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Motherboard/CPU What does the Motherboard do? The motherboard is a very important part of your system, and has a great impact on the overall system performance.
Every device in your computer system needs to communicate with a controller that transfers data to and from system memory
where the processor can access it. There is also a controller that coordinates the transfer of data between the processor,
cache and main memory. These controllers determine to a large degree the reliability, compatibility and performance of your
PC, with the majority of them residing on the motherboard itself. In addition to the controller circuitry, most of the other
components on the motherboard are sockets, plugs and pins for connecting devices, cables and wires; or are the devices that
provide timing signals or regulate the power to the various connectors. These include the processor connector, the expansion
card slots and memory slots.
What is a CPU?
A computer executes instructions. Each instruction tells the computer to add, subtract, multiply, divide, or compare
two numbers to see which is larger. This is done by a CPU. The CPU chip doesn't know about spelling, but it is very fast and
accurate handing numbers. Every character that you type, including the space bar, transmits a code to the computer. This code
is the ASCII code.
What is 'Clock Speed'?
The various parts of a computer hold instructions and data. Periodically they send this data along wires to the
next processing station. To coordinate this activity, the computer provides a clock pulse. The clock is a regular pattern
of alternating high and low voltages on a wire. The clock speed is measured in Megahertz. One Megahertz (1 MHz) is a signal
that alternates between high and low values one million times a second. A 66Mh PC has a clock which "ticks" and "tocks" 66
million times each second. Each tick-tock sequence is called a cycle. The clock pulse tells some circuits when to start sending
data on the wires, while it tells other circuits when the data from the previous pulse should have already arrived.
What is a 'Nanosecond'?
All the ads and specifications quoteclock speed in Megahertz. However, the more important number is the length of
time between clock ticks (the cycle time). Such periods are usually measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second) abbreviated
"nsec." Electricity travels through a copper wire just a bit slower than the speed of light. Normally, we can just regard
the speed of light as "very fast." It becomes important when the distances are very long (astronomy) or when the times are
very short (computers). A nanosecond is the amount of time that it takes light (or an electric signal) to travel about one
foot.
What is 'Instructions per cycle'?
To add up a column of numbers with a pocket calculator, you simply type each number in and press the "+" key (or the "="
key at the end). Most users probably think that a PC spreadsheet program does the same thing. However, the human brain has
actually been doing the hard part of the operation, moving down one row in the column, focusing on the number, and recognising
it. Each PC instruction carries with it a number of additional operations that would not be obvious to the casual user. First,
the computer must locate the next instruction in memory and move it to the CPU. This instruction is coded as a number. Enter the CMOS by pressing the "delete" key immediately after turning on the system. I replaced my motherboard and now the mouse and printer don't work. Any suggestions?
Not all serial cable/bracket assemblies work with all motherboards. That is, if you use the cables that should have
come with the motherboards you bought instead of the ones you had installed in your computer from a previous motherboard.
I just loaded the AMI ADCM software from my PC100 CD-ROM Disk and it tells me that my processor is different
than it is supposed to be. Did I receive the wrong processor?
The software you loaded is older than most of the processors we use, and may not identify your processor. Re-boot
your system then the processor should be correctly identified during startup before your operating system loads
Recently an ambulance sounding alarm has started coming from my computer. It only comes occasionally and
lasts about 20 to 30 seconds. Should I get something checked?
Your CPU is probably overheating! If you get that alarm, immediately save your work, shutdown Windows, turn off the computer
until the problem is fixed. You can burn-up the CPU, damage the motherboard, and even melt the thermo-conductive layer on
the bottom of heat sink. This problem is almost always caused by a heat sink-CPU fan, which is defective, missing, not properly
secured to the socket, or not rated/sufficient for the CPU. The motherboard generally has two heat sensors (thermisters),
one for the system and one in the middle of the CPU socket. You can see the temperatures and alarm threshold settings in the
CMOS Setup.
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