware and firmware interfaces to manage the system remotely
Operates independently of the OS
Operates even in the absence of the OS or if the monitored system is not powered on
Alerts can be sent out via a serial or LAN connection to a remote client (from v. 1.5 on)
It allows to query platform status, to review hardware logs, etc.
IPMI consists of a main controller, called BMC (Baseboard Management Controller)
and other satellite controllers.

47. 3. Server/workstation motherboards (4)
SMBus/PCI Mgmt. Bus
Mgmt
Netwk
Ctrlr
LAN
PCI
RS-232
MODEM
/ Serial
“side-band”
Aux. IPMB
Bridge
Controller
ICMB
Remote
Mgmt. Card
Baseboard
Chassis
Satellite
Mgmt.
Controller
IPMB (I2C)
Baseboard
Mgmt.
Controller
(BMC)
NV Store
I2C / SMBus
sensors
& control
circuitry
SDR, SEL, FRU
I2C/SMBus
SENSORs
& control
circuitry
FRU SEEPROM
System Interface
System Bus
IPMI Messages
Figure 3.2: IPMI Architecture
Source:

48. 3. Server/workstation motherboards (5)
Figure 3.3:Blockdiagram of a serial port based DP-server (Intel’s SE7525GP2)
Source:

49. 3. Server/workstation motherboards (6)
ICH
HW management
PCI-X 64-bit
IDE
PRO/1000 server
adapter
PCI Expr. x8
PCI
PCI Expr. x16
MCH
(I7525)
Registered
ECC DDR
Dual
Processor
ATX connectors
Figure 3.4: Serial port based DP-server board of ATX style (Intel’s SE7525GP2)
Source:

50. 4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards

51. 4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (1)
On card 1
On-board 2
By the chipset
Examples:
VGA controller
IDE/ATA controller 1
On an ISA/PCI adapter card 2
By dedicated controller chips on the motherboard
Figure 4.1: Evolution of the implementation of I/O controllers

52. 4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (2)92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 91 90 02 03 01 00 04 05 89 88 87 86 85 84
ˇ~2004
~1998
~1996
~1997
8/84 83 82 81 80
~1985
~1987
LPX AT
Baby AT
NLX
ATX
microATX
BTX
microBTX
picoBTX
Form factors of
announced
motherboards
~2000
ATX w/riser 79
Figure 4.2: Estimated use of form factors in announced motherboards

53. 4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (3)
Figure 4.3: Estimated use of supported processor types in announced motherboards

54. 4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (4)
Figure 4.4: Estimated use of DRAM technology and packaging style in announced motherboards

55. 4. Overview of the evolution of motherboards (5)
Figure 4.5: Estimated I/O-support in announced motherboards