What is Motherboard in Computer and Types of Motherboard

 Motherboard 

The motherboard is a logic board, baseboard, system board, mainboard, main circuit board, planar board in a short way. It is a nonconductive plastic sheet that has the necessary circuit and place holders like sockets/slots to connect components and provide logistics for all the components to work in a coordinated manner. Thin narrow layers of Aluminum or Copper printed on the plastic sheet of the board acts like a circuit that connects various components. It is a chassis in which all the components are fitted in the designated place and they are all powered and well interfaced with each other.

Motherboards are described using form factor called Advanced Technology extended (ATX) and this form factor is invented by INTEL company and it has been industry standard for years now. ATX not only describes motherboard layout but also lays specification for power supply and PC cabinets and different connectors for compatibility purposes.

Types of Motherboards

Though different motherboards have varying capabilities, limitations, features, Physical size/shapes (form factor), they are identified/grouped/categorized mostly by their form factors. Each manufacturer has come out with its form factor to suit the design of computers. Motherboard manufactured to suit IBM and its compatible computers fit into other case sizes as well. Motherboards built using ATX form factors were used in most of the computers manufactured in 2005 including IBM and Apple.

There are six types of motherboard 

1. LPX Motherboard
2. BTX Motherboard
3. Pico BTX motherboard
4. AT Motherboard
5. ATX Motherboard
6. Mini ITX motherboard

1.LPX Motherboard:

The LPX format is a specialised variant of the Baby-AT used in low profile desktop systems and is a loose specification with a variety of proprietary implementations.

Expansion slots are located on a central riser card, allowing cards to be mounted horizontally. 

However, this arrangement can make it difficult to remove the motherboard, and the more complex engineering required adds to system costs. As the riser card prevents good airflow within the system case, additional chassis fans are almost always needed.

The main disadvantage in this board is the lack of Accelerated Graphic Port (AGP) slots which led to a direct connection to PCI. Issues in these motherboards were addressed in NLX boards.

2. BTX Motherboard:

Balance technology extended (BTX) is a form factor for motherboards that was initially intended to replace the 2004 and 2005 ATX motherboard. 

BTX is designed to decrease power needs and reduce heat. Furthermore, it employs enhanced technology that includes the serial advanced technology attachment (ATA), universal serial bus (USB) 2.0 and peripheral component interconnect (PCI) express. It is standardized by Intel and is not backward compatible with the ATX.

BTX denotes Balanced Technology Extended, intended to manage demands of new technologies in terms of more power requirements hence generation of more heat. Intel stopped further development of BTX boards during the mid-2000s to concentrate on low power CPU.

3.Pico BTX motherboard:

Pico BTX is also a type of motherboard that is meant to manufacture even smaller size BTX standard. It is way smaller than several current “micro” sized motherboards, and share a common top half with the other sizes in the BTX line. Pico BTX Motherboard support only one or two expansion slots, which are designed for half-height or riser-card applications.

wo expansion slots are supported in spite of being sharing the top half of BTX. Half-height or riser cards are its unique features and it supports the demands of digital applications.

4.AT Motherboard:

Advanced Technology motherboard) A motherboard that follows the same design and 12x13" form factor that was in the original IBM AT. It was superseded by the Baby AT. See Baby AT motherboard and PC motherboards.

Bigger physical size also inhibits installing new drivers. Sockets and six-pin plugs are used as power connectors in these motherboards. These power connectors are not that easily identifiable and hence users face difficulties in connecting and using it.

5. ATX Motherboard:

ATX denotes Advanced technology extended, it was developed by Intel during the 1990s and it was an improved version over an earlier version of AT motherboard. It is smaller in size when compared to AT and it provides interchangeability of the connected components. There is a marked improvement in the connector aspects.

Introduced in 1995, the ATX was the first PC motherboard to not only include I/O support (serial, parallel, mouse, etc.), but to place all the connectors directly on the motherboard. Prior to the ATX, only the keyboard connector was attached to the motherboard.

6.Mini ITX motherboard:

he Mini-ITX is a special form factor of motherboard that was designed, developed and introduced in November 2001 by VIA technologies. It is called mini-ITX due to its small size which is 17 × 17 cm or 6.7 × 6.7 inches.

It’s a miniature version of motherboard over its earlier versions. Designed in the early 2000s and its dimension is 17 x 17 cm. Mainly used in small form factor (SFF) computer due to its lower power consumption and faster cooling ability. This motherboard is the most preferred in the home theater domain due to its lower level of fan noise that will improve the quality of the theatre system.