continued from part 1
The motherboard, as its name suggests, is the personal computer's main circuit board.
It's the part of the machine to which other components, like the processor, memory, hard drives and optical drives are attached.
The choice of motherboard defines the machine and, if chosen correctly, future proofs it so far as it is possible in the ever-changing personal computer industry.
The choice of a motherboard depends on three things.
1. The type of personal computer it is intended for.
2. Compatibility with the console into which it will be installed.
3. The ability to accept the intended components with room for expansion.
The motherboard for a machine intended to write the odd letter and send the odd email, for example, need not be so complex as a motherboard for a middle of the road media centre or a high specification gaming machine.
Whatever motherboard is chosen, it must sit comfortably within the console with plenty of room for all the required components.
It's always sensible, too, to have one or more empty expansion slots to add extra memory ornew devices.
Apart from the fact that it fits in the SilverStone GD05 Grandia series SST-GD05B console, which we discussed last week, with plenty of room to spare the Gigabyte S-Series GA-G41M-ES2H motherboard is perfect for a media centre because of its flexibility.
It supports all three Intel Core 2 central processor units, the Extreme, Quad and Duo, as well as the more basic Intel Pentium and Celeron central processor units. Its two DDR2 DIMM sockets support up to 8GB of system memory, it comes pre-installed with the Realtek ALC888B codec which enables it to process high definition audio and it includes three standard PCI slots and one PCI Express slot which channels data faster. It can also handle up to four SATA hard drives, channelling data at 3GB per second, and up to eight USB 2.0 ports, enabling up to eight USB devices such as keyboards, mice, webcams, printers, digital cameras, camcorders and portable music players to be connected simultaneously.
Like most modern motherboards the Gigabyte S-Series GA-G41M-ES2H supports Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems (I suspect it would also run the free Linux Ubuntu operating system but the manufacturers make no such boast) and the driver disk includes a bundled copy of Norton Internet Security.
An alternative, more powerful, motherboard Need A Nerd recommends is the Gigabyte H55M-UD2H which supports more powerful central processor units and twice as much room for memory.
Before it can receive the motherboard the console needs to be unscrewed, the hard drive and optical drive bays removed, and the power supply installed and plugged in although it must remain switched off.
Installing the power supply - we've chosen a Thermaltake EVO Blue 550W-750W first helps earth the console and insulates it against static electricity. Static can cause major damage to both the motherboard, central processor unit and memory.
The Thermaltake EVO Blue 550W-750W power supply comes with a silicone rubber mounting gasket which must be fitted before it can be installed.
Because of the aforementioned static it is necessary to earth one's self to a solid metal part of the console, using an anti-static wrist band which connects to the console via a cable with a crocodile clip on the end.
The motherboard is removed from its protective antistatic sleeve using the hand that is earthed, and must not be handled except by the white plastic PCI slots.
It drops into the console, with half a dozen or so screw holes lining up with nearly as many receiving posts at the console's base. Once clicked into position the motherboard is screwed into place with the screws supplied either with the console or the motherboard.
Then it's time to connect the power supply to the motherboard using the supplied cable.
Both the power supply and motherboard are well labelled, and the cable is keyed meaning it will only fit one way so the connection is made in a matter of seconds.
Believe it or not, that's one of the most difficult parts over.
source:waikato-times continue to part 3
