What connectors are on the motherboard and what are they for. You will learn about this in this article.
CPU socket or socket
The processor socket is a large rectangular socket. As a rule, this connector is located at the top of the board.
Connectors are of various types. In order to install a processor on a motherboard, it must be compatible with the socket on the board.
There are cases when the socket type of the processor and the board are the same, but the board does not support this processor model. As a result, such a combination of motherboard and processor will not work.
processor socket or socket
Modern processors from Intel use the following types of sockets:
- socket 1150
- socket 1155
- socket 1356
- socket 1366
- socket2011
Modern processors from AMD use the following types of sockets:
- SocketAM3
- socket AM3+
- Socket FM1
- Socket FM2
Connectors for installing RAM or slots
The RAM slots are long, vertical slots located to the right or either side of the processor. Modern motherboard RAM sockets are of the DDR3 type.
Older motherboards may use DDR2 or DDR1 sockets. All these types are not compatible with each other. Therefore, installing DDR3 in a DDR2 slot will not work.
PCI Express slots
PCI Express slots are slots on the motherboard that are designed to install additional cards. These connectors are located on the bottom of the motherboard.
PCI Express connectors
There are several types of PCI Express connector: PCI Express x1, PCI Express x4 and PCI Express x16. In most cases, the PCI Express x16 slot is used to install video cards, and the remaining slots are used to install other expansion cards, such as sound cards.
There are three versions of PCI Express. These are PCI Express 1.0, PCI Express 2.0 and PCI Express 3.0. All of these versions are fully compatible. This allows new PCI Express 3.0 devices to be installed on older PCI Express 1.0 motherboards. The only limitation is the data transfer rate. When you install a new device in an older version of PCI Express, the device will run at the speed of the old version of PCI Express.
The PCI slot is the old connector for connecting expansion cards. Now it is practically not used and is installed only in some motherboards.
The PCI slot can be found on the bottom of the motherboard, next to the PCI Express slots.
SATA connectors are connectors designed to connect hard drives, SSD drives and disk drives.
These connectors are located at the bottom of the motherboard and in most cases are colored red.
There are three versions of SATA, they are SATA 1.0, SATA 2.0 and SATA 3.0. All these versions are fully compatible and differ only in data transfer speed. SATA 1.0 is 1.5Gb/s, SATA 2.0 is 3Gb/s, and SATA 3.0 is 6Gb/s.
The motherboard power connector is located to the right of the RAM. It can consist of 20, 24 or 28 pins.
Connect power from the power supply to this connector.
In contact with
"Manhunt1908"Mainboard support for the new PCI Express v.3.0 standard is not really its competitive advantage" We basically get that in PCI Express 3.0, in fact, it has no real advantages, and it will not increase the speed in modern games. then it’s no longer necessary or interesting for anyone, there is no increase, which means it sucks, but in addition to the gaming functions of the PCI Express v.3.0 standard, it has other functions, in particular USB 3.0 directly depends on the motherboard with the PCI Express support function v.3.0, after all, they themselves say that, Well, the presence of two or four USB 3.0 ports in a computer, by today's standards, is simply necessary, 3.0 is much faster than 2.0, many have tested this in practice. Like it or not, a motherboard with PCI Express v. 3.0 is needed, a lot of the latest technologies are tied specifically to this standard. It’s unlikely that someone will refuse to have such a solid list on board their motherboard, below!
SupremeFX IV
Perfect Sound
This motherboard boasts a high-quality audio system based on the built-in SupremeFX IV sound card, marked on the PCB with a special line. Capacitive capacitors and electromagnetic shielding contribute to the highest sound quality. In addition, the SupremeFX IV includes a dedicated headphone amplifier.
GameFirst II
The GameFirst II function based on cFos Traffic Shaping technology will help you prioritize the use of the Internet channel by various applications. Having received the highest priority, online games will work as quickly as possible, without annoying "lags", and other online applications that have a low priority for using the Internet channel will not interfere with this. There is a user-friendly ROG-style GUI to access this feature.
Gigabit Ethernet controller
Intel network controllers are renowned for their stable and efficient operation at low CPU usage.
mPCIe Combo adapter and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 4.0 controller
In order to save the main expansion slots, this motherboard is equipped with a special additional slot with mPCIe Combo adapter, which can connect devices with mSATA interfaces (such as solid state drive) and mPCIe interfaces (Wi-Fi, 3G / 4G, GPS, etc.) .). Moreover, the package already includes an mPCIe card with support for Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.
Fusion Thermo Cooling System
To cool the elements of the power system on this motherboard, a special ROG Fusion Thermo cooler is used, which consists of a copper water block, massive radiators and a heat pipe. Thus, it can be used both as part of a liquid cooling system and for conventional cooling with fans. > Learn more
ROG Connect
Interface for overclocking and setting ROG Connect
With the ROG Connect function, you can monitor the status of the computer and configure its settings in real time using a laptop by connecting the latter to the main system via a USB cable.
Extreme Engine Digi+II
High efficiency digital power system
The Extreme Engine Digi+ II power management system delivers highly efficient performance with variable frequency PWM digital processor and memory voltage regulators. It also uses high quality capacitors from Japanese manufacturers. A reliable and powerful power supply system is the key to the successful operation of a computer in overclocking mode!
ROG CPU-Z
The new face of the famous utility
ROG CPU-Z is a customized version of the well-known information utility from CPUID. It provides the same functionality and system accuracy as the original, but with a unique Republic of Gamers style interface. With ROG CPU-Z, you can get complete information about the processor and some other components of your computer.
Multi-GPU Technologies
LucidLogix Virtu MVP
High speed in graphics applications
LucidLogix Virtu MVP Technology is Windows 7 software that automatically switches between the processor's integrated graphics core and a discrete graphics card. By putting a discrete graphics card into sleep mode when its resources are not needed, energy savings are achieved, the noise level from the computer decreases and the temperature inside the system unit decreases, which contributes to a more favorable operation of all components. In addition, you can use the integrated graphics core to accelerate the main graphics card, which allows you to increase performance by 60% (as measured by 3DMark Vantage). It is also worth noting that this technology is fully compatible with the Intel Quick Sync 2.0 video transcoding function.
I have been asked this question more than once, so now I will try to answer it as clearly and briefly as possible, for this I will give pictures of the PCI Express and PCI expansion slots on the motherboard for a better understanding and, of course, I will indicate the main differences in the characteristics, t .e. very soon, you will find out what these interfaces are and how they look.
So, to begin with, let's briefly answer this question, what is PCI Express and PCI in general.
What is PCI Express and PCI?
PCI is a computer parallel I/O bus for connecting peripherals to a computer motherboard. PCI is used to connect: video cards, sound cards, network cards, TV tuners and other devices. The PCI interface is outdated, so you probably won't be able to find, for example, a modern video card that connects via PCI.
PCI Express(PCIe or PCI-E) is a computer serial I/O bus for connecting peripherals to a computer motherboard. Those. this already uses a bidirectional serial connection, which can have several lines (x1, x2, x4, x8, x12, x16 and x32) the more such lines, the higher the throughput of the PCI-E bus. The PCI Express interface is used to connect devices such as video cards, sound cards, network cards, SSD drives, and others.
There are several versions of the PCI-E interface: 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 (version 4.0 will be released soon). This interface is usually designated, for example, like this PCI-E 3.0 x16, which stands for PCI Express 3.0 version with 16 lanes.
If we talk about whether, for example, a video card that has a PCI-E 3.0 interface on a motherboard that only supports PCI-E 2.0 or 1.0 will work, so the developers say that everything will work, but of course keep in mind that the throughput will be limited by the capabilities of the motherboard. Therefore, in this case, I think it’s not worth overpaying for a video card with a newer version of PCI Express ( if only for the future, i.e. You are planning to purchase a new motherboard with PCI-E 3.0). Also, vice versa, let's say your motherboard supports PCI Express 3.0 version, and the video card supports version 1.0, then this configuration should also work, but only with PCI-E 1.0 capabilities, i.e. there is no restriction here, since the video card in this case will work at the limit of its capabilities.
Differences between PCI Express and PCI
The main difference in characteristics is, of course, the bandwidth, for PCI Express it is much higher, for example, for PCI at 66 MHz, the bandwidth is 266 Mb / s, and for PCI-E 3.0 (x16) 32 Gb/s.
Externally, the interfaces are also different, so you won't be able to connect, for example, a PCI Express video card to a PCI expansion slot. PCI Express interfaces with a different number of lanes also differ, I will now show all this in the pictures.
PCI Express and PCI expansion slots on motherboards
PCI and AGP slots
PCI-E x1, PCI-E x16 and PCI slots
PCI Express interfaces on video cards
That's all I have for now!
When we talk about the PCI Express(PCI-E) bus, perhaps the first thing that distinguishes it from other similar solutions is its efficiency. Thanks to this modern bus, computer performance is increased, graphics quality is improved.
For many years, the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus was used to connect the video card to the motherboard, in addition, it was also used to connect some other devices, such as a network and sound card.
Here's what those slots look like:
PCI-Express has effectively become the next generation of the PCI bus, offering improved functionality and performance. It uses a serial connection in which there are several lines, each of which leads to the corresponding device, i.e. each peripheral device gets its own line, thereby increasing the overall performance of the computer.
PCI-Express supports "hot" connection, consumes less energy than its predecessors, and controls the integrity of transmitted data. In addition, it is compatible with PCI bus drivers. Another remarkable feature of this bus is its scalability, i.e. pci express card plugs in and works in any slot of equal or greater bandwidth. In all likelihood, this feature will ensure its use in the coming years.
The traditional type of PCI slot was good enough for basic audio/video functions. With the AGP bus, the multimedia data processing scheme has improved, and the quality of the audio/video data has increased accordingly. It wasn't long before advances in microprocessor microarchitecture began to further demonstrate the slowness of the PCI bus, which made the fastest and latest computer models of the time literally drag on.
Characteristics and bandwidth of the PCI-E bus
It can have from one bidirectional connection line x1, up to x32 (32 lines). The line functions on a point-to-point basis. Modern versions provide much more bandwidth than their predecessors. x16 can be used to connect a graphics card, while x1 and x2 can be used to connect regular cards.
Here's what x1 and pci express x16 slots look like on:
PCI-E
Number of lines x1 x2 x4 x8 x16 x32
Bandwidth 500 Mb/s 1000 Mb/s 2000 Mb/s 4000 Mb/s 8000 Mb/s 16000 Mb/s
PCI-E versions and compatibility
When it comes to computers, any mention of versions is associated with compatibility issues. And, like any other modern technology, PCI-E is constantly evolving and modernizing. The latest available variant is pci express 3.0, but the development of the PCI-E bus version 4.0 is already underway, which should appear around 2015 (pci express 2.0 is almost obsolete).
Take a look at the following PCI-E compatibility table.
PCI-E Versions 3.0 2.0 1.1
Total Bandwidth
(X16) 32Gb/s 16Gb/s 8Gb/s
Data rate 8.0 GT/s 5.0 GT/s 2.5 GT/s
The PCI-E version has no effect on the functionality of the card. The most distinguishing feature of this interface is its forward and backward compatibility, which makes it secure and capable of synchronizing with many card variants, regardless of interface version. That is, you can insert a card of the second or third version into the PCI-Express slot of the first version, and it will work, albeit with some performance loss. In the same way, a PCI-E version 3 card can be installed in the PCI-E slot of the first version of PCI-Express. Currently, all modern video cards from NVIDIA and AMD are compatible with such a bus.
And this is for a snack:
The PCI Express serial bus, developed by Intel and its partners, is designed to replace the parallel PCI bus and its extended and specialized variant AGP. Despite similar names, PCI and PCI Express buses have little in common. The parallel data transfer protocol used by PCI imposes limits on the bandwidth and frequency of the bus; the serial data transfer used in PCI Express provides scalability (the specifications describe implementations of PCI Express 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x and 32x). At the moment, the tire version with index 3.0 is relevant.
PCI-E3.0
In November 2010, the PCI-SIG organization, which standardizes PCI Express technology, announced the adoption of the PCIe Base 3.0 specification.
The key difference from the previous two versions of PCIe can be considered a changed coding scheme - now instead of 8 bits of useful information out of 10 bits transmitted (8b / 10b), 128 bits of useful information can be transmitted over the bus out of 130 bits sent, i.e. The payload ratio is close to 100%. In addition, the data transfer rate has increased to 8 GT/s. Recall that this value for PCIe 1.x was 2.5 GT/s, and for PCIe 2.x it was 5 GT/s.
All of the above changes resulted in a doubling of the bus bandwidth compared to the PCI-E 2.x bus. This means that the total bandwidth of the PCIe 3.0 bus in a 16x configuration will reach 32 Gb / s. The first processors to be equipped with a PCIe 3.0 controller were Intel processors based on the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture.
Despite more than three times the throughput of PCI-E 3.0 compared to PCI-E 1.1, the performance of the same video cards when using different interfaces does not differ much. The table below shows the benchmark results for the GeForce GTX 980 in various benchmarks. The measurements were carried out with the same graphics settings, in the same configuration. The PCI-E bus version was changed in the BIOS settings.
PCI Express 3.0 continues to be backward compatible with previous PCIe versions.
PCI-E 2.0
In 2007, a new specification for the PCI Express bus - 2.0 was adopted, the main difference of which is the doubled bandwidth of each transmission line in each direction, i.e. in the case of the most popular version of PCI-E 16x used in video cards, the throughput is 8Gb / s in each direction. The first chipset to support PCI-E 2.0 was the Intel X38.
PCI-E 2.0 is fully backward compatible with PCI-E 1.0, i.e. all existing devices with PCI-E 1.0 interface can work in PCI-E 2.0 slots and vice versa.
PCI-E 1.1
The first version of the PCI Express interface, introduced in 2002. Provided throughput of 500 MB / s per line.
Comparison of the speed of work of different generations of PCI-E
The PCI bus runs at 33 or 66 MHz and provides 133 or 266 MB/s bandwidth, but this bandwidth is shared among all PCI devices. The frequency at which the PCI Express 1.1 bus operates is 2.5 GHz, which gives a bandwidth of 2500 MHz / 10 * 8 = 250 * 8 Mbps = 250 Mbps information) for each PCI Express 1.1 x1 device in one direction. If there are several lines, to calculate the throughput, the value of 250 Mb / s must be multiplied by the number of lines and by 2, because. PCI Express is a bidirectional bus.
| Number of PCI Express 1.1 lanes | Throughput in one direction | Total throughput |
| 1 | 250 MB/s | 500 MB/s |
| 2 | 500 Mb/s | 1 GB/s |
| 4 | 1 GB/s | 2 GB/s |
| 8 | 2 GB/s | 4 GB/s |
| 16 | 4 GB/s | 8 GB/s |
| 32 | 8 GB/s | 16 GB/s |
Note! You should not attempt to install a PCI Express card in a PCI slot, and conversely, PCI cards are not installed in PCI Express slots. However, a PCI Express 1x card, for example, can be installed and most likely will function normally in a PCI Express 8x or 16x slot, but not vice versa: a PCI Express 16x card will not fit into a PCI Express 1x slot.
