StartSomethingPC

At first I will write a bit basic knowlegde about PC Technics. So let’s start with motherboards.

In my first article I want to list the different types of motherboards (also called system board), a essiential part of our pc systems:

AT

The origin of the AT Board was in IBM PC XT Systems in the eighties. The size is 13 x 9 inches and it was used till 1996 as ATX appears. A typical indicator of this board is the DIN keyboard connector.

ATX

The ATX Board was developed from the AT Board and it appeared in 1996. The size of this system board was 12 x 9.6 inches and it was incompatible with AT Boards because of the prerequisite of a different case and a different power supply. The main improvements were an I/O Connector on board, a single power connector, CPU and RAM location changed, internal I/O connectors were replaced, better cooling and lower production cost.

- Micro ATX

The Micro ATX Board appeared in 1997 with a size of 9.6 x 9.6 inches. It was a version of the ATX boards for smaller and cheaper systems: smaller size, fewer expansion slot connectors and a weaker power supply could be used.

- Flex ATX

The Flex ATX Board appeared in 1999 with a size of 9 x 7.5 inches. An even smaller version of the ATX board for small and extremely cheap systems.

NLX

This Board appeard in 1996 and it has a size of 13.6 x 9 inches. It was specially designed for low cases. An expander is used for insertion, it is very flexible with a fast and easy maintanance.

WTX

The WTX Board appeard in 1999 with a size of 14 x 16.7 inches and it was designed for graphic workstations with two CPUs, support for future processors and RAM technologies. Of course it needed a stronger powers supply.