CompTIA A+ 220-1201 (3.5 - Motherboard Form Factors)

Motherboard form factors

Physical size

- Case sizing

• Basic layout

- Room for small changes

• Power

- Standard connectors

• Airflow

- Increasingly important

• Wikipedia: There are 40 different motherboard

types categorized!

What you need to know

• CompTIA exam objectives:

- "3.5 - Given a scenario, install and configure

motherboards, central processing units (CPUs),

and add-on cards."

• Focus on which motherboard would be

the best choice for a scenario

- Memorizing the dimensions of the motherboard

probably isn't the most important thing

- ATX, microATX, or ITX

• Which motherboard would you choose?

- Media center, video editing, thin client, etc.

ATX form factor

• Advanced Technology Extended

• Standardized by Intel in 1995

- Seen many updates over the years

• Power

- 20 pin connector

- 24 pin connector, additional 4/8 pin connector

microATX (uATX, M-ATX)

• Smaller than an ATX motherboard

- Limited expansion slots

• Backward compatibility

- Similar mounting points

- Similar power

• Very popular form factor

- Many different available options

ITX form factor

• A series of low-power motherboards

- Developed by VIA Technologies in 2001

- Small form factor

• Mini-ITX is screw-compatible with ATX

- Fits almost any enclosure

• Small form factor uses

- Single-purpose computing, i.e., streaming media