Biostar 865G MICRO 775 Spécifications télécharger pdf (Page 10)

CHAPTER 3

108

All About Motherboards

connecting multiple video cards in the same system is called SLI. If you’re planning a

gaming computer with two video cards, check out a motherboard that supports SLI and

uses the nForce chipset. In motherboard ads, look for the SLI and nForce logos, as

shown in Figure 3-10.

Currently, Intel dominates the chipset market for several reasons: It knows more about its

own Intel processors than other manufacturers do, and it produces the chipsets most com-

patible with the Intel family of processors. Intel’s investment in research and development

also led to the creation of the PCI bus, the universal serial bus (USB), the AGP bus for video

cards, and the Accelerated Hub Architecture.

Chipsets generate heat, but not as much heat as a processor generates. Some chipsets

today have a heat sink installed on top that is appropriate to keep the chipset cool.

These heat sinks are considered part of the motherboard and you should never have to

replace or install one. However, some motherboards, such as the Intel DX58SO board,

have an optional small fan that you can install on top of the North Bridge chipset to

help keep it cool.

BUSES AND EXPANSION SLOTS

As cities grow, so do their transportation systems. Small villages have only simple, two-

lane roads, but large cities have one-way streets, four-lane roads, and major freeways,

each with their own set of traffic laws, including minimum and maximum speeds, access

methods, and protocols. As microcomputer systems have evolved, so too have their

“transportation” systems. The earliest PC had only a single simple bus. Today’s PCs have

four or five buses, each with different speeds, access methods, and protocols. As you

have seen in previous chapters, backward compatibility dictates that older buses be

supported on a motherboard, even when faster, better buses exist. All this makes for a

maze of buses on a motherboard.

SLI logo

nForce logo

Figure 3-10 SLI and nForce logos both by NVIDIA

Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Biostar 865G MICRO 775 Spécifications Page 10